Kate- Cat Bites of Victorian Media; Episode 1, Bad Women
In Kate-Cat Bites of Victorian Media; Bad Women Episode 1, we examine the life of Mary Ann Cotton, Britain’s first female serial killer. She exemplifies the true definition of a bad woman! Throughout the podcast, we detail the media representation of women criminals, gender norms, and threats to masculinity. Tune in for a fun conversation!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZ5Qzg03e717IN7dAVcio2phU2zuFrSk/view?usp=sharing
I think this podcast was excellent! I found it really interesting how you expressed that cotton has been represented in media through masculinity. The clenched jaw, furrowed brow, weathered face, and hair back detailed in a picture of her is very interesting and after looking at the picture she does in fact look masculine. Why does the media portray cotton in this masculine way? Is it because she was the first female serial killer and it was unheard of? Also, I found it very interesting how you mentioned the execution of cotton and explained how the executioner purposely made the process last longer for her due to the power she stripped from men during this time period. Overall I really enjoyed listening to this podcast and I think you made it fun with you addition of jokes and humor!
ReplyDeleteKate and Cat, I really like how you opened the podcast with discussing people’s outrage with female murderers because we definitely still see this today. There often are less female serial killers so people become obsessed with wanting to see how women could do such a thing which relates to your discussion on the stereotypes of women’s roles. I like how you said she committed a double crime because you can just envision a defense attorney of today using her “uncontrolled” sexual appetite to place her in prison. Before, I had not heard of Mary Ann Cotton and that could just be me being unaware and she is actually everywhere. But other male serial killers are everywhere and often too much as it seems they are being glorified and this directly relates to people's ultra fear of women who are capable of doing horrible things. The discussion of the pronoun is really interesting ang makes me think of how he and him was considered the standard go to pronoun for everything. I wonder when that changed? Also, your banter was great and really added to your podcast.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your topic. Your small description you wrote drew me in because it is similar to a true crime podcast. The topic of mad women is always interesting because of the way they are depicted by others. It is uncommon for serial killers to me women so it made me want to know more. In all stories I have heard about mad women, men always make them seem devious. It was clever how you said she committed two crimes because of her desires. Women were so limited to the way they could be and your podcast really sheds light on that. I also found your podcast to be very organized in the way you asked each other questions and went from segment to segment. The audio was also very clear.
ReplyDeleteKate & Cat~
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed listening to this episode and learning everything about bad women, specifically through the actions of Mary Ann Cotton. You both did a great job of engaging in a back and forth discussion and I was equally as surprised as you were to learn so much about who she was as a serial killer! I also resonated with it because Annie and I focused on a specific woman during the Victorian era as well, and so it was fascinating to attempt a compare and contrast of these two unique figures of that time. I am typically not interested in anything crime related as entertainment but I found this to be equally informative as it was slightly mind-blowing. Because the concept of “mad women” was so prominent during the 19th century, and now you are bringing in this idea of “bad women”, I’m wondering, was Mary Ann Cotton ever diagnosed with anything or was she ever threatened to be sent into an insane asylum? Great job!