Gender norms. What a topic. People argue about it. Fight, scream, and yell. Your uncle won’t stop bringing it up at every family gathering, whether he’s talking about bathrooms, sports, or… well… everything else. Why does it feel like such a hot-button issue today, yet remain wildly misunderstood by those shouting the loudest?

In this week’s episode, we unpack what gender and its norms really are. With insights from Simone de Beauvoir, Bell Hooks, and Martha Nussbaum, we explore why gender carries so much emotional weight in our culture, and why it matters for all of us.

Hopefully, by the end, we’ll all walk away having learned something new.