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Weekend Woman's Hour: Vivienne Westwood, Gemma Arterton

Jane Garvey presents highlights from the Woman's Hour week, including Dame Vivienne Westwood on punk, politics and a career that has spanned five decades, Plus 'supergrans'.

Dame Vivienne Westwood talks about punk, politics and a career in fashion that has spanned five decades.

Technology giants Facebook and Apple are to help female employees in the US to pay for the cost of freezing their eggs. So does this level the playing field for women who want to delay motherhood until their career is further advanced or does this make a problem out of women having children?

Are our murder laws sexist? Jeremy Horder, Professor of criminal law at the London School of Economics says his research seems to suggest courts are more lenient on a man who kills his partner when she's been unfaithful.

The children's author Kate Saunders discusses her new book 芒鈧�" a sequel to E Nesbit's '5 Children and It'. Gemma Arterton tells us about her starring role in the new West end musical Made in Dagenham. US blogger Linda Tirado discusses her rise to fame after her blog on being poor went viral.

And Baroness Shirley Williams and Eve Pollard discuss combining a demanding job with being a hands-on grandmother.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Produced by Rabeka Nurmahomed
Edited by Jane Thurlow.

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58 minutes

Last on

Sat 18 Oct 2014 16:00
大象传媒 Radio 4

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Dame Vivienne Westwood

Publishing her new memoirs to 鈥榮et the record straight鈥�, Dame Vivienne Westwood joins Jenni to talk about punk, politics and a career that has spanned five decades.

Should employers pay for women to freeze their eggs?

Two聽technology giants, Facebook and Apple, are to help female employees in the US to pay for the cost of freezing their eggs. The news has provoked fierce debate. Does this level the playing field for women who want to delay motherhood until their career is further advanced? Or is it a step too far by employers who are effectively making a problem out of women having children?聽 Professor Geeta Nargund, medical director at Create Fertility IVF Clinics and Daisy Sands, head of policy at the campaigning group the Fawcett Society, debate the issues.

Are Murder Laws Sexist?

Should courts be more lenient on a man who kills his partner when she has聽cheated on him? A murder conviction can no longer be reduced to manslaughter purely because of the victim鈥檚 sexual infidelity,聽after a聽2009 change in the law. But new research suggests judges may be getting round the new law by continuing to hand out shorter sentences in such cases. Professor Jeremy Horder joins Jenni to discuss how聽his research shows our murder laws may still be sexist.

Kate Saunders

The children鈥檚 author Kate Saunders has written a sequel to E Nesbit鈥檚 鈥�5 Children and It鈥�, taking the children and the Psammead through World War聽One and into adulthood.聽 She joins Jane to discuss why聽she聽wanted to revive these much loved characters, written over a hundred years ago, and聽how her own personal loss has inspired the book.

Made in Dagenham

It was on the 7th June 1968 when the聽women sewing machinists at Ford鈥檚 Dagenham plant in London walked out in protest to聽their jobs being deemed unskilled, and therefore paid less. The strike eventually led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970. Now the story, Made in Dagenham, has been developed into a West End musical starring Gemma Arterton. Jenni and Gemma are joined in the studio by Gwen Davis and Eileen Pullen, two of the original women involved in that significant demand for equal pay.

Linda Tirado

Why do poor people do things that seem so self-destructive? When Linda Tirado saw this question on an online forum she thought she鈥檇 have a stab at answering it. She was living in Utah with her husband and two small girls, working two jobs and going to college. Her answer, under the heading 鈥淲hy I make terrible decisions, or, poverty thoughts鈥�, struck a chord. Linda鈥檚 take on junk food, smoking and having children with multiple partners was shared online more than seven million times. Linda talks to Jane about that article, the response she faced when it went viral and her new book, about being poor in a wealthy world.

Super Grans

Hillary Clinton recently became a grandmother. During her daughter鈥檚 pregnancy she said she didn't want to make any decisions about running for President until the baby's arrival, pointing to her interest in enjoying becoming a grandmother for the first time.聽 The baby鈥檚 arrival has prompted questions about her ability to be President AND be a grandmother. So how easily can powerful women combine a demanding job with being a hands-on grandmother?聽

Credits

Presenter Jane Garvey
Interviewed Guest Vivienne Westwood
Interviewed Guest Geeta Nargund
Interviewed Guest Daisy Sands
Interviewed Guest Jeremy Horder
Interviewed Guest Kate Saunders
Interviewed Guest Gemma Arterton
Interviewed Guest Gwen Davies
Interviewed Guest Eileen Pullen
Interviewed Guest Linda Tirado
Interviewed Guest Shirley Williams
Interviewed Guest Eve Pollard
Producer Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor Jane Thurlow

Broadcast

  • Sat 18 Oct 2014 16:00
    大象传媒 Radio 4

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  • Woman's Hour

    Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.