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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and you're listening to stuff Mom

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Speaker 1: never told you. As of recording Marty Gras, A K

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Speaker 1: Fat Tuesday is fast approaching. Recently, as part of the

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Speaker 1: other podcast I do, which is called Sabor, you should

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Speaker 1: check it out, we went on a field trip to

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Speaker 1: New Orleans to learn all about the food and drink

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Speaker 1: and history of that city, which, as you can't imagine,

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Speaker 1: was a little overwhelming. Lots going on in New Orleans.

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Speaker 1: If you're interested, those episodes have started coming out, so

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Speaker 1: I I would highly recommend checking them out. We interviewed

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Speaker 1: eighteen plus people and one of the things that surprised

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Speaker 1: me the most um talking to all these people, was

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Speaker 1: hearing locals talk about Marty Gras and describing it as

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Speaker 1: this family, communal, neighborhood celebration. And I don't know about

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Speaker 1: you listeners, especially you listeners not from New Orleans, but

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Speaker 1: when I thought of Marty Graw prior to this, I

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Speaker 1: thought of people who had too much to drink and

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Speaker 1: women showing their breast for beads. And while that does exist,

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Speaker 1: Marty Gras is so much more than that. One woman

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Speaker 1: we spoke to, um she's She talked about her experience

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Speaker 1: in Crew Bacchus, which is a crew or kind of

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Speaker 1: a group organization based around Star Wars. That's fantastic. The

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Speaker 1: role of women, and of race and of gender, all

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Speaker 1: of these things have a huge part in Marty Gras.

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Speaker 1: For those celebrating, have a happy and safe Marty Gras.

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Speaker 1: For those who are not the same, goes for your Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: and for all of you, I hope you enjoyed this

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Speaker 1: classic episode. Welcome to Stuff Mom Never Told You from

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Speaker 1: how stup works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline and happy Marty Raw. Thanks

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Speaker 1: you too, Thanks Caroline. Have you ever been to Marty

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Speaker 1: Graw in New Orleans? I haven't, really, no, I haven't.

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Speaker 1: Let me tell you a girl, Um, I've I've been

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Speaker 1: to Marty Gras a few times now, and I've been

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Speaker 1: to New Orleans a number of times because one of

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Speaker 1: my best friends lives there. And when I the prospect

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Speaker 1: of going the first time, I was skeptical because I

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Speaker 1: was in college, but I was still like, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: it seems like an awful lot of boobs and and booze,

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Speaker 1: which makes me sound like a real fun college kid. Um,

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Speaker 1: but it's fantastic. You don't. If you don't want to

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Speaker 1: see any exposed breasts, you don't have to, or if

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Speaker 1: you do, you can. Um. But there was one quote

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Speaker 1: about Marty Gras by this woman named Carol Flake, who

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Speaker 1: has written a lot about the history Marty Graw, who says,

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Speaker 1: there is a play in New Orleans Carnival for anyone

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Speaker 1: who cares to join in. And that is completely my experience.

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Speaker 1: Um So, I was really excited when you were down

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Speaker 1: to do an episode on Marty gro and women Marty

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Speaker 1: gra Yeah. I mean, the stereotype is absolutely the stereotype

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Speaker 1: that you had as a college student, which it is

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Speaker 1: just like this debaucherous, like X rated boo bearing you know, beadfest.

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Speaker 1: How do you like that for a literation? Hey, hey, well,

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Speaker 1: and it can absolutely be as X rated and wild

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Speaker 1: as you want it to be. Um. And we should

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Speaker 1: also know that the Marty Gras does not just happen

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Speaker 1: in New Orleans. It also takes place in in Metai,

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Speaker 1: uh in Mobile, Alabama, and in smaller towns all around

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Speaker 1: New Orleans and in in the Gulf area. Uh So,

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Speaker 1: let's just let's just start talking about Marty graw because

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Speaker 1: we're going to get into some stuff about Marty Gras

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Speaker 1: and women in gender and it's not all going to

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Speaker 1: be about boobs. Well, starting off, Marty Grat really is

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Speaker 1: just this teeny tiny, little six weeks celebration that has

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Speaker 1: more than thirty thousand parade writers and fifty nine crews.

