Re-Feminist History - Stories of badass women that history "forgot"

This is a 2 parter...in the first part we will enlighten you with just how wide the pay gap is between male and female athletes, and break down the weak ass arguments that try to justify it. And we will start on our list of badass women who set records, blazed trails, and broke barriers for the female athletes who would follow them.

We are diving deep into the history of women's suffrage, the ERA, and a couple of badass ladies who were at the forefront of the fight for equal rights.

It started with women wanting the right to vote. Even John Adam's wife had something to say about it: "“I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice or Representation.”

But did they "remember the ladies"? Um...NO.

Then we wanted equality in the eyes of the law. And that fight is ongoing. We might actually have flying cars before we have equality!

Anyway, enjoy this ep while you're ironing your red handmaid's cloak or making your husband a sandwich.

Like our new name?

SOURCES:

Do you notice anything different?

Lisa and I did some brainstorming about this podcast . We decided that it’s probably in the best interest of the podcast to do a little rebranding. I personally feel extremely passionate about the notion of reclaiming the word Bitch.  I am a pretty rabid feminist at this point, like to consider myself an ally, and am constantly learning how to be a better human.  Lisa is a proud Queer with a passion for world history as well as Civil Rights and Equality.  We obviously both have existential rage of a feminist flavor and want to push against the limitations placed on us by society.

However... seeing as how AI and all of the powerful institutions are still essentially run by the patriarchy, ridiculous conservatism and poorly applied political correctness (insert eye rolls here!), particularly in regards to language, it is nearly impossible to market the podcast with the name “Bitchstory”.  So we decided to compromise on our  steadfast Bitchery and tweak the name. 

Introducing - Re-Feminist History!  You've heard of "revisionist history", I'm sure. It's one of the buzzwords of our time. Well we are having a little revision of our own! We will continue to uncover history's forgotten badasses, sing its unsung heroes, and proclaim the names that the history books "forgot" - and, we have fun doing it!  We swear a little, we (meaning Kelly) use poorly executed foreign accents, we laugh, and we learn a LOT!  So please join us in our own revisionist history - Re-feminist History!

Still available on Spotify, Apple, IHeart, Podbay, Podchaser, and frankly, almost anywhere you get your podcasts! Still publishing every other week.  Still feminist as fuck. 

Enjoy, please leave us a great review, and please share with a friend!

Isabella Goodwin - 1st female detective NYPD

Since I've decided November is Veterans Month and screw Thanksgiving, here's four more badass ladies who have done amazing things for the USA!

ASTRONAUT/RET. AF COL.

Hey guess what… a WOMAN discovered North America BEFORE Columbus …AND she didn’t Go around raping and imprisoning folks.

Vikings…they’re pretty badass.

And we have a Fraaaaaanch lady who was the first woman To circumnavigate the globe! Ever heard of Jeanne Baret? us either! Let’s fix that!

September is Hispanic Heritage Month. We recorded this right before Labor Day. So we thought, what could be more perfect than some badass Latina labor activists? The 1930s gave rise to Labor Unions and many, many protests about working conditions throughout the country. Unions had a surprising ally during this time - communism.

Meet Luisa Moreno & Emma Beatrice Tenayuca. These ladies started on their paths quite young, held some rather powerful positions in political parties and in unions, and we’ve Never heard of them

…until now!

Please consider Supporting our work: ⁠Anchor.fm/bitchstory ⁠(click the support button)  ⁠Patreon.com/Houseofbleep⁠ (at the $5 & $10/mo levels you get weekly BitchScopes horoscopes.)

This week we do a little deep dive on Lilith. Mythology and current wisdom call her Adam's first wife, who refused to submit to him and wanted equality. He refused to give it to her so she said "Boy, Bye!" The interesting thing about her is that no one can agree on who she is. Biblical and Jewish Literature have multiple personas assigned to her. Astrology utilizes her archetype but there are 4 Liliths in astrology too!

It's confusing, but here you go!

This episode feels like slightly different vibe for us. Fashion is not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the feminist movement…we were as surprised as anyone to discover the feminist under currents of the fashion industry! Check out the links to see some of the badass beauties.

Ever heard of an artist by the name of Sofonisba Anguissola? Yeah neither had we! Neither had my art-educated friends! Turns out she was a very gifted artist of the renaissance period. As a woman she wasn’t allowed to make money from her art, but it sounds like she did pretty ok for herself. And you know how the Royal portraits are often really unflattering? This gal knew how to do right by her subjects! I'd let her paint me...I need bigger eyes anyway.

