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Episode details

Radio 4,23 May 2014,45 mins

Twins; teenage etiquette 1950s style

Woman's Hour

Available for over a year

BBC drama Happy Valley, written by Sally Wainwright, is a provocative piece of work, but has its depiction of violence against women gone to far. When Victoria Bateman, a Cambridge Don, commissioned a naked portrait of herself she hoped it would challenge the notion that an image of a naked woman is invariably about sex. Her stance essentially follows a long line of feminist protest campaigns which have sought to empower women by giving new meaning to the nude female as a political tool instead of a sex object. But can female nudity ever escape the scrutiny of the male gaze? Since 1998, in El Salvador, abortion has not been allowed under any circumstance. Women who miscarry or give birth to a stillborn baby are sometimes suspected of inducing an abortion and a number of Salvadorian women who've suffered a miscarriage have been found guilty of 'aggravated homicide'. Last month, women's groups in El Salvador joined together to campaign for the release of 17 women who've been imprisoned on the charge. 15-year-old Maya Van Wagenen, says that she was a "geek" at school and found it hard to fit in and make friends. But when her father gave her 1950's book on teenage etiquette, she decided to follow its advice for a year and write a memoir about her experience. Maya joins Jenni Murray to explain how it proved to be the key to her social success. The birth of a child is one of the most joyous occasions so the arrival of twins is cause for a double celebration. Roger Federer's wife, Mirka, recently gave birth to the couple's SECOND set of twins. But when the congratulations die down, and the nappies start to pile up, what's the reality of having twins twice? Two mothers share their family's story.

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