Difficult Women

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Difficult Women by Helen Lewis: Episode 2

Difficult Women by Helen Lewis

Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 - Difficult Women by Helen Lewis, Episode 2

The fight for universal suffrage is well known, but some of the key advocates are not.

Helen Lewis examines the lives of women who have made a difference: who rose above their circumstances to effect urgently needed change in society. Some of them were difficult.

An account of the complexities of being difficult and the necessity of being so to achieve change. 

Loosely described as a history of feminism, Difficult Women looks at a series of fights. Each episode brings into focus some of the lesser known women pioneers and uses their failures and successes to tell the story of how progress has been made, and sometimes thwarted. 

Helen Lewis writes with a very engaging mix of wit and determination, wearing her passion lightly but never making light of the challenges and the pain endured by those she writes about. She also brings in her own experiences and makes the story feel relevant to today and to a younger generation who may find the term feminist carries awkward or just ill-informed baggage.

In Episode 2, we look at the the grim history of force-feeding suffragettes and how class played its role in the way women were treated in prison.

Written and Read by Helen Lewis
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4

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Book of the Week. Helen Lewis examines the lives of women who made a difference.

Book of the Week. Helen Lewis examines the lives of women who made a difference - who rose above their circumstances to effect much needed change. Some were deemed to be difficult.

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