Women Vs Everything

Margaret Leeson, also known as Peg Plunkett was a Sex Worker and Madame to the elite in 18th-century Ireland.  Companion to Modern Ireland's founding fathers *cough - Colonisers, she was renowned for her wit, intelligence, and charm.  When down on her luck, she published her autobiography in three volumes - giving unreliable customers the option to clear their debts with her, or be named and shamed!   Sources: Book - Peg Plunkett: Memoires of a Whore by Julie Peakman https://dublin.ie/live/life-in-dublin/history-society/  https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/prostitution-ireland  https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/the-liberty-and-ormond-boys-gangs-and-rioting-in-historic-dublin  https://comeheretome.com/2012/11/13/the-pinking-dindies/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynings%27_Law_(on_certification_of_acts) https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/poynings-law/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwellian_conquest_of_Ireland  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift

You like to talk dino?  You should definitely know about Mary Anning (1799 – 1847).  She was an English fossil collector and paleontologist before the word was even invented.  Her scientific thinking was greatly underappreciated in her time due to gender and socio-economic class.  She is played by Kate Winslet in the film Ammonite, which we discuss in detail. Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anning https://www.beachcombingmagazine.com/blogs/news/mary-anning-a-lightning-strike-a-tongue-twister-and-a-dinosaur  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyosaur https://lovelymeregis.co.uk/gallery/images/gallery/mary-anning-painting  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-61520324  https://www.maryanningrocks.co.uk/  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/mar/19/mary-anning-biopic-kate-winslet-fossil-hunter-film  https://www.biography.com/news/mary-anning-charlotte-murchison-relationship-facts  https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/ammonite-film-movie-mary-anning-real-history-historical-accuracy-lesbian-relationship-charlotte-murchison/  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/mar/19/mary-anning-biopic-kate-winslet-fossil-hunter-film https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/20/mary-anning-lesbian-palaeontologist-women-film https://janeaustensworld.com/2014/02/01/scenes-of-everyday-life-and-people-in-1790/

In this week's episode Grace tells Jess a range of stories that depict what life is like for women in North Korea, and what it is like for those who try to escape. Trigger warnings for sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and rape.  Take care of yourselves x   Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46610882# https://www.dailynk.com/english/presidents-message/ https://www.dailynk.com/english/unification-teacher-lee-da-eun-bui/  

Jess tells Grace the story Katherine Johnson 1918-2020, an American Mathematician who worked for NASA and helped put the first man on the moon against a background of racial segregation and the civil rights movement.  She is one of the women celebrated in the 2016 film "Hidden Figures." Sources: United States Civil Rights Trail - West Virginia https://civilrightstrail.com/state/west-virginia/West Virginia – US Civil Rights Trail www.notevenpast.org 2017 page IHS Roundtable – Loving v. Virginia After 50 Years Migration of African Americans to West Virginia: Hinton Depot; Hinton, WV https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/migration-of-african-americans-to-west-virginia-hinton-depot-hinton-wv.htm The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom The Segregation Era (1900–1939) https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/segregation-era.html David Guttman, West Virginia has a complicated history with race and civil rights (2014, updated 2017) - West Virginia Gazette https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/west-virginia-has-a-complicated-history-with-race-and-civil-rights/article_4805cb60-d947-5946-ab37-8f2e7f410fb3.html American Association of University Women https://www.aauw.org/about/history/

Today we interview Activist-Artist Emma Campbell (she/her) about life growing up in Northern Ireland, the ongoing campaign for pro-choice services and the intersection between photography and performance as a sexy, magical tool for activism.     Check out Emma's website and links in her amazing bio here: Emma Campbell is an activist-artist in the completion stages of her PhD on utilising photography and performance, as a sexy, magical tool for abortion rights along with Alliance for Choice of whom she is a co-convenor. Emma is on the Board of Directors for Outburst Queer Arts, HereNI and The343 Queer Feminist space. Emma has exhibited solo shows in Belfast, Dublin & Berlin and in group shows in London, Liverpool, Donegal, Dublin, Belfast, Stockholm, and Bangkok as well as street art and online. Emma gained her Documentary Photography BA (Hons) at U.W.C.N Newport in 2001, an MFA in Photography at Ulster University in 2012 and worked as a professional photographer and picture editor in London for 10 years for the BBC, The Times London and Network Photographers. As a member of Array, Emma Campbell was 1/11th winner of the 2021 Turner Prize, for ‘The Druiithaib's Ball'

