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Woman's Hour: Tall women and dating, Vicky Featherstone on Maryland, Blackfishing, Equality in housework, Keisha the Sket

Tall women and dating, Vicky Featherstone on Maryland, Blackfishing, Equality in housework, Keisha the Sket

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Tall women and dating, Vicky Featherstone on Maryland, Blackfishing, Equality in housework, Keisha the Sket

The average height of a female in the UK is 5ft 3in. What is life like for women at the other end of the spectrum, especially when it comes to dating? Jessica Creighton is joined by the author of Get Real, Sarah Ivens, who at 6ft would be introduced to dates as 'Queen Kong' or 'Miss Stretchy', and married at 6 ft 3 in in a pair of diamanté heels; and Andrea Hubert, 6ft 1in whose creative comebacks about her height paved the way to her becoming a comedian.

Normally it would take a playwright like Lucy Kirkwood two years to write a play and get it onto the stage.  However the relentless news of violence against women and the abuse of police powers in recent weeks compelled her to script a thirty minute piece called Maryland in just a few days and send it to the Royal Court Theatre in London.  That was three weeks ago...two weeks ago it opened on stage.  The Royal Court’s Artistic Director, Vicky Featherstone joins Jessica Creighton to explain why.

After struggling with her mental health whilst part of girl-band Little Mix and then quitting late last year, Jesy Nelson has just launched her solo career with a video for her single 'Boyz' that's been criticised for 'blackfishing'. So what is that and why is it problematic? Jess is joined by Leah Mahon, journalist at the Voice online.

The Woman’s Hour poll to mark our 75th anniversary found the place where women feel most unequal is in the home - specifically in terms of housework. 75% of the women said the division of chores wasn’t fair but interestingly it was only named as the fifth most important area in which to achieve equality. Jessica talks to Professor Ann Oakley whose seminal book The Sociology of Housework looked at these issues way back in the seventies and also by Professor Rosie Cox who has written a number of books on gender roles.

In 2005 the story of Keisha the Sket started being shared by young people on a now defunct early internet platform. The story is told in energetic street slang. Keisha, 17, lives in Hackney, London.  She's lively and funny - she is also preyed upon.  She wants and enjoys sex and is looking for love but she is sexualised by the men and boys around her.  Her lack of control of her life gets her into dangerous situations and the word 'sket' -  promiscuous girl or woman -  follows her around. It's been called a classic of Black British culture and is now being published for the first time in book form.  Jade LB began writing Keisha's story when she was only 13 and joins Jessica to talk about her creation and the mixed feelings she has had about it over the years.

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Tall women and dating, Vicky Featherstone on Maryland, Blackfishing, Equality in housework, Keisha the Sket

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