About the Episode:
What does it actually mean to be a good daughter and why does that role feel so heavy for so many women?
In this episode, Dr. Whitney Casares sits down with Dr. Allison Alford, communication scholar and author of Good Daughtering, to unpack the emotional labor, invisible expectations, and generational pressures that daughters—especially women in midlife—carry every day.
They explore how “good daughtering” shows up in real life: managing parents’ emotions, holding family relationships together, navigating aging parents while raising kids, and feeling responsible for everyone else’s happiness. Together, they challenge the idea that being a good daughter means self-sacrifice, silence, or approval—and offer a more humane, sustainable way forward.
This conversation is especially resonant for women in the sandwich generation, caregivers, healthcare providers, and anyone who feels stretched thin by family obligation and guilt.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What “good daughtering” really is and why it often goes unseen and uncredited
- How gender roles shape expectations for daughters versus sons
- The emotional toll of being part of the sandwich generation
- Why redefining daughtering is essential for women’s mental health
- Letting go of perfection, approval, and obligation
- How to decide what being a good daughter means for you
- Why you’re likely already doing enough even if it doesn’t feel that way
This episode is a validating reminder that healthy relationships don’t require endless self-erasure and that being a good daughter does not mean abandoning yourself.
About Our Guest:
Dr. Allison Alford is a communication scholar, professor at Baylor University, and the author of Good Daughtering: The Work You’ve Always Done, the Credit You’ve Never Gotten, and How to Finally Feel Like Enough. Her research focuses on the invisible emotional labor women perform within families, particularly the often-unspoken work of being a daughter.
Through years of qualitative research and conversations with hundreds of women, Dr. Alford has helped bring language and clarity to the experience of daughtering, offering a framework that prioritizes agency, self-preservation, and honest relationships over guilt and perfection. Her work invites women to redefine what it means to be a “good daughter” in a way that supports—not sacrifices—their well-being.
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