very, very glad to share with you an essay I published on Monday at Vox that I have been researching and reporting and writing for this entire year. It’s the most personal thing I’ve ever written, even as it’s also not really about me, though I’m in it a bit.
It’s about the grim way being a mom in America is depicted today, and how women weighing parenthood struggle to absorb all these chilling warnings, statistics, and cautionary tales. It’s trying to look at the unique circumstances women today face when thinking about motherhood, and also reflecting on what’s not new.
I’ve been blown away by the response so far, from people like me thinking about motherhood, from new parents to older parents, to men, socialists, liberals, conservatives, academics and many others.
I’m hoping to get to take a beat to really sit with all the feedback this weekend.
I would never go so far as to say what I write about is “universal” — but I know it’s far, far, far more widely felt than has been previously acknowledged. It struck some kind of nerve over the last three days, and it’s been really incredible / emotional / powerful to see that needed conversation start to take shape.