Female history in 101 objects, Big hair, Toilet training and schools, Primodos
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2024
⏱️ 58 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
A parliamentary committee has issued a new and scathing report about Primodos - a pregnancy test drug issued by doctors between the1950s and 1970s. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests says claims there is no proven link between Primodos and babies being born with malformations is “factually and morally wrong". The report claims evidence was “covered up” that it's possible to “piece together a case that could reveal one of the biggest medical frauds of the 20th century”. Around 1.5 million women in Britain were given hormone pregnancy tests which was 40 times the strength of an oral contraceptive pill. We hear from Hannah Bardell the SNP MP for Livingstone and a member of the APPG and Marie Lyon who gave birth to a daughter with limbs that were not fully formed - she had been prescribed Primodos. She has been campaigning for nearly 50 years.
One in four children starting school in England and Wales are not toilet-trained, according to teachers who now spend a third of their day supporting pupils who are not school-ready, a report has found. That’s according to the early-years charity, Kindred2 who polled 1,000 primary school staff and 1,000 parents. Only 50% of parents think they are solely responsible for toilet-training their child, while one in five parents think children do not need to be toilet-trained before starting reception. What’s the reality in schools and whose responsibility is it? We hear from Steve Marsland, Headteacher, Russell Scott Primary school in Denton, Greater Manchester.
Last week we got excited about big hair having a comeback after Miley Cyrus’ backcombed tresses at the Grammys made headlines. The larger-than-life hair-do was a fun change from the straight hair that has dominated fashion for decades. But it didn't last long - Paris Fashion Week is now in full swing and we’re back to the slicked back buns. So, will big hair ever truly come back and why did it fall out of fashion? Hair historian Rachael Gibson, and academic, and author of Don’t Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri join Anita Rani to discuss big hair.
In a new series, Woman’s Hour is starting frank and open conversations about how porn has shaped lives and relationships. Reporter Ena Miller has spoken to a woman who had to decide where to draw the line around her partner’s porn use, and we revisit an interview with Erika Lust, the adult filmmaker whose work focusses on female pleasure and ethical production.
Anita takes a walk through female history looking at 101 objects with the writer Annabelle Hirsch. There are artefacts of women celebrated by history and of women unfairly forgotten by it, examples of female rebellion and of self-revelation. They delve into a cabinet of curiosities ranging from the bidet and the hatpin to radium-laced chocolate and Kim Kardashian’s ring.
Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Kirsty Starkey Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds. |
| 0:02.0 | Hello everyone, it's Michelle Vassage, and welcome to my podcast Rule Breakers. |
| 0:06.0 | But you sit down and be bright. |
| 0:08.0 | Celebrating women's voices. |
| 0:10.0 | You're very welcome to now you're asking with me, Marion Keys Keys and me Tara Flynn. |
| 0:14.8 | This is juicy. No limits, no limits. |
| 0:17.2 | Celebrating women. |
| 0:18.8 | Where to be a woman is the podcast celebrating the best of women's well-being. We're on a quest to find out |
| 0:24.4 | where in the world women are living their best lives. Celebrate yourself. |
| 0:28.8 | Lesson on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:41.0 | Morning all, welcome to Friday's Woman's Hour. We're having a discussion about big hair on the program today after Myli Cyrus sported an extraordinary barnet at the Grammys the other week. Her big hair energy was strong |
| 0:54.6 | and she looked absolutely incredible. So this morning to bring us all some much needed |
| 0:59.2 | Friday joy I'd like you all to tell me about the time you felt absolutely incredible. |
| 1:05.6 | Big hair or no big hair. |
| 1:07.4 | When have you stepped out in an outfit and somehow your back straightens up, you feel as though |
| 1:12.0 | you've grown a few inches, your |
| 1:13.4 | confidence levels are popping, you are feeling absolutely your own vibe and you know |
| 1:18.8 | that in that outfit you are killing it. Hot to trot. When was it? What was the outfit? Was it your wedding day? |
| 1:24.4 | Your birthday, someone else's party? Or just yesterday running for the bus. |
| 1:28.4 | Because why keep amazing outfits for best? Maybe it's not even an entire outfit. Maybe it's when you put on |
| 1:34.4 | that killer pair of boots or when you've had an incredible haircut or simply when you |
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