The Vixen and the Virgin - Women, Espionage and Propaganda in WW1
Two independent women find themselves in front of firing squads during the First World War. Nurse Edith Cavell is heralded as a heroine and a saint. Exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari becomes a symbol of evil and the enemy within. The propaganda that followed their executions delineated clear rules of what patriotic women should and should not be. Producer Nicola Luksic learns these women have more in common than meets the eye.
"One of the reasons why Mata Hari is considered suspicious is because she was a single woman, travelling on her own -- she wasn't owned by any male person, she wasn't owned by any family. She was outside society."
-- Biographer, Julie Wheelwright
"Edith Cavell was not motivated by patriotism. It wasn't a flag-waving thing."
-- Biographer, Diana Souhami
Featured guests (in order of appearance):
Tammy Proctor, author of Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War. Department head of History at Utah State University.
Julie Wheelwright, author of The Fatal Lover: Mata Hari and the Myth of Women in Espionage. Director of Creative Writing at City University London.
Diana Souhami, author of the biography Edith Cavell.
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