Lyz Lenz: Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women

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In conversation with Megan Stielstra

Journalist Lyz Lenz lays bare the misogynistic logic of cultural narratives about pregnancy, tracing them back to our nation’s murky, potent cultural soup of religious and historical myths. With her trademark blend of wit, snark, and raw intimacy, she explores how received opinions inform our expectations for pregnant people–whether we’re policing them, asking them to make sacrifices with dubious or disproven benefits, or putting them up on a pedestal in an “Earth Mother” role. Throughout, she reflects on her own experiences of being seen as alternately a vessel or a goddess–but hardly ever as herself–while carrying each of her two children. 

Lyz Lenz will be in conversation with Megan Stielstra, author of The Wrong Way to Save Your Life.

Lyz Lenz is the author of God Land (Indiana U. Press, 2019). Her writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, The Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, Pacific Standard, and elsewhere. Her essay, “All the Angry Women,” was included in the anthology Not that Bad, edited by Roxane Gay. Lyz lives in Iowa with her two kids and two cats and is a columnist for Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s The Gazette.

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