This year, I was privileged to connect with talented women from all over the globe. Let’s celebrate them!
From conversations about body image and feminist sons to inclusive kids and gender inequality at home, you’ll want to catch up on all of these interviews. All of which relate to the values of feminist parenting.
My friend and colleague Maria Scrimenti (who happens to be one of the interviewees below!) inspired this post with her own interview roundup.
So here we go. My top 10 favorite feminist parenting interviews of 2021! I hope these folks inspire you as much as they inspire me.
Women & Work with Cat Wildman of Global Equality Collective
Not only did Cat from GEC give me permission to use the adorable English slang, “brill,” but we had a meaty conversation about women and work, in light of COVID.
We discussed what it’s like to be a woman in tech; what companies can do on International Women’s Day that truly prioritize gender equity; and how the U.S. can do better on policies that support women and caregiving. Plus, GEC has a really cool diversity and inclusion app for both business and education that you can check out here.
Raising Feminist Sons with Saranya Raghavan of Shelves of Color
Saranya doesn’t just raise an adorable little boy – she raises him to be a feminist! Music to my ears. In this interview, we delve into the fears parents have about teasing, why boys need more female role models, and our pet peeves about terms like #BoyMom. We also dig into the term “gender neutral” – what does it really mean? And… whatever happened to the colors orange and yellow?!
Saranya has an impressive collection of children’s books at home, shares them on her popular account Shelves of Color, and is passionate about diversity and inclusion in children’s literature.
Children, Clothes, and Gender Stereotypes: Janice Yu-Moran from Hello Society Kids
Are you tired of slogans on girls’ shirts that say “be kind” and “pretty like mama?”
Janice Yu-Moran created the children’s clothing line, Hello Society Kids, after struggling to find gender neutral clothing for her kids that felt both stylish and inclusive. Janice believes that gender shouldn’t dictate how we dress, and I 100% agree!
We sat down to chat about the challenges of consumers, especially parents, in purchasing clothing that we believe in, and the reason why one of her first collections was named “Sweetie.” Most importantly, Janice offered incredible insight and tips about how parents can cope with social justice despair, when it seems that policies are going in the opposite direction of progress.
Check out the beautiful Hello Society Kids collection here and watch the interview here.
Charnaie Gordon of Here Wee Read
I’ve long admired Charnaie Gordon of Here Wee Read. Not only does she showcase diverse books and authors for children, but she runs 50 States 50 Books with her kids – a really cool initiative that works to close the literacy gap.
Charnaie joined Feminist Parents Unite to read her new children’s book, “A Friend Like You,” which contains beautiful messages about how to be friends with folks who are different from us, and how to become an ally to our friends. This interview even includes a live reading that you can share with your children. Buy the book here (affiliate link).
Watch the interview in Feminist Parents Unite.
Maria Scrimenti, Coach and Intuitive Eating Counselor
Can you be a body image role model for your kids while still wanting to change your body? How can we drop food rules that hit us from all directions?
As Maria says, “those rules were never really intended for you. They don’t take into account what your unique body needs.” Maria leads all conversations about food and body image with such compassion for the diet culture traps we can all fall into easily.
Empowered Women Empower Girls with Melody Pourmoradi from GiRLiFE Empowerment
Melody is one of the first people I met on Instagram whose work aligned with ours here at Think or Blue. Her program GiRLife Empowerment trains and certifies facilitators to become girls empowerment leaders in their communities.
We chatted recently to celebrate her new book, Empowered Women Empower Girls (affiliate link). In this chat, we discuss the inspiration behind the book, what toxic positivity is, and why women are often ashamed to earn money for doing good work. I could have talked to Melody for hours!
I was also honored to be featured on several of my colleagues’ platforms…
Raising children with positive body image
“Body positivity isn’t just feeling great about your own body, but accepting all bodies as good.” There’s so much to teach our children about what healthy means, and what weight IS and ISN’T.
In this chat, Saranya interviewed me, and we talk about the book about bodies that both of our children love, myths about sugar, the origins of fatphobia, and more.
Gender inequality in household chores and work-family conflict
Brandilyn Tebo, coach, author, and leader of the Shift Retreats, hosted me to discuss inequality in relationships. We know that in heterosexual relationships, women are often the reason that things run smoothly. Not only do they carry the majority of child care and household work, but also the invisible labor – the mental load and the emotional labor that families need to function.
In this in-depth chat, we discuss why men are treated like heroes when they grocery shop or take the kids to the playground; how my 6 year-old’s hair shows both gender and racial inequality; why the U.S. sucks on caregiving support; and why men have worse experiences following divorce or the death of a spouse. Plus, so much more! This interview was chock full of good stuff.
How to raise children who don’t hate their bodies:
Did you grow up in a household where dieting was the norm? Where anything other than thinness was viewed as lazy or undisciplined? Cat Wildman of the Global Equality Collective interviewed me about being nervous as parents to raise children who hate their bodies and absorb negative societal messages about bodies.
We discuss questions like:
- Why do Disney characters look like aliens now? (This explains our silly faces above!)
- What’s the sneaky way we’re keeping women from changing the world?
- Is it really important to get your toddler to eat that avocado?
Nice White People with Austin Channing Brown and Rachel Ricketts
First, let’s be clear. While the first nine interviews on this list involved Think or Blue, I had nothing to do with this upcoming interview. But this is one of the most memorable interviews of 2021 that I listened to. And I’m just a huge fan of Austin Channing Brown and Rachel Ricketts. So I’d love to share it with you and encourage you to watch it.
The description reads: “In response to the soon to be released book from Robin Diangelo, Rachel and ACB (Austin Channing Brown) have an honest convo about allyship, capitalism, doing the work and transformation.”
If you are a white person working to unlearn harmful messages and undo racism, please do listen. They discuss reasons why we’re afraid of these conversations, the problems with the term “white fragility” (read Rachel’s book here) and who should be leading conversations about racism. And so so much more.
I hope these interviews give you lots of inspiration heading into the new year. Which is your favorite? What would you add to this list?
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