Deviant Women

Marsha P. Johnson was a legend of Christopher Street, a revolutionary trans and LGBTQ+ activist, and a leading figure of Stonewall. Famed for her extravagant floral headdresses, her bright red plastic heels, and her generous spirit, Marsha made a name for herself not just as a drag queen, but as a mother to the queer street and trans youth who needed her. Together with her best friend, fellow trans activist Sylvia Rivera, she created STAR, the Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries, and advocated for the rights of the most marginalised of her community. Join us on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots as we celebrate the life of one of Pride's most important figures.Brockell, Gillian “Marsha P Johnson: ‘America’s first transgender statue’ will immortalise Stonewall riots veteran.” Independent, 13 June 2019.  Carter, David. Stonewall: The riots that sparked the gay revolution. Macmillan, 2004.Chan, Sewell. “Marsha P. Johnson: A transgender pioneer and activist who was a fixture of Greenwich Village street life.” The New York Times, corrected 8 March 2018France, David, director. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. Performance by Victoria Cruz, Marsha P. Johnson (archive), Sylvia Rivera (archive). Netflix.Global Network of Sex Work Projects. “Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries found STAR House.” Global Network of Sex Work Projects,Kasino, Michael, director. Pay It No Mind: Marsha P Johnson. Performance by Martin Boyce, Jimmy Camicia, David Carter. Redux Pictures.Naseef, Zoe. “Stonewall was Started by Trans Women of Colour and We Do Not Appreciate Them Nearly Enough.” Bust,NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project (2017) Activism Before StonewallRiki Wilchins (March 5, 2002) ‘A Woman for Her Time: In Memory of Stonewall Warrior Sylvia Rivera’ The Village VoiceIf you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part two of our look at the history of reproduction rights in America, we trace the life of Pat Maginnis: a grassroots activist who campaigned tirelessly to change America's abortion laws. After two harrowing years spent working in an army hospital in Panama, it was Maginnis' personal struggle to find safe and legal abortion providers in the U.S. that cemented her desire to enact change. Pounding the street corners of San Francisco, Maginnis and 'The Army of Three' helped thousands of women, while across the country grassroots organisations sprung up in a pushback that would eventually culminate in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. Join us as we take a look at the life of just one of the many women who struggled for change, and whose legacy we fight to protect today.Baehr, Nina. Abortion Without Apology: A Radical History for the 1990s. South End Press, 1990.Gilmore, Stephanie. Groundswell: Grassroots Feminist Activism in Postwar America. Routledge, 2013.Loofbourow, Lili. 'They Called Her "the Che Guevara of Abortion Reformers": A decade before Roe, Pat Maginnis' radical activism - and righteous rage - changed the abortion debate forever.' Slate, Dec 4, 2018. https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/12/pat-maginnis-abortion-rights-pro-choice-activist.html For more information on current abortion laws globally visit: https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws.If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early 20th century the highly restrictive Comstock Act made it almost impossible for American women to gain access to, or an understanding of, contraceptive methods. Arriving into the impoverished communities of New York city's East side, nurse Margaret Sanger saw women struggling with enormous families of children, the health ramifications of multiple births, and the horrors of back-alley abortions. This motivated her to act, starting a campaign of birth control advocacy that would form her life's work. In the wake of the recent attacks on women's reproductive rights in the U.S., the first of our two part episode looks at this controversial woman's career, and the fundamental changes brought about by her life long work.Baker, Jean B. Margaret Sanger: A Life of Passion. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books, 2011.Huss, S., and Dwight, L. "Planned Parenthood: 100 years of leadership and controversy." in Leadership and Sexuality. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018.Kennedy, David M. Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger. Yale University Press, 1970.If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Famous today as the overlooked illustrator of the influential Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck, in her own time Pamela Colman Smith something of an enigma. Known for her lively and enchanting Jamaican folklore performances, her publishing press and literary magazine, and for her extraordinary miniature theatre, Pamela - Pixie to her friends - wove magical worlds where women had agency and gender was fluid. But she was also a woman cloaked in mystery, and who was often Othered by her contemporaries. Join us, together with PCS scholar Elizabeth Foley O'Connor, as we travel from England to Jamaica, New York and Cornwall, tracing this elusive and enigmatic woman. Join us, together with PCS scholar Elizabeth Foley O'Connor, as we travel from England to Jamaica, New York and Cornwall, tracing this elusive and enigmatic woman. Kaplan, Stuart. R., Mary. K. Greer, Elizabeth Foley O'Connor, Melinda Boyd Parsons. Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story. U.S. Games, 2018. O’Connor, Elizabeth Foley. "‘We Disgruntled Devils Don’t Please Anybody’: Pamela Colman Smith, The Green Sheaf, and Female Literary Networks." South Carolina Review 48: 72-89.O’Connor, Elizabeth Foley. "Pamela Colman Smith’s Performative Primitivism" in Caribbean Irish Connections: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Alison Donnell, Maria McGarrity, Evelyn O'Callaghan. University of the West Indies Press, 2015.If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Along the rivers and waterways of Mexico, a woman's cries can be heard in the night. Punished for the crime of infanticide, La Llorona wanders in the dark for eternity, ready to snatch away unsuspecting children. But while her story makes for perfect horror film fare, there is more to her than meets the eye. With echoes of the Aztec goddess Cihuacóatl, her significance as a symbol of women's agency and power has been reclaimed in modern feminist reimaginings of La Llorona lore. So turn the lights down low as we prepare for a ghost story that reveals much more about prescribed gender roles than Hollywood would like us to think...If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Infamous as the 'Mad Queen of Madagascar', Queen Ranavalona's reign is remembered as one of violence and tyranny. But she was also a queen with a noble mission: to protect the sovereignty and traditional practices of her people from the enormous and oppressive colonial forces of the French and English. Her methods, though, were inventive. Come with us to the island of Madagascar to discover a queen unafraid to poison a witch or two (or a few thousand), hang herself some Christians, and lead her nation to its industrial revolution.Chernock, Arianne. "Queen Victoria and the "Bloody Mary of Madagascar"." Victorian Studies 55.3 (2013): 425-49,575. Web.Kamhi, Alison. "Perceptions of Ranavalona I: A Malagasy Historic Figure as a Thematic Symbol of Malagasy Attitudes Toward History." Letter from the Editors-in-Chief (2002): 29. Encyclopedia of World Biography.Queen of Madagascar Ranavalona I Biography https://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Mi-So/Ranavalona-I-Queen-of-Madagascar.htmlIf you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Celebrated as the iconic model and muse for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall has become one of the most recognisable faces in the history of Western art. However, famed for her beauty and romanticised for her tragic personal life, Lizzie Siddall's own art and poetry was largely brushed aside, diminished by the grandeur of the "great men" who surrounded her. Come with us as we button our bonnets and prepare for some grave-digging in order to examine the mythic story of her life and death, and the long undervalued significance of her own work.If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From conservative Melbourne to the Bohemian underworld of Paris' Rive Gauche, and a wild mountain hideaway in Positano, Vali Myers led a life like no other. Heralded as the original hippy and the muse of beatniks and hipsters, Vali Myers was an artist, dancer and environmentalist who left entire movements in her wake. After living on the streets and dancing in jazz clubs to stay alive, she went on to establish a wildlife sanctuary in Italy where she painted profound images of the sacred, nature and the feminine. Join us as we uncover the extraordinary life of the woman dubbed the Witch of Positano.For more, read: Arnel Stephanie. Vali Myers, Her Place: Women’s Museum Australia, https://herplacemuseum.com/encounters/vali_myers/ Fitzgerald, Danny and Eve, Lina, directors. His Savage Mistress, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK1tflgkX8AMcIntosh, Martin, Jones, Gemma, editors. NightFlower: The Life and Art of Vali Myers, Outre Gallery Press, 2012van der Elsken, Ed. Love on the Left Bank, Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1999If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first episode back for Season Three, we get piratical with the most successful pirate of them all ... a woman! From infamous beginnings, Ching Shih's path crossed with Cheng I, a notorious sea dog who terrorised China's southern coastline. Together, they formed an unstoppable coalition of pirates, with a stranglehold on the precious trade that ran through the Pearl River Delta to Canton. But when Cheng I died a new leader was needed, and Ching Shih stepped up to write her place in history. So get your sea legs ready and prepare for battle as we explore the life of the fierce Ching Shih.If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the holidays and whatever you celebrate - Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule or the Solstice - we hope you have a most excellent break and enjoy some festive cheer! In our end of year special, we talk about some of our favourites from the season and then get deep into the figure of Frau Pertcha, the Alpine Goddess whose naughty list you *don't* want to end up on! We then trace her connection to Holda, the protectress of women's crafts and children's souls. So grab some eggnog, charge your yule glasses, and join us for some myth and merriment!If you want to support Deviant Women, follow us on: PatreonTwitter @DeviantWomenFacebook @deviantwomenpodcastInstagram @deviantwomenpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.