“In the States, it’s pretty clear in some states that men want to be in control of women’s reproductive life. Actually, they want to be in control of women,” Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood told Sinead Gleeson on Episode 4 of The Women’s Podcast.
“I heard about that woman who died [Savita Halappanavar]. That was an international scandal, that she was obviously dying and nobody lifted a finger because they were afraid they would be breaking the law,” she said of the issue of abortion in Ireland.
“That’s a casualty we know about, but people of a certain age remember the age of backstreet abortions where people regularly died. So with all of these things, you never have a good choice. There’s not a good choice and a bad choice, there’s a selection of bad choices, and that’s what drives people crazy.”
Atwood was in Dublin promoting her new novel The Heart Goes Last, about a future where "the lawful are locked up and the lawless roam free".
Also on the podcast, journalist Una Mullally revisits the now 20-year-old album Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette, which has sold 33 million copies worldwide.
Broadcasters Louise McSharry from RTE 2FM and Alison Curtis of Today FM discuss the “distinctly female voice talking about distinctly female issues”.
Later in the episode, presenter Kathy Sheridan talks to three young women about the results of “The Looking Glass Survey” on body image by the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI).
According to the survey, almost 7 in 10 women aged 16-24 said they are unhappy or very unhappy with how they look. Twenty per cent of women said body image affects them while looking for a job, and 12 per cent said they avoid going to the doctor because of their appearance.
NWCI communications and social media officer Sarah Clarkin, students Shauna Kelly and Kaelin Wall discuss the pressure on women and their appearance, particularly in social media.
“I think society’s insistence on judging women’s bodies on what they look like is really insidious, powerful. The only way to get over that is by calling it out. Calling things out on social media is a really good force for change,” said Clarkin.
Listeners are invited to answer our question of the week, in defiance of the onset of winter gloom: What is making you happy at the moment?
Send your answers via Facebook and Twitter at IT Women's Podcast or email us at the womenspodcast@irishtimes.com.
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