Stuff Mom Never Told You

From suffragists to Grace Jones to Hillary Clinton, the pantsuit has been a symbol bucking feminine norms. Cristen and Caroline trace the power suit's history and ask why such a seemingly simple fashion has the power to embolden and enrage. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A century ago, lunch ladies were on the front lines of giving kids the nutrition they needed. Today, many are rewarded with poverty-level wages. Cristen and Caroline trace lunch ladies' history in the nutrition, labor and Civil Rights movements. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Custodians keep our schools, work places and public spaces clean, but they're often treated downright dirty. Cristen and Caroline cover the distinct gendering of janitorial work, why it's harder on women and how janitors organized for justice. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ronald Reagan made "welfare queens" a household epithet during his unsuccessful 1976 presidential campaign. Considering the 20th anniversary of so-called welfare reform, Cristen and Caroline examine the deeper origins and implications of the racist, classist welfare queen stereotype as well as the surprising history of how welfare was originally for white ladies. Learn more about your ad-choices a...

Cristen and Caroline trace why heroin is more popular among suburban, white women than ever before. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women work nearly half of all ad jobs, but the industry remains rife with sexism. Cristen and Caroline spotlight the discrimination, harassment and culture that continue to complicate the ad business' relationship with women and people of color. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early advertising industry, career-minded white women were copywriters, department heads and even agency owners. But their very mission of selling products to women helped erect the industry's glass ceiling. Cristen and Caroline talk trailblazers, monetizing femininity and the whiteness of early ad industry in part one of Mad Women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodc...

The associations between unicorns and all things feminine is nothing new, but where did it come from? Cristen and Caroline dive into unicorns' history as goddesses' pets, symbols for Christ and the stars of Lisa Frank trapper keepers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Frank is a real person, and she has a stable of sad unicorns and wilted rainbows hidden away in her closet. Cristen and Caroline explore Lisa Frank's rise to girlhood fame and descent into corporate chaos. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Studies have found that breasts have a significant impact of if and how girls and women exercise. Cristen and Caroline work out how breast variety, bounce embarrassment and sports bra technology impact female fitness. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Breast ptosis -- the fancy name for sag -- has way more to do with aging and genetics than gravitiy. Cristen and Caroline explore what's "normal" in in the boob realm to get to the bottom of how and why boob sag happens. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics women's boxing event, all eyes are on U.S.A. phenom Claressa Shields. Cristen and Caroline share Shields' inspiring backstory and women's boxing's long road to Olympic glory. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American Simone Biles is possibly the most talented gymnast in history. Cristen and Caroline somersault across the history of the OIympic event from its iconic hair and leotards to gendered and ethnic coding as well as the women like Simone Biles who have vaulted to worldwide attention. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Betty Friedan's homophobia has haunted the National Organization for Women. In the second part of their up-close look at the early years of NOW, Cristen and Caroline talk to Terry O'Neill about how the group moved forward from its lesbian schism and their crucial activism that continues today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for...

For 50 years, the National Organization for Women (NOW) has been championed feminist initiatives and gender equalizing political policy. But much of its early developments and intersectionality have been oversimplified by the media and overshadowed by Betty Friedan's controversial legacy. Cristen and Caroline talk to NOW president Terry O'Neill about past pitfalls and immediate progress that got t...

When is it cheating if there's no sex or physical contact? Welcome to the murky world of emotional cheating. Cristen and Caroline confront its warning signs, hallmarks and social media minefield. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over our working lives, we encounter plenty of pals, acqaintances and even enemies, but the beloved work spouse is rarer -- and, it turns out, more productivity-enhancing. Cristen and Caroline look at what makes our work wives and husbands so special, how gender influences our relationships and how to prevent your IRL spouse from getting jealous. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihe...

Women tattoo artists were a rare sight until recently. Cristen and Caroline uncover the history of these ink lovers, stylistic gender stereotyping and female tattoo industry trailblazers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More American women have tattoos than men as of 2012. Cristen and Caroline retrace the body art history from spiritual Native American women to sideshow attractions to modern feminists. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The term "lesbian bed death" has become a persistent negative stereotype about the allegedly passionless sex lives of women in relationships with women. Cristen and Caroline revisit the phrase's origin, do some sexytimes mythbusting and call for a broader definition of sex. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women's sex drives and expression shift in response to a wide range of factors. So when libido dips, why are we so quick to pathologize it? Cristen and Caroline talk with filmmaker Maria Finitzo about her latest project, a look into female desire and women having agency over their own bodies. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Almost as soon as public libraries began flourishing, librarian quickly became one of the most female-dominated jobs in the country. Cristen and Caroline break down was being a librarian was really like back in the day and the badass women who've shaped these community centers of learning and culture. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/liste...

Being a librarian was originally a man's job. Then Melvil Dewey and his book-loving bros came along and changed all that. But while the feminization of librarianship offered new a new occupation for women, it was built on old ideas about female nature and its proper place. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Anne-Marie Slaughter left the U.S. State Department to spend more time with her family and declared, "Women can't have it all," she faced both resentment and gratitude. In a conversation with the foreign-policy analyst, Cristen and Caroline explore the important role of supporting paid and unpaid caregivers as part of the work toward equality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.i...