The Hidden Failings of Family Medical Leave | The Takeaway
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From The Wilds of Postpartum, I Saw Myself In The Yellowjackets Teens
After I had my second daughter, I thought I had my postpartum binge show all lined up. I was looking forward to revisiting Friday Night Lights’ Panther country as I muddled through the overwhelming, draining months with a new baby. So I was surprised when it wasn’t everyone’s favorite mother/mentor Tami Taylor that I found myself most identifying with but instead the girls of the gender-swapped Lord of the Flies-revamp, Yellowjackets.
Yellowjackets, which recently wrapped up its first season, t
Yellowjackets, which recently wrapped up its first season, t
How I Got Radicalized: When ‘ER’s’ Dramatic Health Insurance Battles Became My Reality
When ‘ER’s’ Dramatic Health Insurance Battles Became My Reality
It’s been 25 years since the medical drama premiered, and little has changed about American health care.
Welcome to “How I Got Radicalized,” a new series at GEN that tells a story about a cultural moment that made you…
It’s been 25 years since the medical drama premiered, and little has changed about American health care.
Welcome to “How I Got Radicalized,” a new series at GEN that tells a story about a cultural moment that made you…
Pen15 Is a Wake-Up Call for Woke Dads
When our daughter was born, my husband went all in on his new role as a #GirlDad. He donned a red bandanna for our family’s Rosie the Riveter costume on her first Halloween, learned the difference between ponytails and pigtails, and talked her through Yankees games, developing elaborate plans to eventually teach her the knuckleball and get her signed to the major leagues. So, I was surprised when, in the middle of the new season of Hulu’s Pen15, my woke-dad husband turned to me and joked that he
Perspective | There aren’t enough resources for formula-feeding parents. Here’s why that needs to change.
“All the classes I had taken were preparing me for breastfeeding. I couldn’t find practical information about formula, like how often I should be feeding or are there better ways to hold your baby when you’re feeding a bottle,” she said. “I also couldn’t find any emotional support because all the Mommy and Me classes I went to, I was the only one pulling out a bottle.”
It was this lack of resources, advice or even easily accessible places to turn to for help, that turned Barston into a formula-
It was this lack of resources, advice or even easily accessible places to turn to for help, that turned Barston into a formula-
Perspective | ‘Workin’ Moms’ isn’t perfect. But it’s a better picture of motherhood than most shows.
There are some missteps. Main character Kate’s first day back at work includes several tropes: Look, she’s pumping in the bathroom! Oh no, she spilled the pumped milk! Ugh, leaking through a blouse at a work meeting! Yes, having adequate space, time and support to pump at work continues to be an issue, despite laws requiring workplaces to accommodate nursing mothers, but the comedy of pumping errors that befalls Kate comes across as almost cheap pandering, and it doesn’t address deeper structura
Riverdale and Sabrina Subvert Boomer Nostalgia for When America Was “Great”
From the first scene of its first episode, the world of Riverdale, the CW’s popular reboot of the Archie Comics, is like no other. The opening moments of the pilot flash images that hearken back to a previous America: a boy on a bicycle tosses a newspaper to a front stoop; a wide-as-a-boat convertible drives past an old-timey diner; fall leaves blow in front of a sign for the local drive-in.
Such signifiers of traditional Americana have come to define the Archie Comics television world, now enc
Such signifiers of traditional Americana have come to define the Archie Comics television world, now enc
I Don’t Want To Be This Mother
Being pregnant was amazing. But once the baby came, I began to worry I was doing it all wrong.
I used to go on long walks when I was pregnant. I’d lace up my snow boots and zip my barely-fitting winter coat over my belly and just walk for hours around the neighborhood. I loved it. I loved how I waddled, my hips expanding to accommodate the baby’s drop. I loved how my stomach strained the zipper, pocket seams bursting, as if even my clothes were excited with anticipation about my daughter’s arri
I used to go on long walks when I was pregnant. I’d lace up my snow boots and zip my barely-fitting winter coat over my belly and just walk for hours around the neighborhood. I loved it. I loved how I waddled, my hips expanding to accommodate the baby’s drop. I loved how my stomach strained the zipper, pocket seams bursting, as if even my clothes were excited with anticipation about my daughter’s arri
The Perpetual Rage of Motherhood
Back in 2008, Betty Draper, Mad Men’s long-suffering wife and everyone’s favorite “unlikeable mother,” stormed up the stairs after her husband, hollering, “I’m here all day, alone with them. Outnumbered.” (Them meaning their two kids, of course.) The line didn’t hit me then, but over a decade later, trapped at home with a toddler and an infant while COVID-19 raged into yet another wave, her words came flooding back to me. That word, outnumbered, was so much more precise than the other platitudes
HBO’s Horror Series The Baby Feels Like Postpartum Cinéma Vérité
I’m laying, unmoving, in the dark. Any sliver of light that might enter the room is stopped by thick blackout curtains. There are scratches on my upper arms from where sharp nails raked across the skin just a bit earlier.
Staying still as possible, I count the seconds until I dare try to move. To 500. To 1,000. It’s been almost an hour since I finished reading her bedtime stories. Almost two since I bounced, swayed, and walked her baby sister into a deep enough sleep that she could be put down
Staying still as possible, I count the seconds until I dare try to move. To 500. To 1,000. It’s been almost an hour since I finished reading her bedtime stories. Almost two since I bounced, swayed, and walked her baby sister into a deep enough sleep that she could be put down
At 'The School For Good Mothers' The Call Is Coming From Inside The House
Recently, I found myself in a parenting dilemma. After my morning “workout” of wrestling my wet-noodle-limbed toddler into the required sweatshirt, sweatpants, snow pants, coat, hat, mittens, and mask, we headed out to meet her cousins for sledding. On the way, I stopped for gas. From the backseat, my toddler declared she absolutely had to have a snack.
I froze with indecision. Leave her in the car for the five minutes it would take to run in and grab a bag of pretzels? Or extend the task by br
I froze with indecision. Leave her in the car for the five minutes it would take to run in and grab a bag of pretzels? Or extend the task by br
Where Maid Misses the Mark
The Netflix hit Maid, which after only a few weeks has already vaulted into the service’s all-time Top 10, seems to have come exactly when it’s needed. Inspired by Stephanie Land’s memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, the 10-episode series is striking a chord so often left unstruck, a deeply moving exploration of domestic and emotional abuse, generational trauma, and the infuriating catch-22s of government systems built for failure. Its raw, unflinching depictions co