Stuff Mom Never Told You

Sweatpants are the new slacks, and high tops are the new heels. Cristen and Caroline dissect the rise and resilience of the athleisure trend and whether it signals mainstream women's fashion moving sidestepping the male gaze and gendered clothing altogether. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are many women scared of weightlifting? Cristen and Caroline flex the gendered history of women lifting heavy things and debunk the myth that girls who lift will bulk up. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey is the world's most successful women's MMA fighter and has even been called a feminist icon. Cristen and Caroline discuss her judo-fueled rise to fighting fame and why she's attracted feminist adoration and scrutiny. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1983, the first Hooters restaurant opened, unofficially inventing the "attentive service sector" restaurant industry. Colloquially known as breastauarants, these man cave-themed eateries trade on young women's sex appeal to serve up booming profits. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waitresses are a cornerstone, though often underappreciated and underpaid, of the food industry. Cristen and Caroline serve up a history of this female-dominated service sector and why gender is always on the menu. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Compared to pregnancy, the history of maternity clothes is in its infancy. Cristen and Caroline strut through the timeline of maternity fashion and what those prenatal outfits then and now tell us about how we view pregnant bodies. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is the United States the only developed nation that offers no federally mandated paid maternity leave? Cristen and Caroline trace the origin of America's paltry postnatal care to World War II and the business behind the American Dream. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online dating offers documentary proof of men not handling women's sexual rejection gracefully. Cristen and Caroline talk about what happens when masculinity constructs and swiping left collide and why straight guys sometimes can't take 'no' for an answer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In her new book, author Jessa Crispin travels the world solo, following in the footsteps of artists who've come before. Caroline and Cristen chat with the writer and Bookslut founder about trading complacency for carrying your own bag. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Trans-exclusionary radical feminists," or TERFs, is considered a slur. Yet, some radical feminists who define womanhood through biology rather than gender identity exist. Cristen and Caroline explore how this transphobia has impacted feminism, women's colleges and public perceptions of what radical feminism means. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnyst...

Betty Friedan, author of "The Feminine Mystique," once infamously referred to radical lesbian feminists as a "lavender menace" that threatened the credibility of the National Organization for Women. Cristen and Caroline revisit the homophobic rift within second-wave feminism and the development of lesbian feminism in the 1970s. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.c...

Nicknamed Mother to the World, Margaret Mead was an icon of cultural anthropology who laid an academic foundation for the sexual revolution and second wave feminism. Cristen and Caroline explore Margaret Mead's fascinating backstory, love life and intellectual legacy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthropology, or the study of past and present humans, was a discipline largely developed by and focused on men. Cristen and Caroline examine how pioneering women anthropologists and the rise of feminist anthropology changed mainstream ideas about gender, sex and women's roles. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Did women samurai exist in ancient Japan? Cristen and Caroline uncover the truth about Japanese women warriors and how their uncommon backstories became the stuff of legend. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fetishization of East Asian women, derisively referred to as "yellow fever," is as old as the Silk Road. Cristen and Caroline unpack the history and Hollywood perpetuation of stereotyping Asian women as either submissive lotus flowers or cunning dragon ladies, defined only by their exoticism and sexuality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio....

Why are women on social media intentionally letting their nips slip? Cristen and Caroline discuss the history and celebrity-fueled rise of the Free the Nipple movement and what bare nipples have to do with gender equality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know it's legal in most states for women to go topless? Cristen and Caroline explore the history of men and women taking off their shirts in public and why toplessness is a feminist issue. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nina Simone was a musical prodigy and civil rights activist whose iconic voice and style shaped the sound of modern jazz and soul. Cristen and Caroline explore the tempestuous woman behind the artistic legend and how racism compelled and complicated her career. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is borderline personality disorder, and why did doctors think it disproportionately affected women? Cristen and Caroline examine the history and emerging treatments of this mental health condition that continues to puzzle practitioners. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1970s, Germaine Greer encouraged women to taste their own menstrual blood. These days, artists are creating work about periods to help erase the menstruation stigma. Cristen and Caroline look at the evolution of period pride and discuss whether the in-your-face attitude is actually helping. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener...

Chicks Who Script is a hilarious and insightful podcast focusing on women and the film industry. Screenwriters Lauren Schacher, Maggie F. Levin and Emily Blake talk with Cristen and Caroline about sexism, staying motivated and their own writer role models. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throwing Shade is podcasting's funniest weekly commentary on feminist and LGBT issues. Cristen and Caroline talk to comedians and hosts Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi about how they met at Current TV, how comedy intersects with their activism and the importance of listening to your inner witch. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Women across Instagram are wearing corsets while they work out. No really. Cristen and Caroline take on the waist training exercise fad by consulting corset history, waist training-wary doctors and studies suggesting shapewear should be worn with caution. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Black Girls Talking is a must-hear podcast on pop culture, representation, and feminism hosted by Alesia, Fatima, Ramou and Aurelia. Cristen and Caroline chat with hosts Alesia and Aurelia about the podcast's origin story, exceptionalism and white privilege, and why feminism is a verb. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

When it comes to bathroom hygiene, access and safety, peeing standing up is a legitimate concern for many women and trans men. Cristen and Caroline talk female urinary devices (FUDs), from the first lady to patent one in 1918 to why the U.S. government has spent money analyzing FUDs on the market. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener...