Becky Mollenkamp and Sandhya Sudhakar dive into adrienne maree brown’s blog post "Relinquishing the Patriarchy." This rich, layered discussion covers gender roles, emotional labor, discomfort, and how patriarchy harms us all. From parenting to dating, personal identity to privilege, they explore how internalized systems shape us—and what it really takes to unlearn them. With insights into Enneagram types, somatic therapy, and white womanhood, this is a powerful reflection on liberation, healing, and building a better future.

This week’s text:
"Relinquishing the Patriarchy" by adrienne maree brown

This week’s guest:
Sandhya Sudhakar
sandhyasudhakar.com
Working Your Way Podcast
LinkedIn

Discussed in this episode:

• The emotional and practical challenges of raising a white son under patriarchy
• How dating cishet men intersects with feminist values
• What men are “owed” by society (and what they aren’t)
• The emotional cost of privilege and power
• Enneagram as a tool for understanding social roles
• White discomfort, male fragility, and the journey to awareness
• The limits of "burn it all down" rhetoric
• Somatic therapy, internal safety, and how to actually do the work

Resources mentioned:

• Somatic Experiencing International practitioner directory
• “My Grandmother's Hands” by Resmaa Menakem
• Enneagram Institute
• The Narrative Enneagram

This episode dives into ethical porn, sex education reform, and the intersection of pleasure, patriarchy, and AI. A bold, vulnerable conversation about dismantling shame and building new systems for healing and desire.

This week’s text:
“Pornography: Men Possessing Women” by Andrea Dworkin

This week’s guest:
Pleasure and embodiment expert who hosts semi-nude meditations and partners with Make Love Not Porn to educate around sexual empowerment.
goddesserica.com
The Goddess Erica Show
@goddesserica

Discussed in this episode:

• Andrea Dworkin’s legacy and critiques
• Mainstream porn vs. feminist porn
• The role of AI in shaping porn culture
• Teaching kids sex education through pleasure and media literacy
• Make Love Not Porn and other ethical platforms
• The difference between erotic and pornographic
• Reclaiming bodily agency through semi-nude meditation

Resources mentioned:

• Andrea Dworkin’s essay on free speech
• Make Love Not Porn
• Dipsē App
• Naked Education (UK TV Series)
• Audre Lorde’s 'Uses of the Erotic'

In this episode of Assigned Reading, Becky and Kim unpack Barbara Love’s essay on developing a liberatory consciousness. Using the framework of the “4 A’s”—Awareness, Analysis, Action, and Accountability—they reflect on the deeply personal work of moving from complicity to liberation. This episode explores queer identity, internalized oppression, white feminism, and how awareness shapes every step of meaningful change.

This week’s text:
“Developing a Liberatory Consciousness” by Barbara Love

This week’s guest:
Kim Romain is a seasoned coach, facilitator, and intuitive guide who supports high-achieving women and gender-expansive folks to embrace their inner knowing, get unshackled from grind culture, and create spacious, values-aligned lives.
kimromain.com
Kim’s Podcast
@kimromain on Instagram

Discussed in this episode:

• Barbara Love’s 4 A’s of liberatory consciousness
• How internalized oppression shows up in dominant and subordinate identities
• White saviorism and perfectionism in anti-racism work
• The emotional process of coming out as queer later in life
• Intersectionality and identity overlap
• What liberatory embodiment feels like

Resources mentioned:

• Barbara Love’s original essay
• National Organization for Women (NOW)
• Pixar’s Soul

This week’s text:
“The Double Standard of Aging” by Susan Sontag

This week’s guest:
Ana Xavier is a podcast producer and strategist who helps creators amplify their voices through meaningful content.
Website: thepodcastspace.com
Podcast: The Podcast Space
Instagram: @thepodcastspace

Discussed in this episode:

• Susan Sontag’s essay and its continued relevance
• Aging without shame
• Gray hair and public perception
• Child-free by choice and societal pressure
• Decentering men from life decisions
• Performative femininity and gender roles
• Aging and career reinvention
• Cultural differences in how aging is viewed

This week’s text:
“Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex” by Kimberlé Crenshaw

This week’s guest:
Tori, aka Tori, Etc., is a neurodivergent speaker and educator on deconstructing fundamentalism, white supremacy, and internalized misogyny.
Website: torietc.com
Instagram: @tori.etc

Discussed in this episode:

• The legal system’s failure to recognize Black women’s intersectional oppression
• Crenshaw’s trapdoor and street intersection metaphors
• Gaslighting in law and social discourse
• Moynihan Report and structural racism
• The burden of perfectionism in white supremacy and capitalism
• Personal narratives of unlearning from fundamentalism

Resource mentioned:
“My Grandmother’s Hands” by Resmaa Menakem

This week’s text:
“Bitch on Wheels” by Sylvia Rivera

This week’s guest:
Taina Brown is a justice-centered DEI consultant and co-host of the Messy Liberation podcast. She brings an academic and embodied lens to conversations about liberation, identity, and collective care.
Website: tainabrown.com
Podcast: messyliberation.com
Instagram: @thetaina

Discussed in this episode:

• Sylvia Rivera’s legacy and speech context
• Stonewall riots from a trans perspective
• Marsha P. Johnson and Rivera’s activism
• Respectability politics and performative feminism
• White saviorism, allyship, and call-in vs. call-out
• Suicide and mental health in the trans community
• The role of anger in activism
• Collective care and intersectionality

Resources mentioned:

• Sylvia Rivera’s “Bitch on Wheels” speech
• The Trevor Project
• Lee Brewster history
• Messy Liberation podcast

Subscribe for more:
Feminist Rants Are My Superpower newsletter for more conversations that call in your heart and your brain.

PROUD MEMBERS OF THE Feminist Podcasters Collective

This week’s text:
“We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This week’s guest:
Faith Clarke is a storyteller, strategist, and organizational culture expert who helps values-aligned leaders build liberatory workplaces through relationship-centered change.
Website: faithclarke.com
Podcast: Culture Work Collective Podcast
Instagram: @faithclarkewrites

Discussed in this episode:

• Chimamanda’s evolving views on trans women and nuance in public dialogue
• Patriarchy’s harm to men and the myth of neutrality
• The prison of whiteness and how identity shapes oppression
• Black women’s complicated relationship with feminism
• Storytelling and culture-building as resistance
• Shame, fear, and the backlash to DEI
• Social Change Now framework by Deepa Iyer
• Misogynoir and internalized misogyny

Resources mentioned:

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TED Talk
• Social Change Now by Deepa Iyer
• Faith Clarke’s Podcast
• Assigned Reading Podcast

Subscribe for more:
Feminist Rants Are My Superpower newsletter for more conversations that call in your heart and your brain.

PROUD MEMBERS OF THE Feminist Podcasters Collective

This week’s essay:
“Love as the Practice of Freedom” by bell hooks

This week’s guest:
Heather Vickery is a coach, speaker, podcast host, and joy-bringer. Her work centers around intentional living, courageous leadership, and aligning action with values. Heather brings radical honesty and warmth to everything she does—even when it’s tough love.
vickeryandco.com
Podcast: Was it Chance?
Instagram: @vickeryandco

Discussed in this episode:

• What “love as liberation” really means in the context of political and personal resistance
• The difference between kindness and niceness—and why love is often neither
• How to balance boundaries with compassion without playing the “both sides” game
• Love as an ethic, a choice, and a verb—not a passive feeling
• How domination, control, and toxic positivity masquerade as “love”
• Heather’s personal experience with self-love, queerness, and choosing relationships with intention
• Parenting through a feminist love ethic: Holding boundaries as an act of care
• Navigating the guilt of not doing “enough” while doing what’s possible with what you’ve got
• Why white women talking about love must include interrogating privilege and practicing collective accountability

Resources mentioned:

• “All About Love” by bell hooks
• “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck

Subscribe for more:
Feminist Rants Are My Superpower newsletter for more conversations that call in your heart and your brain.

This week’s text:
“What No One Else Will Tell You About Feminism” by Lindy West

This week’s guest:
Paige Worthy (she/her) is a writer, editor, and brand messaging strategist for progressive entrepreneurs. Known for her spicy takes, thoughtful wordcraft, and zero tolerance for misogynist bullshit, Paige shows up in business and life as a truth-teller and cat-loving rage queen. She’s currently on sabbatical—joyfully making pottery, resisting capitalist productivity, and embracing rest as rebellion.
paigeworthy.com

Discussed in this episode:

• What this essay gets right—and all the ways it misses the mark
• Rage, burnout, and taking sabbaticals in a broken world
• White feminism, exclusion, and the danger of ignoring intersectionality
• Why catty jokes and sarcasm aren’t the revolution
• How our feminism has evolved since “girl power” and Jezebel days
• Why trying to “educate men” isn’t the job of feminists
• The difference between calling in vs calling out—and when each makes sense
• How to keep growing, even when learning out loud is scary
• Substack, internet rage, and nostalgia for the blog era

Resources mentioned:

• “White Feminism” by Koa Beck
• “Abortion, Everyday” by Jessica Valenti
• Shrill on Hulu

This week’s text:
“Speaking of Nature” by Robin Wall Kimmerer

This week’s guest:
Nancy Harris is a leadership coach, forest therapy guide, and host of the Speaking of Nature podcast. She brings decades of experience in HR, inclusion work, and healing practices to her thoughtful and grounded conversations.

Discussed in this episode:

• What it means to center animacy in how we talk about the natural world
• How objectifying language disconnects us from nature—and from each other
• The ties between language, colonization, and capitalist extraction
• Forest therapy as an antidote to burnout and disconnection
• The grief of climate collapse and finding hope through interconnection
• How nature models feminist values of reciprocity, humility, and care

Resources mentioned:

• “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Association of Nature and Forest Therapy
• Speaking of Nature Podcast

This week’s text:
“Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” by Adrienne Rich

This week’s guest:
Lindsay Johnson, aka The Radical Connector, is a sales & visibility coach for misfit entrepreneurs building their businesses to the beat of their own drums.

Discussed in this episode:

• What to do when important ideas come from problematic people
• Cancel culture, nuance, and evolving past rigid thinking
• The roots of compulsory heterosexuality in capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy
• Lindsay’s journey to understanding their non-binary identity
• How proximity to power complicates identity and solidarity
• The dangers of the incel pipeline and raising feminist boys
• Queerness, gender, and neurodivergence as natural human expressions
• The power and politics of the “lesbian continuum”
• Choosing labels vs. living beyond them

Resources mentioned:

• “You and Your Gender Identity” by Dara Hoffman-Fox
• “The Invention of Heterosexuality” by Jonathan Ned Katz
• Adolescence on Netflix
• “Is Gossiping Feminist?” by Abbie Teal

This week’s text:
“Joy” by Zadie Smith

Guest bio:
Jordan Maney is the Radical Joy Coach helping Black, brown, and queer folks reclaim their joy and rest without guilt.

Discussed in this episode:

• Why Zadie Smith’s essay is “close but no cigar”
• The bittersweet intersection of joy and grief
• Is joy a struggle, a surrender, or a risk?
• What ecstasy (the drug and the feeling) says about manufactured joy
• The difference between pleasure, contentment, happiness, and JOY
• Black Southern church traditions as containers for joy
• The power of presence, noticing, and choosing joy in dark times
• Why resisting despair is a revolutionary act of self-love
• Concerts, croissants, and the art of letting yourself become joy

Resources mentioned:

• “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
• “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith

This week’s text:
“Abolition Can Mend Our Democracy” by Angela Y. Davis

This week’s guest:
Amelia Hruby is a feminist writer, podcaster, and producer. She’s the founder of Softer Sounds and host of Off the Grid.

Discussed in this episode:

• Why prisons exist—and what they really teach us about “freedom”
• Angela Davis’s vision of abolition beyond incarceration
• Carceral logic in our schools, healthcare, diet culture, and even how we treat ourselves
• Why spirituality, somatic healing, and forgiveness are necessary for abolition
• Amelia’s personal journey with abolition, including becoming a prison pen pal
• The myth of inherently “bad” people—and why we must believe in love after harm
• How a society built on punishment requires us to reimagine democracy
• What abolitionist practice can look like in our daily lives

Resources mentioned:

• “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Y. Davis
• “Women, Race, & Class” by Angela Y. Davis
• “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle” by Angela Y. Davis
• “My Grandmother’s Hands” by Resmaa Menakem
• “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville
• Black and Pink (penpals program)