About this talk Kim says:
"It was around the middle of May that I began to realize how disastrous the pandemic was going to be for mothers. I felt it myself and I saw it all around me, the mounting fear, the feeling of helplessness and isolation as we realized that the institutions we depended on were failing women and children, and that there was no backup system in place. Mothers themselves were the backup system.
Isolation is a necessary evil during a pandemic, but all the same, it’s proven to be a perfect social experiment in what happens to mothers and caregivers when the drawbridges are raised.
In this workshop, I'll discuss this past year's impact on equality, particularly for mothers, as we struggle to balance work and child-rearing. I'll examine how the pandemic has highlighted the limits of corporate feminism, and the ways in which all women would benefit from a more intersectional feminism that focuses less on individual power and more on communal structures, social supports, and feminist solidarity."
Discussion Points:
• The persistence of inequity in domestic labor and childrearing
• The broader significance of women's invisible labor
• Problems and solutions in our approach to child care
• Ways for women to build stronger communities around parenting and family life
ABOUT KIM BROOKS:
Kim Brooks is the author of Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear, an NPR Best Book of the Year, described by the National Book Review as “an impassioned, smart work of social criticism and a call for support and empathy.”
Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Chicago Magazine, Salon, Buzzfeed, and other publications. She has spoken as a guest on CBS This Morning, PBS Newshour, 20/20, NPR’s All Things Considered, Good Morning America, the Brian Lehr Show, and many other radio shows and podcasts. Her novel, The Houseguest, was published in 2016. She lives in Chicago.