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Speaker 1: No big deal, yeah it. I was astounded to find

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Speaker 1: out that it has. For money, nerds out there, get this,

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Speaker 1: a one billion dollar economic impact on New Orleans. I

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Speaker 1: am not surprised. I'm not surprised either. I mean, it

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Speaker 1: attracts around four million tourists today, but even in the

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Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds it was a major tourist attraction. As early

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Speaker 1: as nineteen hundred there were a hundred thousand people, which

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Speaker 1: was a lot for that time, going to New Orleans

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Speaker 1: to see Marty Graw. Well, its origins are not only

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Speaker 1: international but ancient. It goes all the way back to

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Speaker 1: those silly pagans hanging out over in Europe and Rome. Basically,

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Speaker 1: Marty grad itself is a Christian holiday and popular cultural

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Speaker 1: phenomenon and tradition, but actually dates back to spring and

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Speaker 1: fertility rights like Saturnalia and luper Callia, which was, you know,

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Speaker 1: just like whatever, just like a circus like orgy. No

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Speaker 1: big deal, no big deal. But moving from the pagan

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Speaker 1: orgies to Christianity, Marty Grass Season officially kicks off on

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Speaker 1: January six with the twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany,

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Speaker 1: which commemorates uh In in Christian lore, the day that

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Speaker 1: the Three Wise Men visited Jesus, which is which is

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Speaker 1: a little funny, mean, because all of this is so

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Speaker 1: steeped in religion, and the Catholic Church has like officially

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Speaker 1: been like, all right, you can, you guys can have

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Speaker 1: Marty Gras because Marty grad Day is not only a

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Speaker 1: legal holiday in New Orleans, but it also is the

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Speaker 1: day before Lent starts. Right, you gotta get all that

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Speaker 1: crazy out, that's right, gotta shake that crazy idea. But

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Speaker 1: those pagan fertility rites and rituals were incorporated into Christianity

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Speaker 1: because when the religion arrived in Rome, religious leaders were like,

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Speaker 1: we really can't like do away with everything, you know,

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Speaker 1: they're they're gonna get upset, So we'll just incorporate it

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Speaker 1: into this tradition so that people can, you know, have

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Speaker 1: these parties before this this season of giving things up.

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Speaker 1: Basically yeah, it's that that forty day period of penance

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Speaker 1: between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, and Marty Grass spread

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Speaker 1: from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain,

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Speaker 1: and England. And of course it is France that gave

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Speaker 1: us the name Marty Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: Fat Tuesday. It's also known as Carnival uh and celebrated

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Speaker 1: all over the world, mainly in countries with Roman Catholic populations.

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Speaker 1: But I don't know many people who would you know,

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Speaker 1: opt out of celebrating Marty Gras. I mean, it's it's

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Speaker 1: a fun time for anybody. It is a fun time

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Speaker 1: in kincake is delicious, so good, and you know what

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Speaker 1: Marty Gras like. I don't keep up with when it

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Speaker 1: is because it's always different, and I just I'm always

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Speaker 1: excited for a kincake and then I just let passed

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Speaker 1: me by. No. I know, I have gotten the baby

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Speaker 1: though before in the Kingkake. Well then you need to

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Speaker 1: get on it and buy a King cake for me, okay,

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Speaker 1: just for you. But in the United States, I didn't

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Speaker 1: know this. This is really fascinating. The first American Marty

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Speaker 1: Gras is thought to have taken place on March third,

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Speaker 1: six nine, when French explorers Yberville and Bienneville landed in

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Speaker 1: what is now Louisiana. They were basically camped out around

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Speaker 1: fifty miles outside of modern day New Orleans, and they

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Speaker 1: were like halls of Mardi Grawl. Yeah, they actually dubbed

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Speaker 1: the spot where they landed point du maldi gra. How

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Speaker 1: do you like that for a non accent. Anyway, a

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Speaker 1: lot New Orleans and other French settlements begin marking the

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Speaker 1: holiday with street parties, masked balls, and lavish dinners. And

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Speaker 1: that sounds pretty much like Marty Gras today actually, But

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Speaker 1: important note, Caroline, the very first modern day Marty Gras

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Speaker 1: celebration outside of you know, Yberville and Bienville hanging out,

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Speaker 1: it did not happen in New Orleans. It actually happened

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Speaker 1: in seventeen oh three in Mobile, Alabama, which still has

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Speaker 1: a Marta Gras tradition. And uh side note for documentary

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Speaker 1: fans out there, check out the Order of the Myths.

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Speaker 1: It came out in two thousand eight, all about Marty

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Speaker 1: Gras and Mobile and how it is still highly racially segregated. Um.

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Speaker 1: But a little a little fun Marde Gras fact for you.

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Speaker 1: But moving back to New Orleans, when the Spanish took control,

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Speaker 1: they abolished Marty Gras. How rude? How how would do?