Don't listen to the tabloids... also don't eat peach ice cream because it's time to learn the true story of Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid Mary.  Grace chose this Irish Immigrant as an example of a complex, nuanced tale of a woman who was both a victim and a villain.  It's not as simple as washing your hands but do wash out your feckin' ears so you can hear us! Sources are three of Grace's Favourite Podcasts: My Favourite Murder Podcast - E105 - Proclensity Lore Podcast - E86 - Under Siege The History Chicks Podcast - E149 - "Typhoid" Mary Mallon

In this episode, Jess tells Grace the story of Louisa Gould. Louisa defied the Nazi occupation in Jersey by harbouring a Russian prisoner of war, saving his life. Her story is honoured in the 2017 film Another Mother's Son and she was named a British Hero of the Holocaust in 2010.

In this week's episode, Grace tells Jess the story of Helen Keller. Helen, who is best remembered as a disability rights advocate, was also an author, speaker, teacher, and political activist.

Inspired by the hit musical Hamilton, which tells the life story of Alexander Hamilton, this week we're talking about Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler Hamilton. Eliza is mostly remembered as Alexander's wife but she did some amazing things in her own right in her 97 years of life.

Grace tells Jess the story of Mileva Marić, also known as Mileva Marić-Einstein, a brilliant scientist who, sadly, never got to have the career success she wanted and deserved. TW for emotional abuse and gaslighting.

In this week's special episode, Grace and Jess talk about women's issues in Ukraine with a focus on two badass Ukrainian women: Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko (known as Ruslana), an award-winning musician, political activist and former MP, and Milena Rudnytska, an educator, activist and writer who helped to found the Ukrainian Women's Union in 1920.

In this episode, Grace tells Jess the story of Gráinne Mhaol (Grace O'Malley), often referred to as "The Pirate Queen of Ireland". This fierce women and brilliant leader was dedicated to defending her territories and her family's interests when much of Ireland was being colonised by the English in the 16th Century. 

In this episode, Jess and Grace tell the story of Raclyffe "John" Hall, a poet and author best known for her groundbreaking (and banned) novel, "The Well of Loneliness."

In our second interview episode, Jess and Grace speak to Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega. Join us as we geek out about all things womanhood, gender roles, and sexuality in the Medieval period!

Join Grace and Jess discussing their first anti-heroine!!!  Griselda Blanco aka The Cocaine Queen of Miami and self proclaimed “Baddest Bitch to ever take a breath of life.”  From poverty in Columbia to being an imprisoned multi-millionairess, her story is one of breath-taking highs and heart-breaking lows.    

After a brief break, join our fully vaccinated podcast to learn about Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo (1921 –  1945).  She was a British-French Special Operations Executive (SPY!) agent during the Second World War, part of the resistance against the Nazis.  Violette would have turned 100 just a few weeks ago, had she lived and is one of only four women to have received the George Cross (an honour second only to the Victoria Cross)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5rRFylR-4 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo-1896571/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/violette-szabo/ https://www.neversuchinnocence.com/violette-szabo-commonwealth-war-graves-second-world-war  https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/590530/I-m-selling-hero-mother-medals-tragic-brave-tale-live  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/female-spys-war-medals-sell-at-auction-for-over-50000 Women and the French Army during the World Wars, 1914–1940 (ANDREW ORR) - https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1zxz0r0 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxb8msg/revision/1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%C3%A9es_folles 2 The Failure of the Demobilization Purge, 1919–1923 (pp. 42-75) https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1zxz0r0.6 https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/women-19th-century-early-feminists#:~:text=Married%20women%20were%20reduced%20to,wives%20to%20obey%20their%20husbands.&text=The%20political%20structure%20of%20nineteenth,lag%20behind%20Britain's%20and%20America's. Controversy: War-related Changes in Gender Relations: The Issue of Women's Citizenship By Birgitta Bader-Zaar

