The traditional image of the stay-at-home mother didn’t emerge by chance. It was intentionally created by marketers and industry leaders to meet economic needs during America’s industrial boom.

In this episode, we uncover how economic forces, and deliberate cultural messaging crafted a myth of motherhood that pushed women out of paid work and into the home. This manufactured ideal still shapes workplaces and family expectations today. But what happens when reality doesn’t match the marketing?

Featuring Lisa Selin Davis, author of Housewife, Reshma Saujani, CEO of Moms First, Chris Herbst, professor at Arizona State University, Barbara J. Risman, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago), and journalist Josie Cox, author of Women, Money, Power.

Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

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