20. Is the law gender blind?

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

BBC

Personal Journals, True Crime, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 908 Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lucy Worsley, Professor Rosalind Crone and lawyer and comedian Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes discuss the wicked crimes of the last four Lady Killers in this series. They examine their treatment by the criminal justice system and ask whether there are parallels with women’s experiences today. Together they examine gender, prejudice and racial bias.

They explore the major changes for women over 100 years from 1823 to 1923. From raising hemlines to the campaign for women’s suffrage and opportunities in the world of work. They examine how changes in society filter through to the justice system, and reflect on the changing nature of how we consume information and the cult of celebrity - from early newspapers, pamphlets and cheap sheets to social media today.

Producer: Emily Hughes Sound Design: Chris Maclean Series Producer: Julia Hayball.

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before this BBC podcast kicks off, I'd like to tell you about some others you might enjoy.
0:05.0	My name's Will Wilkin and I Commission Music Podcast for the BBC.
0:08.0	It's a really cool job, but every day we get to tell the incredible stories behind songs, moments and movements,
0:14.7	stories of struggle and success, rises and falls, the funny, the ridiculous.
0:19.1	And the BBC's position at the heart of British music means we can tell those stories like no one else.
0:24.6	We were, are and always will be right there at the center of the narrative.
0:28.6	So whether you want an insightful take on music right now or a nostalgic deep dive into some of the most famous and
0:34.4	infamous moments in music check out the music podcasts on BBC Sounds.
0:38.6	Welcome to Lady Killers with me Lucy Worsley, where true crime meets history with a twist.
0:48.7	From BBC Radio 4. This time on Lady Gillers, we'll see how seismic changes in society filtered through to the justice system, and we'll see how gender and racism
1:05.2	affected our lady killers as they were brought before the law.
1:10.8	Marguerite Farmy, a glamorous young socialite, trapped in an abusive marriage, which came to a sticky end in the Savoy Hotel in London's West End.
1:21.0	I lost my head. I shot him. What have I done? I have been married six
1:29.2	months and it has been torture. The Black Widows, a criminal
1:34.8	duo from the back streets of Liverpool who poisoned members of their own
1:38.6	family to get life insurance payouts. I admit that I had
1:42.2	knowledge of poison being administered to the
1:44.1	persons whose death I am now charged with causing. But I deny that I administered
1:49.5	it myself in either one case or the other.
1:58.1	Edith Thompson hanged for the murder of her husband, a crime we believe she didn't commit.
2:05.6	She wanted the exciting life she'd read about in novels but instead she had a dull suburban marriage. I do hate this life I lead. I hate the lies, hate everything.
2:10.4	If only I could make an absolutely clean fresh start and we're going to start of new clean life together soon
	...

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