Her Half of History

For a very long time, Santa was a single man. His wife occasionally peeped out of the historical record, but not often. Until a host of magazine writers in the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s decided that enough was enough. Mrs. Claus appeared with an astonishingly feminist stance on who was doing the real work of Christmas. (Hint: It wasn't Santa.) The closing music is by Clavier Clavier, available at Pi...

I am currently on break preparing Series 14, The Woman Behind the Man. For today, I am bringing you an interview I did a few months ago with Shea LaFountaine of the History Fix podcast. If you haven’t tuned into her show, you should give it a try! She and I connected over the surprisingly interesting history of laundry, but she has at the time of this recording, 86 other episodes on subjects that...

The voters have spoken! The topic of Series 14 will be: The Woman Behind the Man. I’ll be looking at women across the ages who had a hand (sometimes a major hand) in the success of some very well-known men. I’m hoping you’ll have heard of the men: I’m choosing the blockbusters. But I suspect the women you have not heard of. Most of them anyway. The research has already begun, but if you know of a...

I make no comment on the current US election because this is a history podcast. But the entire concept of a woman running a country with even the semblance of an election involved is a recent phenomenon, historically speaking. We’re not even at a century yet. We’re not even at three quarters of a century yet. This episode will give you the rundown on women who have done it, from Sri Lanka to Icela...

Throughout history and around the globe, women have routinely squeezed, bound, crushed, tweezed, poisoned, pricked, and stretched various portions of their anatomy, sometimes with permanent ramifications, sometimes with excruciating agony, all in the name of beauty. Why was beauty so important? There's no perfect answer, but I explain five theories: Darwinian Evolution To Catch a Man (economically...

Most of the episodes in this series have been about shaping the female body in the name of beauty. But there is at least one major reshaping that has nothing to do with beauty and everything to do with survival. Breast cancer was known to the ancient Egyptians and nearly every culture since, but for most of that time there was no effective treatment. The early modern period saw a growing recogniti...

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and history proves it: blackened teeth, modified skull shapes, extended necks, lip plates, and piercings of various body parts. All of these have been considered the height of beauty, and women went to great lengths to achieve it. This week's episode gives the details. It is also time to vote on the topic of series 14! Make your voice heard on the web...

Jane Wenham was accused of witchcraft in 1712. One of the trials was a search of her body. Did she or did she not have a witch's mark where her familiar sucked her blood? Or maybe a Devil's mark where he sealed her as his after a nocturnal initiation. Most of the episodes have been on what women did to make themselves beautiful (whatever that happened to mean at the time). This episode is doing do...

If you do have one, you are part of a very long-standing worldwide tradition. Tattoos have existed since prehistoric times in many cultures, where they were often (but not always) for women. Evidence for henna is not nearly so old, but then again, how could we expect it to be? There may have been any number of women and cultures who used henna without leaving us any record. This episode tells the...

Women continued to make their own cosmetics in the 18th century. Then it was suddenly immoral in the 19th century (not that some women didn't do it anyway). And then they came roaring back in the 20th century. The revival was led by actresses and eagerly followed by the vast majority of other women. Lipstick! Face powder! Rouge! Mascara! Eyeliner! Eye shadow! There was no end to the number of beau...

Cosmetics are nothing new. Women (and sometimes men) were using them in Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, and India. This is an overview of the art of making up your face across the millennia with white lead, poppy juice, mercury, and more. Also what the menfolk thought about it. (Hint: They were largely against the idea.) Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures....

I hope you’ve never had a hair day quite like that of Corinna, the mistress to whom the Roman poet Ovid wrote Amores, or The Loves. Corinna dyed her hair so hard, it all fell out. And of all the strange things, Ovid wrote a poem about it. It's possible that Corinna was not a real person or that this wasn't a real incident. But the poem ranges from hair dye, to hair texture, to ancient Roman curlin...

To cover the history of hair would be a podcast in and of itself, and the host should not be me. But hair has been very, very important to a great many women, both past and present, so I am going to give it a go, hitting only the points that caught my eye. Topics included are: Cornrow braids Romans who sewed their hair into place Medieval women who prized a receding hairline French women who put b...

Surely I am not the only woman who has ever eyed the razor and the shaving cream and wondered "Why?" Women have been questing for hairlessness at least since Egyptian times, and though the record is mostly silent on this question, there are occasional hints about why and when and how women through the ages did it (mostly painfully and sometimes lethally). Visit the website (herhalfofhistory.com) f...

The origins of footbinding are lost in time, but I think it is safe to say that the first woman to do it could not possibly have imagined what was coming. This episode covers the earliest evidence (in the 1100s) through to the final demise of the practice in 1957. The historical records are heavy on hormone-inspired odes to beauty. They are relatively light on the actual lived experiences of hundr...

The mostly male writers of historical records were reasonably interested in breasts, but quite uninterested in the day-to-day management of them. For most of history, there's not much to go on, but this episode covers time periods where women bound up their breasts to make them as small as possible. It also covers time periods where women used incredible ingenuity to create devices that boosted th...

Corsets are infamous as torturous devices, specially designed to keep women in their place and helpless. But reality is a little more complicated than that, as it always is. This episode discusses: the origin of the corset the evolving function of the corset the 19th century corset how small could a woman go? who enforced this idea anyway? how bad for your health was it? where did the corset go? V...

Women have been chasing impossible beauty standards for at least hundreds of years and probably longer. But just what we think is beautiful keeps changing. This is an overview look of what body shape different historical cultures found desirable. Whether you are stick thin or medically obese, well-endowed or small-breasted, firm or fleshy, it has all been beautiful at some point. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠web...

What woman doesn't love chocolate? (Okay, I do know a few, but still.) Guest writer Pamela Toler tells us about the history of chocolate in this episode. Please check out Pamela's other work! She has an excellent book called Women Warriors and an upcoming book called The Dragon from Chicago. Find both and more at the following links: Website: https://www.pameladtoler.com/ Blog: http://www.historyi...

For the 4th of July, learn about Peggy Shippen Arnold! She's the wife of Benedict Arnold, the most famous American traitor. Had things gone just a little differently, we might not be celebrating independence today. I am on research break to prepare Series 13: Shaping the Female Body, so this is a guest episode by Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus of the 2 Complicated 4 History podcast. Yo...

I am on research break to prepare Series 13: Shaping the Female Body. But in the meantime, here is a beautiful speech by Sojourner Truth, the emancipated slave, abolitionist, feminist, preacher, and all around fabulous woman. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my ⁠⁠⁠...

Alexandra was born German, but she married into the Romanov dynasty of Russia. Her marriage is one of European royalty's few great love stories. But the world of the late 19th century was one where absolute monarchies were crumbling, and her family's fall is also one of European royalty's saddest tragedies.  Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. T...

When the British came for her country, Yaa Asantewaa (aged nearly 70) rallied the Asante warriors and fought back. Though she lost in the end, she became one of Ghana's great heroes. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcripts, and pictures. This show survives on the support of listeners like you. Support the show on my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Lili'uokalani did not grow up expecting to be queen, but once she was, she had no intention of being a figurehead. Unfortunately, that is what big business and foreign investors wanted her to be. Their clashes were (mostly) nonviolent, but a coup toppled the monarchy and eventually Hawaii was annexed by the United States. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcript...

Lakshmibai is India's Joan of Arc. When the English claimed her country, she fought back. Her story is the most famous part of what the English called the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the Indians call the First War of Independence. Though she lost in the end, Lakshmibai's story (and glory) lives on in Indian popular culture. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (herhalfofhistory.com) for sources, transcri...