Breaking Down Patriarchy

Amy is joined by the show’s first male guest, Eric Allebest , to discuss men’s questions and concerns about Breaking Down Patriarchy . Questions include whether patriarchy is a natural construct, if masculinity and patriarchy are connected, and what’s wrong with patriarchy in the first place?

Amy is joined by guest Courtney McPhie to discuss the speeches “ Morality and Birth Control ” and “ The Case for Birth Control ” by Margaret Sanger. Topics include marriage as ownership, modesty rules, and sex education. Courtney McPhie  grew up in Colorado, and while she loves the rolling hills of Virginia, she misses the Rocky Mountains. Courtney is a high school English teacher outside Was...

Amy is joined by guest Dr. Amy Osmond Cook to discuss the speech “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic” delivered by Anna Howard Shaw. Topics include white prejudice in the suffrage movement, arguments against the right to vote, and work-life balance for mothers. Dr. Amy Osmond Cook was born and raised in Provo, Utah, the daughter of musicians (her mother was an opera-singer; her father was one...

Amy is joined by guest Shauna Rensch to discuss The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Topics include structural inequity, the panopticon of patriarchy, and contemporary feminist awakenings. Shauna Rensch  is a wife and mother of four kids ages 15 to 5. She grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago but moved to Arizona with her family at the end of high school. She started at ASU but took time off to ge...

Amy is joined by guest Shannon Hyatt Johnson to discuss The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Topics include hysteria, gaslighting, and the ideology of separate spheres. Shannon Hyatt Johnson  grew up in the Western U.S., graduated from BYU, and is currently working and studying at Stanford. She likes watching tv that provokes impassioned family discussions with her husband and fo...

Amy is joined by guest Kayleen Asbo to discuss The Gospel of Mary Magdalene . Topics include the history of gnostic texts, the gender of the Holy Spirit, and the value of self-knowledge. Kayleen Asbo  is a passionate scholar: a cultural historian, musician, writer and teacher who weaves myth, music, psychology, history and art with experiential learning. A faculty member of the Pacifica Gradu...

Amy is joined by Franceskay Allebes to discuss The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill. Topics include the burden of proof for equality, the veil of ignorance, and complementarianism. Franceskay Allebes  is a first generation American, born to parents who immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands after World War II. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University an...

Amy is joined by Rayna Clay MacKay to discuss the speech ‘Ain’t I A Woman?’ by Sojourner Truth. Topics include the history and multiple versions of this speech, microaggressions, and the legacy of racism in America. Rayna Clay MacKay is a wife, mom, and Obstetric Anesthesiologist. She married a dreamy Scotsman for much more than his accent and gained two fantastic bonus kids as a result. They adde...

Amy is joined by guest Courtney McPhie to discuss speeches from the Seneca Falls Convention . Topics include how to recruit men as feminist allies, key arguments for suffrage, and the complex relationships between Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Frederick Douglass. Courtney McPhie  experienced a typical awakening to social justice in high school, but took until college to call hers...

Amy is joined by guest Rebecca Archibald to discuss Letters on the Equality of the Sexes by Sarah Grimké. Topics include abolition, the ideology of separate spheres, and marriage as a means of survival. Rebecca Archibald  grew up in the mountains of Utah with 5 siblings. After graduating from BYU, she moved east for graduate school where she got her Master’s in Teaching Writing. Since, she ha...

Amy is joined by Jennie Austin Preece to discuss On the Equality of the Sexes by Judith Sargent Murray. Topics include the artfulness of clothing, bringing men into the emotional sphere, and reinterpreting the story of Eve. Jennie Austin Preece  was born and reared in the great potato-loving state of Idaho. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English/Humanities teaching at Brigham Young Univ...

Amy is joined by guest Dr. Meagan Cahoon Alder to begin their discussion of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft. This episode is Part One of Two and covers Wollstonecraft’s biography and historical context, pertinent authors of the Enlightenment, and the balance between reason and emotion.  Dr. Meagan Cahoon Alder  is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Pi...

Amy is joined by guest Dr. Meagan Cahoon Alder to conclude their discussion of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft. This episode is Part Two of Two and covers Wollstonecraft’s thoughts on women’s education, fashion, religion, and chivalry. Dr. Meagan Cahoon Alder  is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is in private practice and wo...

Amy is joined by guest Lindsay Allebest for a discussion of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen by Olympe de Gouges. Topics include the French Revolution, the origins of natural rights, the Veil of Ignorance. Lindsay Allebest is currently a student at Boston University, where she studies History and Liberal Arts, as well as Spanish and Ancient Greece. Although she grew up...

Amy is joined by guest Janette Canare for a discussion of The Creation of Feminist Consciousness by Gerda Lerner. Topics include the erasure of women’s history, overcoming gender-based barriers to education, and early examples of women’s literature. Janette Canare was born and raised in Virginia, but has lived in California since moving to Silicon Valley for a tech start up in the early 90s. Her p...

Amy is joined by guest Sophie Allebest for a discussion of the religious figure of Mary. Topics include the Gospel of Paul, artists’ depictions of Mary, and the power of personal ritual. Sophie Allebest is first and foremost, a Pisces. She loves Art, Architecture, History, and rainy days. She enjoys the ancient art of rhetoric and debate (i.e., arguing), and swimming in a freezing ocean or pool. W...

Amy is joined by guest Sherri Crawford to conclude their discussion of The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner. This episode is Part Two of Two and covers topics spanning from Hebrew civilization through Aristotle and Ancient Greece. Sherrie Crawford was born in Utah, the fifth of six children, and grew up in Arizona. She graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Social Work, and completed a Ma...

Amy is joined by guest Sherri Crawford to begin their discussion of The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner. This episode is Part One of Two and covers topics spanning from prehistory through Mesopotamian civilization and the Near Eastern Goddesses Sherrie Crawford was born in Utah, the fifth of six children, and grew up in Arizona. She graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Social Work, and...

Amy is joined by guest Malia Morris to discuss The Chalice and The Blade by Riane Eisler. Topics include re-assessing hunter-gatherer societies, partnership and dominator models, and the civilization of ancient Minoan. Malia Morris is a performing artist and voice teacher in the Bay Area. She studied Music Performance and Sociology in her undergraduate at Arizona State University, where she gradua...

Episode 1: Introduction   "Men and women live on a stage, on which they act out their assigned roles, equal in importance. The play cannot go on without both kinds of performers. Neither of them “contributes” more or less to the whole; neither is marginal or dispensable. But the stage set is conceived, painted, defined by men. Men have written the play, have directed the show, interpreted the...