After a brief break, join our fully vaccinated podcast to learn about Violette Reine Elizabeth Szabo (1921 –  1945).  She was a British-French Special Operations Executive (SPY!) agent during the Second World War, part of the resistance against the Nazis.  Violette would have turned 100 just a few weeks ago, had she lived and is one of only four women to have received the George Cross (an honour second only to the Victoria Cross)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5rRFylR-4 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo-1896571/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/violette-szabo/ https://www.neversuchinnocence.com/violette-szabo-commonwealth-war-graves-second-world-war  https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/590530/I-m-selling-hero-mother-medals-tragic-brave-tale-live  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/female-spys-war-medals-sell-at-auction-for-over-50000 Women and the French Army during the World Wars, 1914–1940 (ANDREW ORR) - https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1zxz0r0 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxb8msg/revision/1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%C3%A9es_folles 2 The Failure of the Demobilization Purge, 1919–1923 (pp. 42-75) https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1zxz0r0.6 https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/women-19th-century-early-feminists#:~:text=Married%20women%20were%20reduced%20to,wives%20to%20obey%20their%20husbands.&text=The%20political%20structure%20of%20nineteenth,lag%20behind%20Britain's%20and%20America's. Controversy: War-related Changes in Gender Relations: The Issue of Women's Citizenship By Birgitta Bader-Zaar

Hatshepsut was the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Egypt, ruling for 20 years in the 15th century B.C. She is considered by Eygptologists as one of Egypt's most successful pharaohs.  In this episode Grace and Jess discuss her success in Leadership, Spirituality and Propaganda.  We also discover what might be the earliest recorded incident of a man taking credit for a woman's work and then trying to erase and discredit her.

In our first interview-based Episode, Grace and Jess interview Japanese Podcaster, Speaker, and Coach Emiko Rasmussen about Feminism, Japan, and Parenting, among others.   You can check Emiko out on Her Confidence Her Way - a Bilingual Podcast. She uses her own journey of facing language and cultural barriers, which resulted in her "playing small" to empower Asian women, specifically Japanese women to live purposefully with confidence.

In this episode, a recently vaccinated Grace and Jess discuss the life and times of Mary Jones (born December 12, 1803, as Peter Sewally) was a black transgender New York Sex Worker and US soldier. She would wear "a dashing suit of male apparel" in the day while dressing in feminine attire.  She is considered to be one of the first recorded openly transgender people in New York history.  Sadly, she also served time in prison, which brings about discussion of the origins of the New York prison system   Sources: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jones_(trans_woman) Xtra article: https://xtramagazine.com/power/mary-jones-patron-saint-of-the-scam-72972 Transas City: http://transascity.org/mary-jones-1836/ Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/raquelwillis_/status/834862459156471808?lang=en Bustle: https://www.bustle.com/p/5-black-trans-women-in-history-who-paved-the-way-for-me-8095625 Another Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/campbellx/status/1233911424663117824?lang=en Mygwork: https://www.mygwork.com/en/my-g-news/black-on-both-sides-snortons-retelling-of-black-trans-history Out History: https://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/sewally-jones/man-monster Autostraddle: https://www.autostraddle.com/10-lesser-known-trans-women-pioneers-from-history-316582/ http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/state/html/nyprisons.html https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-web-report/american-history-race-and-prison Wikipedia - timeline of new york 1770s - 1850s Wikipedia - Great New York Fire Wikipedia - Black New York History

In this episode, Grace and Jess tell the story of Ruth Coker Burks, The Cemetary Angel who cared for and nursed more than a thousand men during the AIDS Crisis in the 1980s when no one else would.  Forty of these men are buried in her own family plot, after their bodies were never collected by their families. Sources: How to Own the Room Podcast - 2021 GriefCast 2021 - #127  Ruth Coker Burks' Autiobiography "All the Young Men."

