“Reimagining our approach to mothering can birth its transformative potential. Day in and day out, this work can be our most consistent, embodied resistance to patriarchy, white supremacy, ableism, and the exploitation that underlies American capitalism. I want to give all bodies—brown, black, disabled, queer—the attention and tenderness we deserve but that this country has never granted us. Embodied mothering, which leads to embodied children who become the next generation of adults, can be our best offense and defense against the inhumane, distinctly American lifestyle.” — Angela Garbes

We are honored to host a visit by Angela Garbes, author of ESSENTIAL LABOR and the now-classic LIKE A MOTHER, in discussion with Ruby member, Shruti Swamy, author of ARCHER and A HOUSE IS A BODY, as they reflect on the state of caregiving in America and mothering as a a means for social change.

During the pandemic, when school and childcare center shutdowns left her with nothing to do but mother, Angela Garbes witnessed all her frustrations and racing thoughts about the state of caregiving in America show up in newspapers, on the radio, and in Zoom conversations. Her New York Magazine cover story about how the pandemic was disrupting women’s lives went viral (and was shared by everyone from Melinda Gates to Elizabeth Warren).

With the publication of ESSENTIAL LABOR (publish date: May 10, 2022), Angela Garbes, offers readers a thought-provoking, hopeful, and urgent consideration of the work of care and mothering – its grassroots power and why we need a collective understanding and valuing of its importance.

Please join us for a powerful discussion on how we assign value to the essential work of mothering and how we might harness its revolutionary power.

About ESSENTIAL LABOR

The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life?

In Essential Labor, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color.

Garbes contends that while the labor of raising children is devalued in America, the act of mothering offers the radical potential to create a more equitable society. In Essential Labor, Garbes reframes the physically and mentally draining work of meeting a child's bodily and emotional needs as opportunities to find meaning, to nurture a deeper sense of self, pleasure, and belonging. This is highly skilled labor, work that impacts society at its most foundational level.

Part galvanizing manifesto, part poignant narrative, Essential Labor is a beautifully rendered reflection on care that reminds us of the irrefutable power and beauty of mothering.

About Angela Garbes

Angela Garbes is the author of Like a Mother, an NPR Best Book of the Year and finalist for the Washington State Book Award in Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, New York, Bon Appétit, and featured on NPR's Fresh Air. She also cohosts The Double Shift, an acclaimed podcast challenging the status quo of motherhood in America. She lives with her family in Seattle.

About Shruti Swamy

Shruti Swamy is the author of the story collection A House Is a Body, which was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and was longlisted for the Story Prize. Her work has been published by the Paris Review and McSweeney’s, and anthologized in the O. Henry Prize Stories. Her debut novel, The Archer, was published by Algonquin Books in September 2021. She lives in San Francisco.

COVID Notes

This event requires the wearing of masks and we ask all guests to show proof of vaccination at the door. The Ruby also has KN95 masks available to all at the front desk. Thank you for your support!

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