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Woman's Hour

DIY dancing at home; Transgender athletes; Ugandan women; Eco novels

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2021

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nightclubs are shut, dancing at weddings is not allowed and gigs and festivals are still uncertain. If you want to dance you have to do it at home. Woman's Hour shares your DIY dancing stories and gets tips from Guilty Pleasures DJ, Sean Rowley and Strictly dancer, Amy Dowden.

Laurel Hubbard is going to be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics which starts next month. It's controversial, and she'll make history. She'll be part of the New Zealand women's weightlifting team at Tokyo. Laurel came out as transgender in 2013 - and qualifies for the Olympics on the basis that her testosterone levels have been kept below a certain level for at least a year. But how does a reduction in testosterone affect other aspects of the body - such as haemoglobin levels, muscle mass and strength - that could influence competitive performance? And what research is needed to help inform the balance between inclusivity and meaningful competition in sport? Joanna Harper, a PhD researcher at Loughborough University talks about her latest study.

Imagine having your home destroyed, losing your livelihood, and then being intimidated by those now on the land. That’s what hundreds of women in Western Uganda say has happened to them; they were violently evicted from their homes to make way for a sugar plantation. In an investigation for Woman's Hour, they've told us they are now left with no option but to live in extremely poor conditions in a makeshift camp, where they face physical and sexual abuse from the plantation workers. To make things worse, many of their husbands have abandoned them while they find employment elsewhere. The UK provides overseas aid for these woman as they fight for compensation for their lost land. But, that UK funding is due to end soon, even though after five years a legal dispute over the land is still unresolved.

Two novels - one published tomorrow and one just out in paperback explore the human impact of environmental disaster through the lives of girls and women. They both ask - what is really important to us? What lasts when everything we think we need is stripped away? Kate Sawyer, author of 'The Stranding', her first novel, and Diane Cook, whose book 'The New Wilderness' was shortlisted for The Booker Prize last year, discuss their work.

Presenter: Emma Barnett Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Joanna Harper Interviewed Guest: Sean Rowley Interviewed Guest: Amy Dowden Interviewed Guest: Sostine Namanya Interviewed Guest: Kate Sawyer Interviewed Guest: Diane Cook

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:05.2

Hello, I'm Emma Barnett, and welcome to Woman's R from BBC Radio 4.

0:10.2

Hello and welcome.

0:11.7

Let's start today with a little of this, shall we?

0:14.5

Music

0:37.1

Gloria Jones belting out Tainted Love, that is what we need this morning, every morning

0:42.3

and evening as far as I'm concerned because it's personally very high on my kitchen disco

0:46.6

playlist, and that's what we're going to talk about today.

0:49.4

Where are you letting off steam, how are you dancing, dance, is it in your life at all?

0:54.8

There is a sadness isn't there when you get to a certain point that it gets out of your

0:58.8

life because you don't necessarily go clubbing or go out out in quite the same way, or perhaps

1:03.1

because if you're at that age and you haven't been able to go out because of restrictions,

1:06.6

perhaps you've been missing it, or maybe you rely on weddings to be the places that you do

1:10.8

that all parties, speculation is of course mounting over further COVID restrictions being

1:15.2

lifted on July 19th, but in the meantime we're left with the reality that clubs are still

1:19.2

shut, dancing at weddings isn't allowed, summer festivals are still uncertain, we're

1:24.3

keeping our fingers crossed of course for the dance floors, wherever you get them to be

1:27.8

opened next month, but until then tell me, tell us all, where do you dance?

1:34.3

What do you dance to?

1:35.9

How do you let off steam?

1:38.4

Is it in the kitchen?

1:40.0

Is it in the park?

...

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