Jess and Grace visit Tudor England to discuss the fifth and perhaps most notorious wife of Henry VIII.  Behind what is painted as a story of a frivolous, promiscuous Queen, is in fact the horrific tale of a groomed and exploited teenager.  A heavy story,  with a lot of trigger warnings, which reminds us of how women were treated as property for most of history. ● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Howard ● https://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/catherine-howard/ ● https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-howard-the-death-of-innocence/ ● https://tudortimes.co.uk/people/katheryn-howard-in-fact-and-fiction ● https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-howard-facts-life-death-marriage-he nry-viii-execution-ghost/ ● https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/sixwives/inherwords/ch_words2.html ● https://fyeahhistory.com/2017/02/12/why-katherine-howard-should-be-your-favourite-wife / ● https://www.factinate.com/people/47-tragic-facts-catherine-howard-henry-viiis-doomed-wife Youtube: - The Anne Boleyn Files and On This Day in Tudor History YouTube channels - Women in Tudor Times  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da3BbYO71uo&list=PLcD-G73TD-VI_VIsIleVYaU9TGc2HySMg - Private Lives of the Tudors - Pt 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUA0KtASGCs&list=PLcD-G73TD-VI_VIsIleVYaU9TGc2HySMg&index=2 - Private Lives of the Tudors - Pt 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZMeTzBEgzw&list=PLcD-G73TD-VI_VIsIleVYaU9TGc2HySMg&index=3 - Shakespeare's Mother - the secret life of a tudor woman (BBC, 2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmpiY5kssU4&t=29s

In a late (we haven't figured out timing yet OK?) April Fool's Day Special Grace and Jess change structure and do a series of mini-stories.  We discuss Femme coded invisibility in the archetypes of the fool and the trickster in both ancient and contemporary media.  We then explore (and laugh at) a series of true stories from trickster women in history. Sources: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23148/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-josephine-baker https://www.marieclaire.com.au/elizabeth-holmes-the-woman-who-fooled-silicon-valley https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/hbos-the-inventor-how-elizabeth-holmes-fooled-people-about-theranos.html https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/30/agent-sonya-by-ben-macintyre-review-housewife-mother-and-communist-spy https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-last-ride-of-cowboy-bob/ https://ipp7gv3wpt22entb150q6duv-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Fool-Trickster-More.pdf https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/our-50-favorite-film-fools https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/our-50-favorite-film-fools https://sites.duke.edu/bakerscholars/files/2018/08/Rigel-2017_Laettnerfinal.pdf https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17476117  

Join Grace and Jess this week in discussing the activist work of Mitsu Tanaka and second wave feminism in Japan 1970s.  Tanaka's work is so prolific, it is difficult to distinguish from the work of Uuman Ribu, the group she was part of.  Tanaka had multiple publications under her name and campaigned for "Liberation from the Toilet" - similar to the Madonna/Whore complex we see in contemporary feminism.  Mitsu still lives in Japan where she practices as an Acupuncturist. Her 'movement' has developed into more intense and more personal one, as she wants to be someone who stands by people, not someone who leads them. Sources: Setsu Shigematsu SCream from the Shadows: The Women's Liberation Movement in Japan Chizuko Ueno, (2013) 40 years of feminism in Japan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SErdVYGTxVI Vera Mackie, Curtin University of Technology, Perth Publisher: Cambridge University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511470196.007  (ICU Division of Humanities : Ikoma, Natsumi) Key-note Speech by Ms. Tanaka conference of the Women's Association of Japan 2004 https://unseenjapan.com/tanaka-mitsu-feminist-japan/ Wikipedia http://countrystudies.us/japan/73.htm https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-194?__prclt=5rDrr6A8 https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/magazine/changing-face-of-japan.html  

