Book explores parenting and feminism
A collection of writings by authors from around the world explores parenting and feminism.
Kandee Kosior, who grew up in Saskatchewan and now lives in California, is one of the editors of Feminist Parenting.
"I became a feminist before I became a parent," Kosior told CBC Radio host Shauna Powers. "I knew I was going to want to ... bring my feminist ideologies into my practice of parenting. Before I had children I sort of had a great idea on how that was going to happen."
Kosior said she anticipated part of her strategy, as a parent, would involve being sensitive to gender specific terms.
"I thought I would probably be rather straightforward and use gender neutral colours and gender neutral toys and use gender neutral language; firefighters not fireman. You know, letter carriers not mailman," she said. "Those kind of easy strategies seemed clear to me at the time."
As things turned out, when she became a parent, she said she found the experience more complex and rewarding.
"Thankfully it's been a far richer experience," she said. "But, as I was going along I knew that I couldn't be the only person who has been trying to do the same thing."
Kosior said that as she examined what others were doing, the idea for the book took shape.
Authors examine many issues
Feminist Parenting touches on many aspects of parenting and the writing forms include poetry and prose. There is a section looking at research on parenting inequality in Pakistan. Another part of the book looks at Indigenous single mothers attending university.
"The anthology pulls back the veil on power dynamics in relationships and exposes some of the challenges of feminist parenting in society," a promotional description of the book said. "Authors shed critical light on long-held parenting conventions such as unpaid care work labor, gender roles, and family power dynamics."
Kosior said it was important to include a broad range of perspectives in the book.
"I think we can all learn from each other," she said. "Feminism is really a very individual and a very personal experience and I think that everybody's families can incorporate feminism into them."
She said each chapter of the book is dear to her and she couldn't single out one as a favourite.
- EXTERNAL LINK: Feminist Parenting (Demeter Press)