Check out some of her works here:

Long before we had Greta Thunberg, we had Rachel Carson (born 1907!).  She wrote several books about the ocean and ocean life.  Her book "Silent Spring" became one of the most influential books in the modern environmental movement and provided the impetus for tighter control of pesticides.  After WWI, she was one of the first to rally against the use of DDT, which was originally used during the war to control lice (ew), and then the DDT people or the government people were like "now what do we use it for?" and marketed it to farmers and gardners (Great idea. Agent Orange is probably great for your flowers too - eyeroll).   Her influence has been far reaching and continues to this day. 

Josephine Baker was a gorgeous, young, black singer and dancer in the early 20's.  She renounced her US citizenship because of racial injustice and became a French citizen.  Things weren't perfect in Paris, but audiences were not segregated and she enjoyed significant success.  During WW2, she leveraged her fame to pass secrets to the French resistance when the Nazis were trying to completely take over France.  Who doesn't love a lady spy in a banana costume with a pet Cheetah named Chiquita?

And now for something completely different!  We cover a lot of serious stuff here, and whenever women are overlooked, let alone repressed/oppressed, it is serious.  But some of the women we cover are badasses because they ushered in a new era and they probably didn't even know it.  We know our audience loves the funny ladies and the lighter content, because the stats show it.  So for your naked education, we are pleased to present Dita Von Teese.  

Dita is, we would argue, solely responsible for the huge resurgence in Burlesque in the US since around 2000.   Nothing too deep here, just a hot, half naked badass lady in a giant champagne glass.  

Burlesque originated in the mid 1800's, and has undergone the usual evolutions with society.  Body appreciation and a "love it or leave it" attitude has been coursing through feminist communities for a decade or more, gaining major prominence on Instagram.  The Burlesque art form has been a lover of all body shapes for quite awhile.  Dita herself is the definition of the perfect woman by traditional standards, but she is a badass because she's inspired so many people to embrace their sexiness regardless - 

"I've always loved the idea of not being what people expect me to be. Anyone who thinks that being young and beautiful is more important than having something to say is wrong. I make a point to never, ever point out my physical flaws… this is advice I give to women as often as I can." 

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.”

― Dita Von Teese

So we hope this episode helps you to embrace your unique peach. (All the puns intended). 

After binging several seasons of Phillipa Gregory's historical dramas, I started to feel some kinda way about my family tree.  I am a descendent of Margaret Beaufort, who was mother of King Henry VII (grandmother of King Henry VIII who we all remember!).  She dedicated her life to protecting her son's claim to the throne, and didn't let anything get in her way. Yet in some historical accounts, she is villainized and painted as a terrible, murderous women. Some depict her as a religious zealot.  Others, however, depict her in more human terms.  And after I found a couple of the latter accounts, I felt a sense of pride in my family tree again.  

Even though Phillipa Gregory's books and TV Series have stoked a fire in me to understand my ancestry, her historical "fiction" takes some pretty glaring liberties with actual history and Beaufort is one of the victims of this.  Much of what I was feeling bad about was just false!  She was just a woman with ambition and dedication, so obviously...a bitch. 

We present to you, one of history's early, amazing, badass, dedicated Bitches - Margaret Beaufort!

So, disclaimer: neither of us are Hispanic/Latina.  We aren't claiming to be experts, and we are open to conversations to educate us.  

This podcast aims to bring the unsung heroes onto the stage. Our stage is still small, so please share this podcast with friends who would enjoy it.  We would love your topic suggestions, or for you to let us know if we missed an important name or detail.  

This episode lists a whole bunch of Latina badasses who need to be known! 

We are busy bitches, just like you guys. Sometimes, even though we do research for each episode, we are struck with a question or thought while we are recording. We're just keepin it real and organic.  During this episode we were trying to think of a celebratory term to say at the end of each woman's segment...like CHEERS!  Lisa suggested Chingona, and it couldn't be more perfect: 

"Throughout Latin America and in many Latinx communities in the United States, the word chingona has always had negative connotations attached to it. The word has historically been used to describe women who are “too aggressive,” while the masculine version of the word “chingon” is used as a way to compliment men. In recent years, Latinas like Duarte have made efforts to reclaim the word and used it as a way to empower themselves, similarly to how the LGBTQI community has taken back the word “queer.” 

Y'ALL! that is exactly what we are trying to do with "Bitch"!  Chingona is the perfect word! 

We wanted to cover Lucille Ball, but we felt obligated to give mention to a bunch of other amazing female comedians who have broken barriers in the comedy world.  Comedy is a near and dear concept to us. Kelly calls it "group therapy for society" because it can force us to look at things from a different perspective and to address difficult topics with humor.  Female comedians have faced a difficult time, as women have in almost all segments of society, because the patriarchy doesn't want to hear from us, let alone laugh at our jokes!  Many of the women mentioned in this episode deserve their own episode and we are going to give it to them!  But for today, its Lucy. We love Lucy!

