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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  Today, I am speaking to award-winning fashion stylist, lifestyle blogger, and podcaster Tara West about the positives and negatives of the fashion industry.

In “Episode 19: The Fashion Industry: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” we discuss the powerful force that is the fashion industry and how it shapes culture, identity, and even politics. We discuss its dark side, including environmental dangers, exploitation of labor, poor representation, and unrealistic beauty standards, but also how we can harness its power to empower ourselves and for others.

Here are some topics we discuss:

• The fashion industry’s influence in creating unrealistic beauty standards
• Poor representation of women, LGTBQ+, and people with disabilities
• How the fashion industry is evolving
• How fashion can be a tool of empowerment
• What is empowering vs. exploitative to women
• Embracing femininity and recognizing its power
• Using fashion to push back against gender stereotypes
• Environmental dangers of fast fashion
• Fashion as a tool of protest 

Tune in on Monday, April 7, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

Where to connect with Tara West: 

Website: TARA WEST FASHION

Podcast: Shorts: Beyond Measure w/ Tara, Caroline & Allison

Instagram: Instagram (@tarawestfashion)

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• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  Today, I am speaking to sociology professor, award-winning teacher, expert on families, school, and inequalities, and author, Jessica Calarco, about her book Holding it Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net.

In “Episode 18: Women: Society’s Safety Net”, Dr. Calarco offers insights from her groundbreaking research on how women’s labor is undervalued, often taken for granted, and routinely left unpaid.  We discuss societal myths, how we can push back against these harmful narratives, and advocate for better policies to create a more equitable future.

Here are some of the topics we discuss: 

• Examples of how women are society’s safety net
• How the COVID-19 pandemic starkly brought these inequities to light
• Harmful myths that contribute to this problem, including: the Myth of Meritocracy, the Mars-Venus Myth, the Supermom Myth, the Myth of Good Choices
• Socioeconomic impacts of social policies on women
• How women are forced into motherhood
• Men’s incentives to avoid care work
• The appeal of the “trad wife” trend
• The outsize influence of billionaires and corporations on policies
• Policies in other countries with greater gender equality that do work

Tune in on Monday, March 17, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

Where to connect with Jessica Calarco:

Website: Jessica Calarco

Bluesky: Jess Calarco (@jessicacalarco.bsky.social)

Instagram: Instagram (@jesscalarco)

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jesscalarco

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Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  Today, I am speaking to Afghan women’s rights activist and writer Mina Sharif about the dire situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.

In “Episode 17: Global Women’s Voices: Afghanistan”, Mina brings her background, experience, and insights as an Afghan woman, volunteer, and advocate to share about the culture and life of women in Afghanistan, discuss the current challenges, and what we as global citizens and women's rights activists can do to support them.

Here are some of the topics we discuss:

• Afghan culture and misconceptions about it
• A brief overview of women’s rights in Afghanistan
• Life under Taliban rule and impact of restrictions on the people of Afghanistan
• The dismal state of legal and reproductive rights and healthcare for women
• Resistance efforts to fight for basic human rights
• Cultural preservation efforts
• Pros and cons of international aid and policies
• How best to help women of Afghanistan

Tune in on Monday, March 3, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

Where to connect with Mina Sharif:

Instagram: Instagram (@missminakabul)

Website: mina sharif

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  Today, I am speaking to the National Policy Coordinator for Period, Sydney Ramon, about the critical topic of menstrual health equity.

In “Episode 16: Menstrual Rights”, Sydney brings her experience in public policy and nonprofit leadership to discuss how we can eradicate period poverty and menstrual stigma through advocacy, education, and service.

 

Here are some of the topics we discuss: 

• What is period poverty and what contributes to it
• What is the tampon tax and what efforts are being made to eliminate it
• Efforts to increase access to menstrual products and other efforts to eliminate period poverty
• Impacts of menstrual stigma and shame
• The lack of and need for menstrual health education among young people
• How lack of access to menstrual products, menstrual stigma, and lack of menstrual health education all contribute to menstrual inequity and overall poorer health and life outcomes
• Intersectional barriers to menstrual equity: socioeconomic, racial, and gender factors
• Home ’s efforts in advocacy and education, nationally and in schools and communities
• Call to action, how you can help

 

Tune in on Monday, February 17, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Sydney Ramon and Period:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneyraeramon/

Website:  Period

TikTok: PERIOD on TikTok

Instagram: Instagram (@periodmovement)

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  Today, I'm speaking to sex educator and executive producer and host of The Sex Ed with DB Podcast,  Danielle Bezalel, aka “DB”, about the deeply flawed state of sexual health education in the US. 

