Liberating Motherhood S3 Ep2: Abigail Leonard: Four Mothers, and How Cultural Norms Influence Experiences of Motherhood
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Motherhood is a cultural, political experience. But in many places, especially the United States, we pretend culture doesn’t exist, and that everything about motherhood is both inevitable and an individual problem.
Abigail Leonard is an American journalist who, inspired by her own experiences living abroad in Tokyo, set out to explore how different cultures support (or don’t support) mothers, and how this influences outcomes for everyone.
Abigail’s book highlights how cultural norms determine the bounds within which we mother. And while the social networks and community support women can access vary greatly from nation to nation, the profound impacts of patriarchy persist across cultures, making motherhood much harder than it needs to be.
In this podcast, we talk about:
Similarities and differences between motherhood experiences in Japan, Kenya, Finland, and the United States.
The social structures that can make motherhood easier or more difficult.
How men’s refusal to participate equitably in parenting negatively affects women across cultures—and how social safety nets can either intensify or offset these negative effects.
The political role of motherhood, and how a culture of mother blame can destroy an entire society.
The rampant violence of life in the United States.
The long-term effects of parental leave on parent-child relationships.
You can find Abigail’s book, a reading list, and all books I recommend on the podcast, at the Liberating Motherhood Bookshop.
About Abigail Leonard
Abigail Leonard is an award-winning international reporter and the author of Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries. It follows women in Japan, Kenya, Finland and the US during their first year as mothers, and was named an Amazon “Best nonfiction book of the year so far”, and a Sunday Times “Book of the week”. Abigail was previously based in Tokyo, where she was a frequent contributor to NPR and New York Times video... and where she had her own three children.
Visit her website here, or find her on Instagram @AbigailLeonardAuthor.