Woman's Hour - 17/02/2010

With Jenni Murray. Including: A leading French feminist has caused a stir by claiming that the green movement is undermining decades of improvements in gender equality. By villifying conveniences such as disposable nappies, ready-made baby meals and cheap, packaged food she says the green lobby is promoting an ideal that can only be attained by a full-time stay-at-home parent - in most cases the woman. But is she right? What can the green movement in this country offer the time-poor working woman? Kathryn Williams has been described as 'the great hope of English folk' and her album Little Black Numbers was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2000. She has since gone on to enchant audiences with what reviewers have called a quizzical and darkly sensual approach to songwriting. Jenni finds out about her latest release, The Quickening, and discovers why she chose to record the album in only four days, with musicians who had never heard the songs prior to the recording. In a recent case in Italy 450,000 euros was granted to a young girl who had been raped by a group of teenage boys a number of times over a few years. The fine was levied against the parents as the judge felt that they had failed to give their children an education 'in feelings and emotions'. The boys showed little ability to appreciate the damage their actions had inflicted on the young girl. But how much responsibility parents should bear when it comes to the crimes their children commit? And at what point should a young person be seen entirely as an independent? Plus the views of listeners responding to our special programme about life for women in the 1930s.