Rihanna’s Baby Girl, Gender Expectations and Bravo’s Friendship Breakups

It’s a solo ep!  First up, Rihanna’s baby girl announcement, and the internet’s relief that her family is now “complete.” It speaks to the deep cultural obsession with gender balance and the right we think we have to comment. Gender disappointment is real, and so are the constant judgements about whether our families are “enough.” I share my own experience as a mum of three boys, and why envy and expectation around gender tell us more about society’s scripts than our own worth. Then we shift to Bravo, where fractured friendships aredominating every franchise. RHOM ends with bonds in tatters, RHOSLC opens with explosions, and RHOC is still stuck in cycles of betrayal. Why do friendship breakups cut so deep, and how do we process that grief when the people wethought we’d have forever suddenly aren’t there? Two conversations that ask: whose script are we living by,and what happens when those scripts fall apart? Thank you to our wonderful audio engineer/producer, Sam Talbot, as always. Connect with the show:Instagram: @jana.firestoneWebsite: janafirestone.comYouTube: Jana Firestone on YouTube