69: Rocking the life unexpected with Jody Day
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to today's episode of Unclassified Woman. As we conclude Season 3, it seems fitting to share this conversation with Jody Day, who was the first ever interviewee on Unclassified Woman a few years ago. How do you combat society’s ideology about those who are on the “outside”? It’s not an easy task, but one that a few brave people are called upon to challenge. Today’s show is all about how we approach taboo topics, the dominance of pro-natalistic thinking and current trends in the way families are formed. Don’t miss this eye-opening conversation! "I found myself in...
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68: Unchained and unbothered with Keturah Kendrick
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to today's episode of Unclassified Woman. Today I'm speaking to Shanghai based Keturah Kendrick, who shares her perspective on being childfree by choice. Whose voice do you listen to most? When it comes to marriage and having children, it seems that everyone has an opinion regarding how YOU should live your life. Today’s show is all about listening to YOUR voice and making the choices that make YOU happy. Keturah Kendrick is an American writer, blogger and podcaster who has lived on three different continents and travelled to more than a dozen countries. For years she has written...
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67: Putting Women Back into Women's Health with Kate Powe
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to another great episode of Unclassified Woman! Today, I'm speaking to the lovely Kate Powe. Many people make assumptions about others without even realising it. We see a woman in her 40’s without children and assume she is selfish or too career-oriented to take time to raise children. Often there are circumstances playing out behind the scenes that we just aren’t aware of. Today’s show focuses on the problems that endometriosis can cause in terms of fertility and family-building and the need for women to have the knowledge about their bodies to make empowered...
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66: The Female Orator with Adebisi Adewusi
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to another episode of Unclassified Woman. Today I'm delighted to share my conversation with Adebisi Adewusi, based in Nigeria. How much courage does it take to REALLY go against what society deems the norm? As far as women’s rights and feminism have come, we sometimes forget that there are places in the world where women don’t have independence and are truly stigmatised for making 'unusual' choices. Today’s show is about someone who walks her own path and shares her own truth with immense courage. What was even more humbling is how modest she is about her choices. I...
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65: How to be Chic with Fiona Ferris
Unclassified Woman
Are you content with the way things have turned out in your life? Some people spend too much time and energy living with regret or wistfulness for what they WISHED would have happened. Today’s show is about embracing what life gives you and running with it to follow your personal path to gratitude, satisfaction, and peace. Fiona Ferris lives in beautiful Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. She writes about living a simple, beautiful, and successful life and believes you don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it. Through her books on Amazon and her popular blog, How to be Chic, Fiona provides...
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64: Mermaid & Swan Magic with Seren Bertrand
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to another fascinating episode of Unclassified Woman. It's a biggie so grab a cuppa and a journal ;-) Today I'm speaking with a treasured mentor of mine, Seren Bertrand. It's always such a pleasure to speak to her as she weaves together so many colourful threads of wisdom in what she shares. What do mermaids, swans, Isis, harps, and Cornwall have in common? You might be surprised---and you’ll never know if you don’t listen to this amazing conversation in today’s show. We’re talking about feminine consciousness, Celtic traditions, the interconnectedness between the human body...
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63: Walking your true path with Azraella Raphael
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to Unclassified Woman and today's episode features the very inspiring Azraella Raphael, a native of New Zealand, who is based in Sydney, Australia. Azraella is an angelic healer and activator of angelic consciousness. She began her journey many years ago when seeking fulfilment in life in understanding why she’s here, what purpose she offers, and with asking herself, “How can I serve others?” Azraella’s journey began when she activated her own angelic consciousness and connected to her higher-knowing self to bring through a different set of life skills, using healing and...
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62: My So-called Selfish Life with Therese Shechter
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to Unclassified Woman and today's episode is with another wonderful lady, Therese Shechter, whom I could have spoken to all day! How many people have children because it seems “the thing to do”? Most of us grow up with the pressure to follow what society deems “normal.” My guest today, Therese Shechter, was 40 years old when she realised she really could make her own decisions and follow her own path, and for her, it was feminism that helped her figure out what she wanted in life. Therese Shechter is a filmmaker, writer, and multimedia storyteller from Brooklyn, New York. Her...
