A Woman’s Place

What does it really cost to survive in America today? In this episode, we explore the growing gap between the federal poverty line and the actual cost of living through the lens of ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
Developed by United Way, ALICE is a framework that looks beyond the federal poverty line to measure what households actually need to afford basic necessities in the communities where they live. ALICE represents people who are working and earning above the federal poverty level but still don’t make enough to cover essentials like housing, childcare, food, healthcare, and transportation.
We also discuss how rising costs and stagnant wages disproportionately impact women and families, shape decisions around marriage and children, and contribute to ongoing financial stress. 
Resources: ALICE Report - United Way Suncoast, UnitedForALICE

In this episode, we sit down with lawyer, activist, and author Carolyn McConnell to discuss her book, Motherhood Discounted, and the ways society undervalues motherhood, caregiving, and dependency. Drawing from her own experience becoming a mother, Carolyn explores how care work became largely invisible and why work associated with women continues to be unpaid or underpaid.
We unpack the myth of complete independence, the growing expectations placed on mothers, the long-term economic consequences of caregiving, and the challenges facing families when everyone is working but there is little time or support for care. Carolyn challenges us to rethink what we value and to recognize caregiving for what it is: essential work that makes families, communities, and our economy possible.
Resources: Carolyn McConnell's Website  

In Part 2, we continue our conversation with renowned historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz as we examine why nostalgia for the “traditional family” is so powerful and so often misleading. Drawing parallels from the 1920s through the postwar era to today, we explore how changing gender roles have repeatedly fueled cultural backlash and how frustration with economic inequality is often redirected toward women and family life.
 
We unpack the pressures facing modern relationships, including financial insecurity, longer working hours, parenting demands, and higher expectations for emotional intimacy, equality, and personal growth. Rather than blaming changing family structures, we ask what people are truly longing for and whether the problem is less about marriage itself and more about an economy that has made stability increasingly difficult to achieve.
 
Resources: For Better and Worse – The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage | Stephanie Coontz, Stephanie Coontz Instagram, Stephanie Coontz Facebook

What if everything you thought you knew about "traditional marriage" was wrong?
In part one of this eye-opening conversation with renowned historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz, author of For Better and For Worse, we unpack the surprising history of marriage and the cultural myths that continue to shape our relationships today.
From the rise of the male breadwinner to the evolving roles of masculinity, gender, sexuality, and religion, Stephanie reveals how marriage has constantly adapted to the world around it. The history of marriage is far more surprising, and far less "traditional," than most of us realize.
Resources: For Better and Worse – The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage | Stephanie Coontz, Stephanie Coontz Facebook, Stephanie Coontz Instagram

Women aren't ruining everything...they're redefining what's possible. So why does that make some people so nervous?
In this episode, we're digging into one of the biggest social shifts of the last 50 years, from women marrying later and building independent lives to changing family dynamics, careers, and relationships. Along the way, we examine the data behind these changes, exploring the remarkable progress women have made in education, workforce participation, homeownership, and economic independence, alongside dramatic shifts in marriage, parenthood, and family life. We explore what's really behind today's backlash against gender equality and ask the question: Why is women's progress so often framed as men's loss?
Join us as we explore the data, challenge assumptions, and unpack what these changes reveal about the evolving roles of women, men, and modern society.
Resources: Sarasota Herald Tribune: Women Have Ruined Everything – E. Scott Osborne

More than 90% of women were married by age 30 in 1970. Many couldn't get a credit card, open a bank account, or access birth control without a man's permission. That's not ancient history. That's within a lifetime. In this episode, we take a hard look at how women's lives have changed over the past half-century. In just a few decades, women went from being financially dependent on men and largely excluded from many opportunities to having unprecedented access to education, careers, and personal autonomy. Few social changes have happened this quickly or reshaped daily life so profoundly. We'll unpack what changed, what those changes have meant for all of us, and why one of the most significant social transformations in modern history continues to generate such strong reactions.
Resources: Sarasota Herald Tribune: Women Have Ruined Everything – E. Scott Osborne, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage

In Part Two of our Gender and Media series, we explore how gender representation in media shapes the way we see ourselves and others. Why are women still only a third of podcasters? And what does that say about the stories we hear, the experts we trust, and the roles we expect people to play?
From cartoons and commercials to reality TV and news programming, media influences our beliefs, expectations, and understanding of who holds authority and whose stories are told. We discuss the impact of gender stereotypes, the messages we've been absorbing since childhood, and whether media is simply reflecting society, or actively shaping what we think is "normal."
Join us for a thought-provoking conversation about representation, bias, and how becoming more aware of the media we consume can help us challenge assumptions, broaden our perspectives, and better understand the world around us.
Resources: Heavy Consumption of Reality TV May Reinforce Gender Roles for Adolescents, Gender Bias with Borders: An Investigation of Female Characters in Popular Films Across 11 Countries Gender Bias with Borders: page - Geena Davis Institute, My Books | Danielle J. Lindemann, “What Reality TV Says About Us” — with Danielle J. Lindemann - YouTube, Gender Stereotypes in Children's Cartoons, Gender Roles and Stereotypes - YouTube, Through Women's Eyes, The Fuller Project

In part two, we continue the conversation with legal scholar and author Deborah Tuerkheimer, exploring the complex legal and cultural realities surrounding sexual assault and why the burden so often falls on victims instead of perpetrators. From the enduring myth of the “monster abuser” to the legal system’s built-in skepticism toward survivors, this conversation examines how cultural narratives shape our willingness to believe allegations, especially when they involve people in positions of power.
We also discuss how patriarchy remains embedded within both criminal and civil legal systems, creating barriers that make coming forward, and being believed, extraordinarily difficult.
Resources: Credible – HarperCollins, Deborah Tuerkheimer, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline, On Repentance and Repair, Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales and the Post-Post-#MeToo Era

In this episode of A Woman’s Place, we sit down with Anne LeBaron, CEO of Take Stock in Children of Manatee County, to explore how mentorship, education, and opportunity can transform the lives of young women and underserved students. Anne shares the powerful mission behind the organization’s work to break the cycle of poverty through scholarships, mentorship, and long-term student support. Together, we discuss the unique barriers girls still face in education and leadership, the role confidence and belonging play in shaping future success, and why mentorship continues to matter more than ever. Join an honest and empowering discussion about investing in girls, building stronger futures, and what can happen when a community chooses to believe in its young people.
Resources: Take Stock in Children Website

If media has the power to shape our worldview, whose version are we getting?
In Part 1 of this series, we explore how media, from films and podcasts to books and advertising, quietly shape our ideas about power, authority, and whose voices hold value.
The reality? Men still dominate the narratives, both on-screen and behind the scenes, framing male perspectives as the default and setting the tone for what we see as credible, influential, and true.
But that’s only one version of the world, not the full picture.
This episode is a call to pause and question what you’re consuming. Get curious. Ask who’s creating what you watch, read, and listen to, and whose perspective might be missing. Because media doesn’t just reflect our world, it decides who gets to define it.
Resources: Gender and media - GSDRC, Gender Bias in Advertising: Research, Trends and New Visual Language, Online images may be turning back the clock on gender bias, research finds - Haas News, USC Annenberg releases a new study exploring the gender and race/ethnicity of hosts and guests of popular podcasts, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Half the world, only a quarter of the news: Women appear or are heard in just 26 per cent of all broadcast, radio and print clips, Get the Facts About Women in the Arts | NMWA, Revolutionary Art: Gender and Racial Inequality in the Art World, The Surprising Source Of Gender Bias In Theater : NPR, Through Women's Eyes