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Speaker 1: Who would do with that? Yeah? And the band stayed

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Speaker 1: in place until Louisiana became a U S state in

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Speaker 1: eighteen twelve, and then you start to see it coming

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Speaker 1: back in full force. And in seven you have a

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Speaker 1: group of students who put on these colorful costumes and

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Speaker 1: dance to the streets of New Orleans, basically imitating all

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Speaker 1: of the revelry they'd seen while they were in Paris.

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Speaker 1: And a decade later, the first recorded New Orleans Marty

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Speaker 1: Gras took place. Yeah. But then in eighteen fifties seven

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Speaker 1: you have the origin of the cruise and that's crew

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Speaker 1: with a K and an E on the end um.

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Speaker 1: And these are the organizations that you see today that

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Speaker 1: put together those massive floats. And it was all really

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Speaker 1: started by rich white dudes who were like, hey, let's

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Speaker 1: start up a secret society. Yeah, that sounds fun. So

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Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty seven, the secret society of New Orleans

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Speaker 1: businessmen called the Mystic Crew of Comus organized a tortulit

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Speaker 1: Marty grab procession and they had marching bands and rolling

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Speaker 1: floats and all of the floats were themed around mythology

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Speaker 1: and literature, which you still see a lot today. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and we have Commas to thank, honestly for not getting

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Speaker 1: Marty Gras cand again, because leading up to this time

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Speaker 1: it was pretty debaucherous. The maskers were pretty violent. It

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Speaker 1: was just kind have a girl's gone wild horrible type

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Speaker 1: of thing. But Commas was known to have beautified the

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Speaker 1: parade ensuring that it would stick around. And we should

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Speaker 1: also note that one important part of the Marty Gras

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Speaker 1: tradition that it also emerges during that first parade are

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Speaker 1: the flambeaux and flambeau's French for flame, and these were

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Speaker 1: usually slaves or freemen of color who would march alongside

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Speaker 1: these rich white guys floats with torches to light up

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Speaker 1: these magnificent creations that they had made. And you still

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Speaker 1: see the flambeaux tradition today. And in we had the

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Speaker 1: very first all female flambeau troop marching alongside the Muses

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Speaker 1: parade and they call themselves the Glambeaux. Oh I love it. Yeah, Well,

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Speaker 1: you know, speaking of women and people on the sidelines.

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Speaker 1: We we can't talk about Marty Gras in this podcast

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Speaker 1: and not address that gender aspect because in the early days,

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Speaker 1: in the mid to late nineteenth century, women were totally

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Speaker 1: in the background. They were not participating in any way

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Speaker 1: on the floats and things like that, except for maybe

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Speaker 1: the queen. But these elite male crews had working class

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Speaker 1: women designing their fancy costumes and the floats for the parades,

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Speaker 1: while the upper class women also played supporting roles, but

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Speaker 1: this time actually helping their husbands, their rich husbands display

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Speaker 1: their mock royalty. Yeah, it's it's kind of funny that

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Speaker 1: with the history of Martie Gras, it all starts out

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Speaker 1: with men really wanting to play dress up and have

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Speaker 1: these fancy balls and and pretend to be kings and

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Speaker 1: dukes and whatnot. And at the at those early balls,

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Speaker 1: the men would wear these elaborate costumes, whereas the wives

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Speaker 1: would just swear, you know, typical gowns. Um Although in

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Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, at the very first Rex Parade, which

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Speaker 1: today is I mean it's still one of the biggest

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Speaker 1: super rus as they're called, there were some women who

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Speaker 1: dressed up as men in order to march behind the parade,

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Speaker 1: gotta cross dress just to even participate. That's right. Well, yeah,

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Speaker 1: like you said, women weren't really allowed or you know,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't the tradition for women to dress up or

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Speaker 1: you know, masquerade. But in e you have a group

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Speaker 1: of upper class women who founded Lay myster Uses that's

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Speaker 1: not how you say it, um, a non parading organization.

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Speaker 1: So they were dressing up, but they weren't parading, and

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Speaker 1: their big thing was to host a ball that reversed

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Speaker 1: gender traditions. They alone were allowed to dress in costumes

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Speaker 1: and in masquerade, concealing their identities, and they got They

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Speaker 1: picked a queen who selected her own queen. But they

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Speaker 1: only had held two balls and disbanded in nine. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you see a number of these all women crews kind

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Speaker 1: of pop up and then sort of dissolve. Um. So

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Speaker 1: for instance, um, you have the mid which came around

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Speaker 1: in nineteen o one, which were composed of debutantes, but

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Speaker 1: it only lasted until nineteen twenty, and then in nineteen

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Speaker 1: o six you have the Mystic Maids, in nineteen eleven

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Speaker 1: the Crew of Yami, and then in nineteen seventeen though

