TRANSCRIPTION 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:12.000
I'm Christina Rowns, and welcome to Labeled This Week, a new mini-episode series for witches, bitches, and sex.
00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:17.440
When I started this podcast, I started with the database.
00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:25.600
Every time I saw a woman get called hysterical, emotional, unstable, a liar, etc., I logged it.
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.039
Who said it, who it was about, and what happened next.
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.640
But I can't keep up.
00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:32.320
It's happening every day.
00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:37.280
By the time I finish researching one story, I have five more to add to the database.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:45.920
So from now on, every week, alongside our regular episodes, I'll be doing a mini episode called Labeled This Week.
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:52.479
It's a quick rundown of who got labeled in the last seven days and the question I always come back to.
00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:00.880
Since this is the first one, I'll start by catching you up on two ongoing cases.
00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.479
A quick heads up though.
00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.120
This section discusses sexual assault and the deaths of children.
00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.319
First up, Cornell University.
00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.840
Last month, a former Cornell student filed a lawsuit under the name Jane Doe.
00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:26.079
She alleges that members of the Chi-Fi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her in October 2024 when she was 20.
00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.359
The men named in the suit deny any wrongdoing.
00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.159
She reported it to campus police that year, but no charges followed.
00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:42.480
Now the district attorney has reopened the case, but he's also said her lawsuit differs dramatically from her original statement.
00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:44.719
But her attorney disputes that.
00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.480
And that's the label.
00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:47.840
Inconsistent.
00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:55.680
When a woman reports an assault, the scrutiny often goes to whether she told it the same way every time.
00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.000
Not to the people she accused or the people who investigated.
00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.959
And here's what that label is covering up.
00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:10.960
NBC News reported that campus police interviewed witnesses and received anonymous tips in 2024.
00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:17.039
And the district attorney didn't review that information before deciding not to charge anyone.
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:22.800
New York Attorney General Letitia James has now taken over as special prosecutor.
00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:31.199
This Tuesday, Cornell's trustees announced that former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will lead an independent review.
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.919
And Doe's attorney says she's getting threats to drop the lawsuit.
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:39.439
So who benefits when she's labeled inconsistent?
00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.960
Everyone whose decisions would otherwise be examined.
00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.879
The men she accused, a university facing a lawsuit, and a prosecutor whose original call is now under scrutiny.
00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:55.919
Our second ongoing case is one that's divided people since the trial began.
00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:00.960
Lindsay Clancy is a former labor and delivery nurse in Massachusetts.
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:05.280
In January 2023, she killed her three young children.
00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.120
That isn't disputed.
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:13.439
Her defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and wasn't criminally responsible.
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.240
Prosecutors argued she knew what she was doing and acted deliberately.
00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.759
The trial ended in a mistrial on September 4th.
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:29.199
According to the jury for person, 11 jurors were ready to find her not guilty by reason of insanity.
00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.120
And one refused.
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:35.840
On October 1st, the judge denied the defense's motion to throw out the case.
00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.560
So a retrial is still possible.
00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.759
And I'm not here to decide her criminal responsibility.
00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:49.120
I'm here to look at the labels because this case has two competing ones that have divided the public since the trial began.
00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:53.039
Is she a monster or a woman who was severely ill?
00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.319
Who benefits if the label is monster?
00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.319
A monster is a one-off.
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.039
She doesn't make us ask harder questions.
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:09.360
But if she was ill, then we have to ask why a nurse surrounded by medical care didn't get the help she needed.
00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:14.560
Postpartum psychosis is rare, treatable, in a psychiatric emergency.
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.800
And experts say women often struggle to get diagnosed.
00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.480
Monster lets that system off the hook.
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.560
And I'll keep updating you if new information comes out.
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.959
Now to this week's new labels.
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.759
Starting in South Carolina, Dr.
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.759
Annie Andrews is a pediatrician, a mom of three, and the Democratic nominee for U.S.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:38.560
Senate there.
00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:50.160
On Monday, President Trump used a version of an anti-trans slur three times in a true social post attacking her as a play on her name.
00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:55.279
Andrews isn't transgender, and that's the point.
00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:02.720
The slur wasn't meant to describe her, it was meant to attach a label her opponents think voters will reject.
00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:04.399
And it does double duty.
00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:11.199
It targets her and
Load full transcript
it tells every trans person listening that their identity is an insult.
00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:12.720
And who benefits?
00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:15.839
Trump has told us how he sees this issue.
00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.680
Last month he called trans issues one of our great sound bites of all time.
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:25.920
And CNN reports his allies are worried about this race.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:33.600
A slur turns a candidate into a culture war target before voters ever hear what she's proposing.
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.000
From one Senate race to another.
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.680
In Florida, State Representative Angie Nixon is the Democratic nominee for U.S.
00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:42.319
Senate.
00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:46.720
At an October 1st rally in Lakeland, Vice President J.D.
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:53.519
Vance called her a socialist and told the crowd, quote, then get the hell out of here.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:57.680
You don't belong in America if those are your views.
00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:58.879
End quote.
00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:03.199
Nixon is a black woman born and raised in Jacksonville.
00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.439
The label is explicit.
00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.839
She doesn't belong here.
00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:18.319
Vance tied it to her politics, but once she's cast as someone who doesn't belong in the country, her proposals don't have to be debated at all.
00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:19.839
And who benefits?
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.600
Anyone who'd rather not argue with her on her merits.
00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:29.360
And from politics, we go on to Hollywood, where the labels came with a price tag.
00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:39.360
On Tuesday, the New York Times published an investigation into at least five women who say professionals were hired to destroy their reputations.
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:41.759
And the details are coming out in court.
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:54.399
In leaked recordings published by the Hollywood Reporter, digital fixer Jed Wallace says ordinary insults aren't enough when targeting one woman, producer Amanda Ghost.
00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:02.800
In recordings about another woman, Jessica Safati, he discusses building a narrative to establish her as a liar.
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.959
Wallace and others involved have either denied wrongdoing or not responded to the reporter.
00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.639
So who benefits?
00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.279
This one is the easiest answer of the week.
00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:14.879
Whoever is paying.
00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:21.839
If these lawsuits are right, labeling women isn't just an insult, it's a service and it's for sale.
00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:31.439
Ghost's defamation case against actress Rebel Wilson is reportedly scheduled to go on trial in January 2027, and we'll be following it.
00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:34.480
Before I go on, one number to close on.
00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:35.600
34%.
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:47.360
In a Gallup survey released last month, about one in three US women said a healthcare provider had minimized or dismissed their symptoms in the past five years.
00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:52.560
It was the most commonly reported negative experience in the survey.
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:57.360
So who benefits from labeling her anxious or dramatic?
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.639
Maybe a rushed system where it's faster to apply a label than to run a test.
00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.720
She's the one who pays for it.
00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:06.560
And that's labeled this week.
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:09.199
Every week the names change, the questions don't.
00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.560
Who applied the label?
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.000
What evidence supports it?
00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.839
And who benefits when it sticks?
00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:19.360
If you see it happen, send it my way on Instagram at the.wbs dot pod.
00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:29.040
Once again, that's at the t-h e dot wbs dot pod po d or at the wbspod at gmail.com.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:30.879
See you next week.