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Episode details

Radio 4,27 Jan 2012,58 mins

When to tell people you're pregnant, and female soldiers on film

Woman's Hour

Available for over a year

New poll data suggests that men and women are more or less, equally unconvinced by the idea of Ed Miliband as Prime Minister. But when asked to say why they find it hard to imagine him in the top job women are much more likely to say they don't know enough about him to make a clear judgement. Men are firmer in their reasons; more of them think he is not up to the job of being Prime Minister. So is this a glimmer of hope for Labour? What can the party's strategists do to sell their leader to women. When should you tell people you're pregnant? It used to be that most women would wait until at least 12 weeks, then, once people knew, you'd simply wait until the baby was born. Today's parents can have 3 dimensional photographs of the foetus. Some people post their scans on Facebook or announce their pregnancy on Twitter. You can find out the baby's sex, you can give it a name. So how has technology changed the 'pregnancy announcement' - and has it done so for the better? We visit the Armitt Museum in the Lake District - founded by three sisters from Salford and home to some of the area's most important papers. It's 40 years since MASH first appeared on television - and with it one of the most famous female soldiers - Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan. Since then we've had Private Benjamin and GI Jane, plus a host of futuristic soldiers in films like Avatar, Starship Troopers and Aliens. So how has the cinematic image of women in uniform changed since World War Two? Plus - your response to whether Miss, Mrs and Ms should be ditched. Presented by Jenni Murray.

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