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Reshma Saujani launches ‘Motherhood Lectures’
The 3-part series examines how policies and culture shaped motherhood in America.
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Anushka Pathak - Wed, 04, Mar 2026
- 14:07 EST
- 25
Reshma Saujani / Courtesy: Substack/Reshma Saujani
Indian American CEO of Girls Who Code and founder of Moms First Reshma Saujani is revisiting the history of motherhood in the United States through a new video lecture series.
‘The Motherhood Lectures’ examines how political, cultural, and economic forces have historically shaped motherhood in the United States.
Filmed before a live audience at NYU Law School’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center, the first 23-minute lecture traces historical decisions and narratives Saujani says influenced expectations placed on mothers.
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In a Substack post introducing the lecture series, Saujani wrote that "motherhood in America did not become punishing by accident. It was designed that way.”
She positioned her series as an effort to examine the “flashpoints in American history where motherhood was deliberately shaped by political, cultural, and economic forces.”
The lecture series outlines several historical narratives Saujani refers to as “cons,” which she says framed motherhood as civic duty, morality, choice, and empowerment while masking structural pressures on women. She wrote that revisiting these narratives helps explain why many mothers feel overwhelmed despite gains in education and workforce participation.
The first lesson, ‘The Civic Duty Don’ / Courtesy: Substack/Reshma SaujaniThe first lesson, titled ‘The Civic Duty Con,’ examines early women’s education in the United States. Saujani examines the founding of the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia in 1787, where women were educated primarily to support husbands and raise sons.
She contrasts this with men’s access to classical and professional education, arguing such historical norms still shape expectations around motherhood and leadership today.
Saujani wrote that the series revisits historical decisions that shaped motherhood in the United States and aims to spark discussion about policies affecting families today.
The lecture is available on the Moms First YouTube channel, while excerpts and lessons are being released weekly through Saujani’s Substack.
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