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Weekend Woman's Hour: Lena Dunham; Felicity Green; Rae Morris

Lena Dunham on Girls, nudity and therapy; Fleet Street legend Felicity Green; Rae Morris sings Closer; and we hear from a woman abused as a 14-year-old in a care home.

Lena Dunham writes, directs and stars in the critically acclaimed series Girls. She discusses over-sharing, nudity, clothes and what years of therapy have taught her.

The dummy rules: when is a child too old? And does it matter?
The Fleet Street legend Felicity Green talks about being part of the team in the 60s that oversaw the circulation of the Daily Mirror rise above five million.

As part of our historical sex abuse series we hear from a woman abused as a 14 year old in a care home, and discuss abuse in institutions with Natasha Finlayson from the Who Cares Trust and journalist Simon Hattenstone.

Should we all embrace the right to change our appearance with cosmetic surgery? Writer and psychotherapist Susie Orbach and beauty writer Sali Hughes give us their views.
And we have music from the singer songwriter Rae Morris.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Produced by Rabeka Nurmahomed
Edited by Jane Thurlow.

Available now

58 minutes

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham writes, directs and stars in critically acclaimed series Girls, which follows a group of 20-something friends through the often less-than-glamorous landscape of hipster New York.Β  Dealing with tough subjects like unemployment, abortion and substance abuse, last year the comedy won a Golden Globe for Lena, and she secured a multi-million dollar deal for her memoirs, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s β€œLearned”.Β  The book is full of frank and sometimes painful descriptions of her childhood, teens and 20s, and 28-year-old Lena joins Jenni to discuss her extraordinary life.

The Dummy Debate

When Victoria Beckham was spotted at the end of last week with her three-year-old sucking on a dummy, she was accused by health experts of damaging her daughter’s wellbeing. Dummies are intended to help settle a restless child at bedtime and the NHS recommends parents stop the use of them by the age of 12 months. However, some parents use them to stop a child crying or because it’s simply become a habit. So could that habit actually stunt a child’s speech? Or can dummies or soothers continue to play a limited role? Jane is joined by Laverne Antrobus, consultant child and educational psychologist at the Tavistock Clinic in London, and journalist Heidi Scrimgeour from Playpennies website.

Felicity Green, Fleet Street Legend

Fleet Street legend Felicity Green joins Jane Garvey to describe her unique editorial position in the 60’s, riding a great wave of change for women who were celebrating a newly forged emancipation. She embraced youth culture with editorials full of vibrancy, miniskirts and cool; a part of the team who oversaw the circulation of the Daily Mirror rise above five million.Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β 

Institutional abuse

In the next part of our series on historic sexual abuse and assault, we look into abuse that has taken place in children’s homes and other public institutions. Jenni hears from Marni Mulholland who, in her memoir Raw, describes the abuse she suffered as a 14 year-old in a residential care home. Jenni also speaks to the Chief Executive of the Who Cares? Trust, Natasha Finlayson, and to Simon Hattenstone, a Guardian journalist who has taken part in investigations into institutional abuse.

Changing Your Appearance

The radically changed appearance of Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger continues to provoke a heated debate about whether she may or may not have had plastic surgery. Is the criticism of the actress fair? After all, more of us are choosing to go under the knife. Last year in the UK more than 45,000 women and 4,700 men underwent some form of cosmetic procedure. A 17 % jump on the previous 12 months. So what does the debate about the Hollywood actress reveal about our own attitudes to changing our body shape? Shock, confusion or hypocrisy? Susie Orbach, writer and psychotherapist and Guardian beauty editor, Sali Hughes join the programme.Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β 

Women and Power Dressing

Once associated with sharp suits and spike heels, with the myriad of choice we have today, power dressing has evolved. As the exhibitionΒ  "" opens in London, we take a look at how we use clothes - what messages of status, confidence and control do we send out by what we choose to wear? Jenni is joined by the exhibition's co-curator Donna Loveday, Susie Lau of blog Stylebubble and Lena Dunham.

Rae Morris

Β is one of the most in-demand new singer-songwriters in the UK.Β  The 22 year old from Blackpool was the headliner at ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds FestivalΒ  in August, where she also appeared in 2011 at the early stages of her career. Her lustrous and emotive tones have received critical acclaim and she’s been compared to acts such as Cat Power and Feist. Rae joins Jane Garvey to talk about her musical inspirations and to perform her new single Closer.

The single Closer is out now and Rae's debut album will be out in January. She is performing in Cardiff on 30 October.

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jane Garvey
Interviewed Guest Lena Dunham
Interviewed Guest Laverne Antrobus
Interviewed Guest Heidi Scrimgeour
Interviewed Guest Felicity Green
Interviewed Guest Marni Mulholland
Interviewed Guest Natasha Finlayson
Interviewed Guest Simon Hattenstone
Interviewed Guest Sali Hughes
Interviewed Guest Susie Orbach
Interviewed Guest Donna Loveday
Interviewed Guest Susie Lau
Interviewed Guest Rae Morris
Producer Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor Jane Thurlow

Broadcast

  • Sat 1 Nov 2014 16:00

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