In “Episode 15: The Sex Ed Crisis”, Danielle brings her expertise in comprehensive sexual health education to discuss how our inadequate, outdated, and shame-based sex ed programs are failing young people and what we can do to change that.

 

Here are some of the topics we discuss:

• The current state of sexual health education in the US
• Religious and cultural influence on sex education, particularly purity culture
• The harmful messages shared in abstinence-only programs
• Goals of comprehensive sexual education
• The need for mandated consent education
• The rise of misogyny and rape culture
• Providing age appropriate sex education to children in the home and at school
• Harms of poor sex ed, including increased risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
• Better, international models for comprehensive sexual education

 

Resources referenced in this episode:

Guttmacher Institute: Sex Education and HIV Education

 

Tune in on Monday, February 3, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Danielle Bezalel: 

Instagram:  @‌sexedwithdbpodcast  Instagram (@sexedwithdbpodcast)

TikTok: @‌sexedwithdb Sex Ed with DB on TikTok

Twitter/X: @‌sexedwithdb  Sex Ed with DB (@SexEdwithDB) on X

Email: [email protected]

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast!  In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I am thrilled to feature emergency physician, founder of Advancing Health Equity, and author Dr. Uché Blackstock to discuss her New York Times bestselling memoir Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.

In “Episode 14: Reflections of a Black Physician in America”, Dr. Blackstock shares some of her personal stories as a patient and doctor within the healthcare system, weaving in her knowledge about the impact of systemic racism on patients of color, and her work to create a more equitable healthcare system.

 

Here are some of the topics we discuss: 

• The underrepresentation of Black physicians in medicine and declining numbers despite diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts
• Systemic racism and its impacts on social determinants of health
• Her personal experience as a patient that led to misdiagnosis, delay in care, and complications
• Her personal experiences with racism as a physician and working in academia
• Disparities in care at public versus private hospitals, reflecting the populations they serve
• The inherent political nature of healthcare and physicians’ roles as activists
• Her current work and mission to advance health equity

 

Tune in on Thursday, January 20, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Uché Blackstock, MD: 

Instagram:  @‌ucheblackstockmd Instagram (@ucheblackstockmd)

Bluesky: @‌ucheblackstockmd  Uché Blackstock, MD (@ucheblackstockmd.bsky.social)

Twitter/X: @‌uche_blackstock  uché blackstock, md (@uche_blackstock) on X

Facebook: @‌uche.blackstock  https://www.facebook.com/uche.blackstock

TikTok:  @‌ucheblackstockmd  Uché Blackstock, MD on TikTok

LinkedIn: @‌uche-blackstock-md  https://www.linkedin.com/in/uche-blackstock-md/

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to season 2 of The Gynarchy Podcast!  We’re kicking off the new year with an episode on healthy eating with Dr. Nisha Patel, an internal medicine physician who specializes in obesity, menopause, lipid, cardiometabolic health, and culinary medicine.

In “Healthy Eating for Women” we discuss the confusing and ever-evolving world of nutrition for women and Dr. Nisha Patel gives practical advice for healthy eating with a focus on cardiometabolic health and prevention of disease.

 

Here’s what we’ll cover: 

• Developing “culinary literacy” and healthy eating habits
• What is a healthy diet anyway?
• What is the body mass index (BMI) and is it still useful?  What should your weight and health goals be?
• Thoughts on diets such as keto, raw meat/milk, and vegetarian and vegan lifestyles
• Healthy eating with a whole foods, plant-forward emphasis
• How much protein does one need?
• Are “low carb” and “low fat” foods healthier?
• Women's dietary needs throughout life
• The difference between nutritionists and registered dieticians
• Focusing on overall well-being and health, strength, and longevity over patriarchal standards of weight / beauty

Resources referenced in episode:

• Rouxbe Online Culinary School
• American College of Culinary Medicine
• Stuart Phillips

Tune in on Thursday, January 9, 2025 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Nisha Patel, MD:

Instagram:  @‌DrPlantel Instagram (@drplantel)

Twitter/X:  @‌DrPlantel Nisha Patel, MD MS, Dipl of ABOM, CCMS (@DrPlantel) on X

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast! Today, I have the honor of featuring Nisha Pahuja, an Indian-Canadian documentary filmmaker of the Emmy-nominated The World Before Her and the Oscar- and Peabody-nominated To Kill a Tiger (released on Netflix in March this year) to discuss her films, which focus on the experiences of girls and women in India. 

