E1P1 Claire & Paige talk about the wildest women in Britain

Paige Shapiro, a Women's British Royalty enthusiast, discusses her passion for learning about female royal history. She mentions her interest in Queen Elizabeth I and how her biography inspired her to delve into the lesser-known aspects of the queen's life. They also discuss the power dynamics and limitations faced by women in positions of authority during that time. The conversation then shifts to Catherine the Great, known for her open sexuality and her contributions to sexual education in the 1700s. They conclude by discussing the allure of British women's history, including fashion and politics, compared to American women's history. Welcome to Cheesemosa's Heaven with Claire Cox! We are here today with Women's British Royalty extraordinaire Paige Shapiro. Paige, how long have you been with us at Madison College? I've been off for about three years now. Okay, okay. So have you learned anything about Women's British Royalty here at Madison College or was this something that you kind of discovered on your own? How did you get into this topic? I never really learned any historical knowledge through Madison College. I've mostly just taken like English courses or journalism courses, but my main hobby is learning about female royal history. Oh, okay. It's a fun thing for me to do. Okay, cool, cool. And were you talking about how Queen Elizabeth I, the other day, we were having a great conversation about her. Was it the the biography about her that got you into kind of this whole realm? Yes, yes. I started reading it and it interested me a lot about her younger years and it was never really talked about. It was mostly just based on her being an older queen. No one ever like spoke of her history past her childhood. Her brother, who was also king, and her sister who was also queen, and how she wasn't even supposed to become queen because she was cut off from the royal line. Oh my gosh. Her father is a circulating man-whore. Oh, wow. But he marries his wife, so he shouldn't count it as being a whore. What a shuffle of drama. Oh my gosh. Do you feel like women in power, such as Queen Elizabeth I, or maybe you have a better example, do you felt like they got to be fully powerful in their reign with their own autonomy? Or do you feel like their husbands influenced a lot of what really got set into stone, per se, or what came to fruition with law, war, the people, etc.? Because she was called Virgin Queen, meaning she did not want to marry. And from her past, just looking at her father's relationships and her own mother's, her mother was killed within three years after she was born because of him accusing her of infidelity. And though historically it is proven that she was never like procreating with other people. That sounds really rooted in misogyny. Do you feel like that was kind of a standard for for women to expect at the time that their husbands would abuse them or even kill them in such a violent way? The first thing that women are taught when they're born and they start walking is that you are a tool for men to use. You are for marriage and for only birth giving. That's basically any royal family. That's your job. Like you have no part in politics. Possibly if you like leverage your way in through like flirting and maybe having a little power. But from the start, get-go, you are a birth giver and you are the wife. You have to listen to your husband. Those traditional rules are just so limiting. But I feel like it is just, it's beautiful that you took on this topic to learn more about the women who are so much more than the roles that were expected of them. But yeah, thank you so much for being with us today. We do have a few from our audience who have written in today. So excited for you to be our guest. Let me just go to Daniel in New Hampshire says, my history teacher says, um Catherine the Great was really, really a crazy character. And why is that? I'm just dying to know. She wouldn't tell me because she told me it's not school appropriate. But Paige, can you help us with this? Daniel, thank you so much for tuning in. Paige, what is so crazy about Catherine the Great? Well, she was well known for her open sexuality, especially after the death, murder most likely, of her King Peter the Great. Was it that great? Sorry. Peter the Great was his father, Peter, King Peter. And she was well known for being openly sexual and having an openly sexual nature. And I believe that she started, at least publicly started, the importance of sexual education and appreciation for women during the 1700s. And a very common thing that she had was many decorated golden encrusted furniture, specifically side table, with many penises on the side that were engraved into the side. I'm gonna say the first wooden dildo. Many women's favorite decor, but she was really the beginning of that trend. Yes. In interior design. She was the starter of many trends. Wow. Wow. She was the great. Daniel, thank you so much for such an excellent question. All right, and we have one more question from maybe Paige's self-declared biggest fan. Oh my gosh. Yasmin from New York. Hey Paige, it's Yasmin. Real question. As American women that we are from New York, what would you say is the allure of British women's history, specifically royalty, versus the history of American women? And be honest now. I think the biggest allure for American women to British royal history is many different things. It could be from the fashion, where you would wear whale bones for corsets and be very uncomfortable, but the designs were beautiful. You look at Marie Antoinette with her giant boat ship wings. That was pretty iconic. Completely. Don't even get me started on her with her money and her fashion senses, but another thing I think would be politics in general. Women weren't commonly a part of politics, besides like the queens who were placed into power, but a lot of the times you would be a part of the court and so you have to buddy-buddy with the king or queen and have to like literally surround them in their everyday lives. Like in comparison to American history where we see democracy is like a cabinet and many different knowledgeable people in different categories, but with British, or even just royalty in general, there's kings and queens and their courtships. So it was more of like a conglomerated infatuation. Wow, what a great phrase. Conglomerated infatuation. I think I'm gonna get that tattooed. Oh my gosh. Maybe on the forehead. Or on the butt. Oh, on the butt. Yes. You just give me the best ideas. Thank you so much for all the ideas, the knowledge, the history, the discourse. As a person who just adores critical studies, I think you are such a valuable asset to this field and I just really appreciate the time that you have put into this research. Thank you so much all for tuning in. We will be live on the air next week, Thursday. We'll see you guys there. All right, bye.