Lucille Ball was responsible for Star Trek becoming the show we know it as today, as she overrode the Desilu Productions board and approved the expensive production of the pilot. NBC initially rejected the show, but then later ordered a 2nd pilot starring William Shatner as Krik and Lucy financed it.  As it turns out, we recorded this episode on "Star Trek Day", which was a total coincidence.  

Links:

Hillary's tweets about her emails (suck it, Trump)

If you are hoping for an episode about musicals, move along. You and Lisa can vibe about musicals on your own time. In this episode we are talking about classical composers. We've only ever heard about Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and the rest of the classical music boys.  It never even occurred to us that women had been composers because what we do know is that women were not really allowed to do jack shit.  Come to find out, not only were there a lot of very talented female composers going back to even the 11th century, but some of them were so good, that the men around them took credit for their work! Are you shocked? Neither were we!  I say this with much bias, but this episode is a pretty good mini education about women in the history of classical music.  (Sorry I butchered all the names!)

Here's our main sources: 

Everyone has heard of Amelia Earhart.  She actually made it into the history books. Sometimes I wonder if she would have been in the books if she'd made it back from that ill-fated flight. Dead women are no threat to the patriarchy.  That is so jaded, sorry!  

Anyway,  this episode is packed with a bunch of badass ladies who have been defying gravity since the very beginning of human flight.  We have women in the air from all walks of life and generations, and some of them were quite young! As usual, our own podcast gave Kelly feelings of inferiority. Lisa is a Capricorn, she has no idea what that is like. heehee.  This episode is pretty inspirational.   

If you need an excuse for a potluck at work or something, here's the days we are nodding at with this ep: 

8/18 Nat’l Aviation Day

8/16 Nat’l Aireborne Day

8/20 Nat’l Accessible Air Travel Day

Cleopatra VII Philopator was Queen of of Egypt. She was famously wealthy and her legend paints her as a seductress. She was most famously portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor in one of the most expensive films in history in 1963. 

The real story is that she was wildly intelligent, a brilliant strategist, spoke 9 or more languages, was revered by her people as a reincarnation of Isis… she was captivating and charming. And she was a threat to a world of Kings and Conquerers…so they did what the patriarchy has always done…they slut shamed her.

https://colinfalconer.org/cleopatra-fact-from-fiction/ 

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130976125

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heybitches@bitchstory.net

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HOW TO HELP WOMEN'S RIGHTS WITH YOUR VOICE AND YOUR VOTE:

If you follow the feminist movement, you're probably aware of some of the disagreements within the ranks of feminists.  This is not uncommon in any movement - ie: the black rights movement had both The Black Panthers and Martin Luther King Jr.

Anyway, it can be overwhelming when you don't know how to be a good feminist or where to place your trust within the movement. Hint: with the people most unfairly impacted by healthcare restrictions.  

In this episode, we talk a bit about the Supreme Court and how it works, and then we discuss how "Reproductive Justice" became the preferred naming for the abortion rights movement. 

So get a glass of wine, and let's go to Bitch school and learn how to be better feminists!  

We’ve covered lady spies before and we can’t get enough. Women during the Revolution used some pretty brilliant tactics to pass coded information. We have pockets and we are taking notes in case, ya know. the women of the US revolt. We will also do a study of sentence structure of the Declaration of Independence. (Hint: COMMA)

REACH US:

heybitches@bitchstory.net

Instagram  @bitchstory.pod

HOW TO HELP WOMEN'S RIGHTS WITH YOUR VOICE AND YOUR VOTE:

In this episode we do a deep dive into Roe v. Wade and its significance to women's rights as a whole. With Roe v. Wade in danger of being overturned, abortion rights advocates are working as I type this to insure that women have the right to govern their own body.  A couple days after we recorded, Louisiana advanced HB813, a bill which could criminalize abortions from the moment of conception on, thereby giving humans rights to a fertilized egg. Essentially, a fertilized egg has more rights than the woman who houses it. If a bill like this is successful, it could also impact the availability of certain kinds of birth control, and because it is a slippery slope, it could affect the availability of all birth control.  Our approach for this episode is our usual, straightforward, unapologetic way. We are pissed and we are concerned. We hope this educates, motivates, and maybe even inspires.  Please vote in your LOCAL elections. Local politics are really where the juice is, and your voice is needed! here's the notes and sources: