Keeping Our Families' Traditions

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

Danielle Friedman's recent New York Times article says it all: "The Constant Work to Keep a Family Connected Has a Name." That work is kinkeeping.

Sociologist Carolyn Rosenthal defined kinkeeping as "someone who works at keeping family members in touch with one another." Every lucky extended family has a kinkeeper, and yes, it's usually a woman. Perhaps that's why the work of kinkeeping can be dismissed as silly and unimportant, even by the same people who reap its benefits.

Margaret and Amy discuss:

• How kinkeepers help their families live longer
• How to get support if you're the kinkeeper
• How to offer support if you're not

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

• Our interview with Eve Rodsky: "Changing the Invisible Workload"
• Molly West's TikTok video on kinkeeping
• Frank Bruni for the NYT: "Tolstoy and Miss Daisy"
• Danielle Friedman for the NYT: "The Constant Work to Keep a Family Connected Has a Name"
• Carolyn J. Rosenthal for The Journal of Marriage and Family: "Kinkeeping in the Familial Division of Labor"
• Caitlin G Allen, et. al, for the Journal of Community Genetics: "Developing and assessing a kin keeping scale with application to identifying central influencers in African American family networks"

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