Woman's Hour Folgen

If you are man and own a cat, you are a man with a cat. If you are a woman with one, you are a crazy cat lady. Recently the term crazy cat lady has been reclaimed in a positive way on social media but many say it is a pejorative term used against women who break from tradition. Alice Maddicott is the author of Cat Women and writer Kat Brown has two cats, Ambridge and Genevieve and has written about the support they gave her during fertility treatment. Next week 114 new QCs will receive their silks at a ceremony in front of the Lord Chancellor at Westminster Hall. Of those 114 just 30 are women. So what’s holding women back? A children’s nurse on the edge of physical and mental collapse is at the centre of a new novel Rest And Be Thankful. The author, Emma Glass is a paediatric nurse herself so she knows all about hands red raw from washing and how to support grieving parents so why did she decide to write a novel using her experiences? Rough sex is sometimes used as a defence in court cases involving sexual violence. The government says it’s going to look at these rough sex laws as part of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its First Reading in the House of Commons last week. Parliament being prorogued and then the election in December delayed the progress of the Bill. To get the latest on the Bill is the MP and Mother of the House, Harriet Harman.Presenter: Jenni Murray Interviewed guest: Alice Maddicott author of Cat Women Interviewed guest: Writer Kat Brown Interviewed guest: Sian Mirchandani QC from 4 New Square Interviewed guest: Rebecca Tuck from Old Square Chambers Interviewed guest: Author Emma Glass Interviewed guest: MP Harriet Harman Producer: Henrietta Harrison

Friendship can be one of the most powerful and important aspects of any woman’s life. We explore what sisterhood means to different women at different points in their lives. Kelechi Okafor, Danielle Dash and Seyi Akiwowo all met online. They all have large social media followings and talk about the importance of digital sisterhood.Foreign correspondent Christina Lamb has reported on wars for over thirty years. She has now written a major book, Our Bodies Their Battlefield, exposing how in modern warfare, rape and sexual violence are used to humiliate, terrify and carry out ethnic cleansing.Last week saw the launch of the Black Swimming Association, which aims to turn around the fact that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim. It’s a trend echoed more widely in the UK – with Swim England reporting that almost a quarter of all children leave primary school without being about to swim 25 metres. So what are the barriers to learning to swim? And how can they be overcome? Jane speaks to Carina White from Dope Black Mums and Ali Beckman, the technical director and lead teacher of the swim school, Puddleducks.

Popstar turned podcaster Jessie Ware and her mum Lennie Ware discuss working together in their hit podcast Table Manners where they cook dinner for a different celebrity every week. Should racing be doing more to celebrate the fact that it is one of the few sports where men and women compete in the same events? We speak to Jockey Lizzie Kelly - the first woman to win a Grade One race in Britain and now holder of two Grade Ones and two Cheltenham Festival winners. As Cheltenham starts again this year she joins us to discuss Just Jockeys, a campaign by Great British Racing. It was International Women's Day yesterday and one of the events to mark the occasion took place at the Roundhouse in North London. Part of the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival it featured an all female line up. Nadine Shah began yesterday's performance. She spoke to reporter Georgie Rogers. Thirty years ago saw the publication of The Beauty Myth. In it, the author, Naomi Wolf argued that the pressure to be beautiful was what she described as ‘a cultural conspiracy’ and ‘the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact What, we ask, has changed three decades on?Presenter: Jenni Murray Interviewed guest: Jessie Ware Interviewed guest: Lennie Ware Interviewed guest: Lizzie Kelly Interviewed guest: Nadine Shah Interviewed guest: Naomi Wolf Reporter: Georgie Rogers Producer: Lucinda Montefiore