In "Global Women's Voices: India” we explore Nisha Pahuja's journey as a filmmaker dedicated to amplifying the stories and struggles of women from the Indian diaspora.

 

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Nisha Pahuja's background and her inspiration to focus on Indian women’s stories
• Highlights and key themes from her documentary To Kill a Tiger, which followed gang-rape survivor Kiran as she and her family deal with the aftermath of her assault and seek justice
• Highlights and key themes from her other documentaries, including Bollywood Bound and The World Before Her, and one in development, Send Us Your Brother
• The cultural norms and societal expectations that affect Indian women, specifically Hindu women
• The dangers of misogyny and sexism in the deeply patriarchal culture of India, and how it negatively impacts both women and men
• Envisioning a path forward, how to change culture
• Stories of empowerment, resilience, and activism depicted in her films
• The impact her films have had in India and the world to create social change

 

This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about global women's issues and the transformative power of storytelling. Join me for an enlightening conversation with Nisha Pahuja that will inspire you to advocate for women's voices worldwide.

Tune in on Monday, October 14, 2024 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Nisha Pahuja:

• Instagram:  @‌nishappics  Instagram (@nishappics)
• Twitter: @‌NishaPahuja  Nisha Pahuja (@NishaPahuja) on X
• Website / Donate to Women’ Make Movies: DONATE

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Welcome to another episode of The Gynarchy Podcast! Today, I am excited to be joined by Jody Willson, a former business attorney for over 20 years, now a high conflict divorce expert and coach, a family court reform activist, and a legislative policy influencer, to discuss the interesting topic of declining marriage and childbirth rates. 

In "Declines in Marriage and Childbirth," we discuss the social, economic, and cultural factors contributing to these trends and whether these trends are a cause for concern. Jody shares her insights on how these shifts are reshaping views about family structures and society at large.

 

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Jody Willson’s background and expertise
• The economic, cultural, and societal influences causing these declines
• Questioning if these declines are really a cause for alarm
• The evolution and cultural shift in views about marriage and family
• The role of feminism, changing family structures, and shifting views of gender roles
• The impact of capitalism and economic changes
• The concurrent population and environmental crises

 

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in understanding the evolving dynamics of marriage and family life.

Tune in on Monday, October 7, 2024 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Jody Willson:

• Website: High-Conflict Divorce Coach for Positive Family Outcomes
• YouTube: Jody Willson Divorce Consulting - JWDC
• Instagram: @‌highconflictdivorceexpert  Instagram (@highconflictdivorceexpert)
• Tiktok: @‌willsondivorceconsulting 
• Facebook: High Conflict Divorce Expert
• For her recommended reading: https://info.highconflictdivorceexpert.com/

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions about intimate partner violence, including accounts of abuse, trauma, and its impact on mental and physical health. Listener discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is affected by intimate partner violence, please seek support from a trusted individual or contact a local support service for help. The National Domestic Violence Hotline in the US can be reached at 800-799-7233.

Welcome to an important episode of The Gynarchy Podcast. Today, I am honored to be joined by Amy Kaufman, a survivor of intimate partner violence (IPV) and an advocate who is dedicated to raising awareness and supporting others in their journey to healing. 

In "Intimate Partner Violence," we discuss the realities of IPV, the effects on survivors, the challenges of leaving these situations, and advice on how to escape. Amy shares her personal story, offering insights and hope to others who may be experiencing similar challenges.

 

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Amy Kaufman shares her story of survival
• We discuss tactics used by abusers, including love bombing, coercive control, and psychological manipulation
• Recognizing the various types of abuse, including physical, emotional, psychological, and financial
• How pregnancy and children can be used as a tool to entrap victims
• Challenges that can make leaving these situations difficult
• How to document abuse
• Challenges within the legal system
• The importance of a support system
• Advice to those who are in abusive situations and seeking help

 

This episode is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of intimate partner violence and support those affected by it.

Tune in on Monday, September 30, 2024 and make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all our episodes.

 

Where to connect with Amy Kaufman:

• Twitter: @‌amykaufman84 (https://x.com/amykaufman84)

 

Support the show

Follow Us for Updates:‌

• Bluesky: @thegynarchy
• Instagram: @thegynarchy
• TikTok: @thegynarchy
• YouTube: @thegynarchy

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Website: www.thegynarchypodcast.com

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Medical disclaimer: The content provided on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.