# 92. Gemma Hartley on Emotional Labor and the Parenthood Path

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/92-gemma-hartley-on-emotional-labor-and-the-parenthood-path
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/92-gemma-hartley-on-emotional-labor-and-the-parenthood-path.md
Podcast: [The Kids or Childfree Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428)
Published: 2026-01-28T22:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://81cffad0-1139-4cb7-be39-26dc670a9d20.libsyn.com/92-gemma-hartley-on-emotional-labor-and-the-parenthood-path
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/81cffad0-1139-4cb7-be39-26dc670a9d20/KM_-_Ep_92_-_Podcast_Audio.mp3?dest-id=4261233
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/episodes/92-gemma-hartley-on-emotional-labor-and-the-parenthood-path
Duration seconds: 3188

## Resource

Keltie is joined by freelance writer and author of the book, Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward, Gemma Hartley. Their discussion explores... What terms like emotional labor, mental load, and invisible labor actually mean. The interplay of these things within partnerships, and in particular, the decision to have kids. Why having children exacerbates existing imbalances in relationships. The impact of societal expectations on women, and how social conditioning causes women to shoulder more emotional labor. Gemma's personal parenthood journey, as a mother of three, and how she and her partner corrected their emotional labor imbalance and built a more equitable partnership. ____ (2:05) Meet Gemma & her Kids or Childfree decision (8:43) (4:32) Defining emotional labor, mental load, and invisible labor (11:16) Tips for navigating an emotional labor imbalance & parenthood (23:20) How Gemma and her husband built a more equitable partnership (36:36) Mental load with multiple kids (46:04) Solo parenthood ____ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Gemma's Instagram ▸ https://www.instagram.com/gemmalhartley/ Gemma's Substack, Angry Woman ▸ https://gemmahartley.substack.com Gemma's first book, Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward ▸ https://bookshop.org/p/books/fed-up-emotional-labor-women-and-the-way-forward-gemma-hartley/933f0f3a89b3cb4b?ean=9780062856463&next=t Order Gemma's forthcoming book, No One Loves An Angry Woman ▸ https://bit.ly/3Z57qWU ____ ABOUT GEMMA Gemma Hartley is a longtime freelance writer, writing coach, yoga instructor and most notably author of Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward . She has spoken on the topic of the mental load and emotional labor around the world, from corporate conferences to festivals at the Sydney Ope…

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