Imagine discovering you’re pregnant and you’re given no choice but to go into hiding, secretly give birth, never see your baby again and pretend it never happened. That was the norm during the pre-Roe “Baby Scoop Era” when roughly 1.5 million mostly white women were sent off to homes for unwed mothers. It was also a secret Tracy Clark-Flory uncovered about her own mom and the sister she never knew she had. Tracy talks to Cristen about the system designed to conceal white women’s sexuality, stigmatize single Black mothers and forcibly reallocate babies to “deserving” parents, as well as its generational ripple effects she writes about in her new memoir, My Mother’s Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family’s Fractured Past. ~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From prediction markets like Kalshi and its youngest self-made female billionaire cofounder to sports betting partnerships with the WNBA, the gambling boom's play for women has all the predictable moves of a gendered marketing story, except they're inside of an unreal game playing out, thanks to the wonders of capitalism (and MAGA).Cristen got on Polymarket, Kalshi and is still spiritually recovering from the amount of $$$ Americans bet on sports last year, prediction markets embedding in journalism and a certain someone's resemblance to former youngest self-made female billionaire, Elizabeth Holmes. ~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram, or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Better late than never read! In March, Adult Braces – and three unfortunate emails to a Slate reporter – inspired a thousand Substack hot takes, reactionary declarations of failed feminism and social media rage against Lindy West’s husband, Aham Oluo. Now that Cristen’s finished the book, and the controversy’s faded out from our feeds, the drama looks a lot like a feminist Scandoval: a parasocial fandom reckoning with the gaps between a woman's public politics, private relationships and the marriage she’s choosing to stay in. ~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram, or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The perimenopause boom is old news, but where did it come from, and why does it make some ob-gyns wary? Cristen investigates what we do – and don’t – know about perimenopause and what to expect when you’re expecting The Change(s). And as an industry “growth opportunity” at the intersection of beauty, aging and healthcare (usually in that order), how do we tell the difference between our own perimenopause needs and what’s being sold to us? Highlights include: perimenopause, the TikTok personality; the study that set hormone therapy back a generation; and why the menopause market is now coming for women in their thirties.~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram, or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the “soft swinging” scandal that launched it all to leaked domestic violence footage, restraining orders, and The Bachelorette cancellation, Cristen breaks down the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives chaos, what it reveals about our appetite for female dysfunction, relationship abuse as reality TV drama, and whether we've officially hit peak Mormon cultural moment.~special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Birth rates are down, pronatalism is up, and having two kids isn't enough (allegedly). Cristen unpacks the trio of contradictions defining "real" American womanhood right now: the political pressure to procreate, fake science masquerading as chivalry, and "zero trimester" influencers monetizing fertility anxiety. Plus: medication abortion in the courts, maternal regret in The Cut, and seeking comfort in adult cradles. ~special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do toned arms, “wonky” eyes, and collar bone angles prove about your gender? Nothing. Nevertheless, the digital phrenology of transvestigation persisted. But how?? Digital culture researcher Lexi Webster decodes the conspiracy genre where all celebrities (and most First Ladies) are “secretly trans” and skull-measuring pseudoscience rules, then political scholar Fran Amery connects transvestigation brainrot to very real organized transphobia, uniting feminist factions with the far right in the name of protecting women. Originally aired on Conspiracy, She Wrote in September 2024.~special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you~ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sharing a special episode this week from Dr. Sharon Malone. On Dr. Sharon’s new podcast, The Second Opinion, women take back the conversation on health with straight talk, real experience, and the care we all deserve. You’ll hear prominent female advocates, experts and patients just like you sharing how they confronted gaps in our healthcare system and got second opinions that saved their lives. Alongside each guest, Dr. Sharon tackles the questions and topics we’ve been conditioned to ignore — the ones we search for at 3 a.m. but never bring up at the doctor’s office. From dismissed symptoms to systemic failures, she pulls back the curtain on what’s really going on in women’s health and gives women the tools to advocate for themselves and each other. In this episode, Dr. Sharon talks to Board Certified Ob/GYN and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon, Dr. Karen Tang. The two unpack the evolution of Obstetrics Gynecology, the different OB-GYN subspecialties, and surgical options for reproductive health. Plus, Dr. Tang shares experiences patients may have on the surgical table and why you may want to choose a minimally invasive surgery for gynecologic conditions. Find more episodes of The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon Malone at https://link.mgln.ai/unladylike Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author Jo Piazza (Under the Influence) and Cristen don their milkmaid dresses to talk tradwives, elusive tradhusbands and the hustle. From homeschooling curriculum to MAHA-approved supplements, tradwife influencers are serving up a fantasy of submission—and becoming breadwinners while they’re at it. Jo unpacks why it's so lucrative, the research behind her new tradwife thriller Everyone Is Lying to You, the pink-pilled pipeline pulling women rightward, and the prairie-core dream versus generational wealth realities.**For ad-free bonus episodes and uncut guest interviews, join the Unladies Room Patreon. Get in touch on Instagram @unladylikemedia, and/or subscribe to the newsletter at unladylike.substack.com.** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When womanhood is reduced to a capitalist identity, who gets erased—and who gets empowered to do the erasing? In the final episode of Gender War Games, host Cristen Conger joins Material Girls co-hosts Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman to unpack how white womanhood is activated—politically, culturally, algorithmically—to reinforce systems of power. From tradwife aesthetics to terf rhetoric, strategic essentialism to state violence, discover how white femininity gets mobilized as both soft power and backlash engine in the so-called gender wars. (00:00) Gender Equality Survey Says...(00:59) The Real Societal Tension: Wealth Inequality(03:37) Strategic Essentialism and Gender Categories(08:37) Scapegoating and Transphobia(12:01) Gender as a Technology(14:45) Capitalism, Social Reproduction and Gender Roles(18:46) Masculinity Crisis By Design(26:44) Racial Capitalism(31:18) The Political Weaponization of Gender(39:59) Community Building Beyond IndividualismFor ad-free bonus episodes and uncut guest interviews, visit patreon.com/unladylikemedia. Get in touch on Instagram @unladylikemedia, and/or subscribe to the newsletter at unladylike.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.