Society and women: Radio & TV programmes

[Harrowby Hall]

There are a couple of programmes - one on Radio 4 and the other on BBC2 - about women and their treatment by and role in "society".

In a series called The Why Factor at midday on 2 Sept was an item about "coming of age", it highlighted the ceremonies performed when a "girl" becomes a "woman". An American girl of Mexican origin's big celebration was contrasted with an African woman talking about the time she was "cut".

Available for a year on iPlayer.

Amanda Foreman fronted The Ascent of Woman at 9.00pm last night. She is taking a historical view of the development of the role and place in "society" of women. In the first episode she was looking at ancient civilisations. One she talked about was ancient Greece, the so-called "Cradle of Civilisation". She showed that in Greece women had a similar quality of life to those in Afghanistan under the Taleban.

This series should be essential viewing.


NB  - I have put this on this board rather than Art & Entertainment because I think that important ethical questions of a general nature are raised by these programmes.

[jeremyp]

I have recently been watching Prime Suspect which is being rerun on ITV3 and I'm finding it quite interesting.  One of the major themes is, of course, the role of women and the barriers they come up against in a "man's word".  Even though the programme is relatively recent (in my eyes) in that it is set in 1991, the attitudes portrayed seem quite shocking to me now.

One subplot in particular involves the breakdown of Jane Tennison's relationship with her partner because he expected her to come home and cook a meal for a dinner party for him and some potential business contacts in spite of the fact that she is running a murder hunt.  Of course she is late and the dinner party has to be cancelled.

The idea that he might have been wrong to place that responsibility on her in the first place is never voiced by her or any of the other characters and I find that slightly disturbing.  Or perhaps it is the brilliance of the writing to let the viewer divine the irony of the situation for themselves.


Also, everybody was smoking like a chimney.