She's one of the great cultural villains; the evil stepmother. Stepmums are up against it. Besides fighting bad press generated by endless pop-culture references, they're chucked in the deep end of parenting without a life boat.Yumi Stynes meets stepmothers who've experienced the joy of loving their partner's child as well as the difficulty of slotting into a 'mum' role when the kids already have one.Plus, researcher Dr Bailey Oliver Blackburn explains the challenges of stepmothering, from responsibility without authority to constant comparison and feeling excluded.This episode is a celebration of the unique role that stepmums play and offers some tools to navigate a complex family dynamic.What to listen to next:<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ladies-we-need-to-talk/toxic-mums/11622218" target="_blank">Toxic mums</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ladies-we-need-to-talk/8981436" target="_blank">Breaking the motherhood contract</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ladies-we-need-to-talk/ladies-we-need-to-talk-depression/105884130" target="_blank">Mental health: Overcoming depression</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ladies-we-need-to-talk/ladies-we-need-to-talk-anxiety-mental-health/105901168" target="_blank">Mental health: Anxiety and how to beat it</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ladies-we-need-to-talk/ladies-we-need-to-talk-addiction-daughter-wife-gambling-alcohol/105937100" target="_blank">Mental health: Loving someone with an addiction</a>You can binge more episodes of Ladies, We Need to Talk on the ABC listen app (in Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. What to read next: <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-16/how-turia-pitts-body-image-changed-after-birth/105463742" target="_blank">How Turia Pitt's body image changed in motherhood</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-04/the-price-of-perfectionism-for-women/105585186" target="_blank">The dark side of being a perfectionist</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-28/why-herpes-does-not-mean-the-end-of-your-sex-life/105693090" target="_blank">Why genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life</a><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-04/perimenopause-sex-women-advice-treatment-help/105090466" target="_blank">What happens to your sex life during perimenopause?</a>This mini-series will answer questions like: <ul><li>What is it like to be a stepmother? </li><li>How do you blend families? </li><li>How many families are blended in Australia? </li><li>How should you approach parenting as a step mother? </li><li>What is 'nacho parenting'?</li><li>What are the benefits to being a stepmother?</li></ul>This episode contains references to stepmothers, stepmom, stepmum, wicked stepmother, stepfamily, family, parenting, blended families, anxiety, stress, pregnancy, Cinderella, Parent Trap, Rapunzel.

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Stepmums: why do they get such a hard time?

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