In this episode Grace and Jess discuss "the other Mozart."  Maria Anna was rumoured to have as much, possibly more musical talent as her brother, but was forced to resign at 18 due to patriarchal limitations of the time.  Join us in 18th century Austria for a story about shame, family duty and lost talent. Sources:  Sources: Wikipedia History Answers Huffpost Digital Humanities Institute at the University of Sheffield OpenCulture Rise and Fall of the Habsburg Empire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyLSUZ1qlVM Vladimir Brovkin lecture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyBHDl26bL8 Maria Theresa of Austria, a Humane Empress - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPe3cFT4Qwo A revolution from above by Emperor Joseph II of Austria  Womenshistory.info

Join Grace and Jess today combining Grace's love of true crime with our love of awesome women.  Join us today discussing LA in the 80s and celebrating Margaret Prescod - activist, author, journalist and radio host.  She is the founder of The Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders and co-founded Black Women for Wages for Housework.  In today's episode we discuss her role and the role of other women in bringing the serial killer, The Grim Sleeper to justice. If you enjoy this episode, please sponsor us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/womenvseverything   Sources Wikipedia - Margaret Prescod, The Grim Sleeper My Favorite Murder - episode 230 'The Tide Pools of Your Life' Documentary - Feminists - what were they thinking Documentary - Tales of the Grimm Sleeper  https://www.laweekly.com/the-grim-sleeper-serial-killer-returns-in-christine-peliseks-new-book/ http://www.blackcoalitionfightingbackserialmurders.net/archive https://globalwomenstrike.net/tag/black-women-for-wages-for-housework/

Come join Grace and Jess as they talk about the life and times of Emily Wilding Davison.  The story of this Suffragette unlocks discussion about class, privilege and criticism of Feminism that doesn't elevate other women. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davison https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/davison_emily.shtml https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-studies-women-parliament/ewd/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Social_and_Political_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/emily-davison-the-suffragette-martyr/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972072?seq=1 https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/row-breaks-out-over-appalling-tube-sign-saying-suffragette-emily-davison-failed-to-make-husband-s-dinner-a3760656.html

Join Jess and Grace today discussing play-write and activist Lorraine Hansberry - a Queer Woman of Colour.  In this episode we are confronted by the realities of red-lining, block busting and other systemic oppression. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/blog/young-gifted-and-black-who-was-lorraine-hansberry https://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/lorraine-hansberry/lesbian-writing https://uncpressblog.com/2016/08/26/excerpt-not-straight-not-white-kevin-j-mumford/ https://girlsinmitsouko.medium.com/the-double-life-of-lorraine-hansberry-out-magazine-september-1999-a60c1d471d49 https://www.autostraddle.com/the-lesbian-biography-of-lorraine-hansberry/ https://www.lhlt.org/robert-nemiroff

Join Grace and Jess discussing Cork citizen Margaret Ann Bulkley, who lived most of her life as James Barry to study and practice medicine.  There is evidence to say Dr. James Barry was actually Trans Masc, but his story is very welcome on this podcast.  In this episode we talk about how much colonisation sucks and criticise Femmes who do not elevate others (again). Sources: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/dr-james-barry-the-irishwoman-who-fooled-the-british-empire-1.2781260   Dr James Barry: A Woman Ahead of Her Time by Michael du Preez and Jeremy Dronfield is published by Oneworld Publications https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/irish-women-in-medicine-c1880s-1920s-origins-education-and-careers-by-laura-kelly-1.1395962 https://irishamerica.com/2018/11/wild-irish-women-dr-james-barry/  

Darlings! Women vs Everything arrives next week.  We'll have three episodes to upload for you! Enjoy our spiel in the meantime. We hope you get a taste of the inspiration, celebration and rebellion we hope to bring with this podcast. Grace and Jess.