Boy Moms & Girl Dads
Boy Moms & Girl Dads
when "parent" just isn't enough
Partly because I do not have kids, I was unaware of the Boy Mom-Girl Dad binary until last year when a bff/parent of two sons texted her exasperation with routinely getting asked what it’s like being a “boy mom.”
Are “girl moms” a thing then, too? I naively responded.
No just girl dads, she answered.
That was all it took to send me down an internet rabbit hole to find out when and why these cutesy parent personas became a thing.
Going in, I assumed it was all an Etsy-fied manifestation of gender-trad backlash. And that’s certainly part of it. But as I unravel on this week’s pod, the gender dynamics, performative parenting and personal politics tangled up in the Boy Mom-Girl Dad binary are more complex than meet the eye (or Boy Mom Club trucker hat). 🧶
If you’re reading this, 1. thank you! 2. you probably find some value in Unladylike. Fun fact: the podcast, this newsletter, social content, etc. is solely and independently made by me (👋🏻). Please consider supporting this work by joining the Patreon or scrolling to the bottom of this email and smashing that pledge button.
In the meantime, thank you so very much to Jenna, this week’s new Unladies’ Room member / patron of the Unladylike arts!
Good to know:
🌈 Unladylike aunts are essential. (Socius journal via NBC News) This aunt was delighted to see a new study illuminating how aunts play an often overlooked care role for queer youth. “The findings empirically demonstrate how LGBTQ-supportive aunting practices, such as educating other family members about LGBTQ people and housing an LGBTQ nibling, actively challenge cisheteronormativity.”
💊 Mifepristone for miscarriage. (Stateline) Y’know who’s WAY too overlooked when it comes to regulating so-called “abortion pills” (ie, misoprostol + mifepristone)? Folks who need them to help manage miscarriage, which can otherwise last weeks and possibly trigger health complications. “The drug remains widely unavailable to patients experiencing pregnancy loss — even in states that do not otherwise restrict abortion, for a variety of regulatory, cultural and political reasons,” Caitlin Dewey reported in October.
🍆 Hell hath no fury like a straight man scorned in a private FB group. (Newsweek) A Chicago man has filed a sprawling lawsuit against Are We Dating the Same Guy? for alleged doxing, defamation and invasion of privacy. Talk about “very clingy very fast”…
👎🏻 Beverly Hills v. abortion clinics. (Politico) You’d think liberal Los Angeles would welcome vital new clinics with open arms. Instead, they’re getting shut out in a manner reminiscent of everything we learned from Amy Hagstrom Miller of Whole Woman’s Health in ep. 99: How to Protect Abortion Clinics.
👍🏻 Actually inspiring political news. (NYT) St. Paul, Minnesota, just swore in its first all-female city council that is, more importantly, nearly all women of color, all under 40 and all Democrat. (Cue me jealously thinking from Atlanta, I bet *that* city council would Stop Cop City.💀)
unladies are saying
Unpaid maternity leave is a scam!
- anon unlady speaking T-R-U-T-H in their Patreon exit survey. Capitalist patriarchy truly does screw us all.
til next week… happy Q1
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