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61: The Childfree with Dr. Kimya N Dennis
Unclassified Woman
Welcome! I'm delighted to share another great episode of Unclassified Woman. Today I'm speaking to the inspiring Dr Kimya N Dennis in Salem, North Carolina, USA. How much actual freedom are you willing to give people in their beliefs? Most people fall into the trap of trying to impose their beliefs on others in some way. Liberals, for example, will speak of freedom in many areas of life, but they still hold onto pro-natal opinions about people having children. My guest today explores with intellect, experience and research the topic of being childfree by choice. Dr. Kimya N Dennis is a...
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60: A Womb With A View with Jennifer Miller
Unclassified Woman
Welcome to another great episode of Unclassified Woman! Can one person really make a difference? So many times, we resign ourselves to the fact that “it is what it is.” We want society’s perceptions or opinions to change, but what can we do to affect the change? In today’s show, you’ll meet a woman who decided to use her talents to create a film to help build awareness---and hopefully, change the narrative around living as a woman without children. "Having a child is one of the most beautiful experiences a woman can have, but it is not the ONLY experience a woman can...
info_outlineWelcome to Unclassified Woman and today's episode is with another wonderful lady, Therese Shechter, whom I could have spoken to all day!
How many people have children because it seems “the thing to do”? Most of us grow up with the pressure to follow what society deems “normal.” My guest today, Therese Shechter, was 40 years old when she realised she really could make her own decisions and follow her own path, and for her, it was feminism that helped her figure out what she wanted in life.
Therese Shechter is a filmmaker, writer, and multimedia storyteller from Brooklyn, New York. Her work fuses humour and personal storytelling to disrupt what’s considered most sacred about womanhood. She’s currently writing and directing My So-Called Selfish Life, an in-progress documentary about women who choose not to have children in a culture where motherhood feels mandatory.
Her previous documentaries include How to Lose Your Virginity, about the myth and misogyny around our most precious gift. She also curates the interactive crowd-sourced story collection, The VCard Diaries, which was recently exhibited at the Kinsey Institute. Her films, including the award-winning documentaries, I Was a Teenage Feminist and How I Learned to Speak Turkish, have screened in festivals, college classrooms, and on television from Rio to Seoul to Istanbul.
Therese’s work has been covered in the Atlantic, Salon, Elle, Jezebel, The Guardian, and the Jakarta Globe, amongst others. In her spare time, she co-hosts Downton Gabby, a podcast that discusses media by and about women.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- Why it was a personal choice for Therese to not have children, to the point of her being vocal about it in high school.
- How Therese explored beliefs and desires that were very different than her sister’s about marriage, career, and family.
- How every woman feels the pressure to follow what the outside world thinks should be a woman’s identity.
- The liberating clarity and realisations at age 40 that she could create her own path.
- How Therese felt no pressure from friends and family as such, but felt pressure more from society and media about how she 'should' live her life.
- How feminism helped her figure out what she wanted in life.
- How a 70’s TV show defied all conventional wisdom and blew her mind with possibilities.
- The push to make My So-Called Selfish Life.
- The backlash and conversations that occur when people feel free to open up about their stories around motherhood.
- Why we should question society’s norms about womanhood. How womanhood and motherhood are NOT equivalent.
- How our economy, history, and the media perpetuate beliefs about what is “normal and accepted”.
- Some sensitive topics covered in the film are sterilisation, regret about motherhood, and fertility treatments.
- The messages sent to young women by cultural and religious groups and how limiting and damaging these can be.
- Why there is more than one path in life, but society presents only one that’s deemed “normal”.
- How talking about our beliefs provides a sense of community--”Telling the truth about our lives keeps us from feeling lonely.” said Sheila Heti.
- The film’s projected release date: August 1, 2019--and why that date is significant.
- How Therese shows her creative expression (and gains MUCH satisfaction) through singing show tunes, baking, paper engineering, graphic design, writing, and her podcast.
- Why not everything in life should be attributed to a “thwarted maternal drive”.
- Why it’s OK to be ambivalent about motherhood and to have a conversation with yourself about what you truly need and want
- Even skin colour affects the pressure we feel, because not everyone has the same privileges and some women don’t have the same level of control over their lives.
- The myth of “the urge of the biological clock”--”The desire for children is NOT innate within every woman.”
- The bottom line: We won’t all agree, but we need open and meaningful conversations about these topics.
Resources:
A book we discussed, Motherhood by Sheila Heti
Free to Be You and Me TV special: www.freetobefoundation.com
If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help more women access these stories, then please subscribe and leave us a review or rating on Itunes. For more episodes go to michellemariemcgrath.com