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Speaker 1: you have the Crew of Iris, which is still in existence. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And they began by hosting small king cake parties, which

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Speaker 1: sounds like exactly what I want to go to. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And they now claimed to be the oldest and largest

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Speaker 1: of all the female carnival crews. Uh. In nineteen forty

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Speaker 1: nine they held an extravagant first ball, which was actually televised,

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Speaker 1: and ten years later, in nineteen fifty nine, they actually

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Speaker 1: started parading. Yeah. It took that long for them to

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Speaker 1: start having parades, which to me seems so strange because

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Speaker 1: I mean, I know that the balls are a big deal. Um,

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Speaker 1: but okay, ball's fine, but I'm all about the parade. Sure, exactly,

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Speaker 1: Candy and beads man, that's right. Um. And it, like

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Speaker 1: I said, it's still parades, but it's a day parade

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Speaker 1: that happens two weekends before Marty Grass, So it's not

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Speaker 1: exactly in the in a prime spot, Yeah exactly. Um.

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Speaker 1: But in the nineteen twenties you do start to see

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Speaker 1: the formation of several African American women's crews, including the

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Speaker 1: Red Circle, Young Ladies twenty three and the Mystic Crew.

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Speaker 1: And this is notable because for the you know, crews

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Speaker 1: like the Crew of isis Mystic maids, and I'm sure

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Speaker 1: laymis Dee uses they were not inviting to women who

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Speaker 1: were not white and not of the upper upper cross standing. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the defense that everybody in these kind of upper class

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Speaker 1: crews give is that it's like, well, it's just it's

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Speaker 1: just me my friends, you know, I'm just I'm not discriminating.

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Speaker 1: It's just that I'm only inviting my friends and family.

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Speaker 1: But thankfully, in scrappy New Orleans tradition, that does not

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Speaker 1: stop other people from forming crews. So you do have

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Speaker 1: the emergence of those early UM African American all women

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Speaker 1: crews like the Young Ladies twenty three UM. But we

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Speaker 1: should note too that in N one, that is when

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Speaker 1: you have the first women's parade. Even though the Crew

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Speaker 1: of Iris is older, it's the Crew of Venus with

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Speaker 1: their inaugural pageant that kicks off women parading. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: they did not have an easy time of it. They

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Speaker 1: paraded during a downpour and the crowd was hardly kind.

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Speaker 1: It was very hostile. And Arthur Hardy, who's a Marty

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Speaker 1: Gras historian, points out that, yeah, they got a lot

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Speaker 1: of publicity, but none of it was positive. Yeah, he

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Speaker 1: was talking to the alt Weekly in New Orleans, the

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Speaker 1: Gambit saying, it's interesting to look at the newspaper clippings

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Speaker 1: from back then because it was front page news, women

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Speaker 1: on floats, the apocalypse is near, and he goes on

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Speaker 1: to say, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but really not much.

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Speaker 1: But what's also notable about the Crew of Venus is that, yes,

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Speaker 1: these are all white women, all wealthy women, but a

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Speaker 1: lot of them too at this time are becoming businesswomen

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Speaker 1: in their own right, and so they're starting up their

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Speaker 1: own crews because they don't need men to pay for them.

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Speaker 1: So they're like, hey, listen, guys, y'all can go do

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Speaker 1: your you know, your rex thing, and we're going to

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Speaker 1: do ours. And in a way, like Hardie talks about

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Speaker 1: how it was sort of symbolic of early glass ceiling

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Speaker 1: tapping at least that was going on defying gender norms

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Speaker 1: at Marty Gras, go for it, go for it well

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Speaker 1: all the way. Flash forward half a century into two

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Speaker 1: thousand and that's when you have the Crew of Muses

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Speaker 1: form and they are the first of the contemporary all

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Speaker 1: female parade and crews to organize a night parade which

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Speaker 1: occurs on the Thursday before Marty Gras, which is a

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Speaker 1: much more prestigious spot than the Crew of Iris had. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and and Muses is part of this more recent movement

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Speaker 1: among newer crews to be more open and egalitarian, and

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Speaker 1: they have that open membership like you and I could

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Speaker 1: apply online right now, Caroline, UM as a way to

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Speaker 1: democratize the crewise system and make it not just a

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Speaker 1: thing where it's only white rich people, but opening it

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Speaker 1: up to make sure that it's economically diverse and also

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Speaker 1: racially diverse. And um, I would also like to note

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Speaker 1: that the Muses have one of the best premium throws

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Speaker 1: as in the you know the stuff that they toss

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Speaker 1: passers by. Um. They collect high heels from their members

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Speaker 1: throughout the year and then leading up to the Martigrad

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Speaker 1: parade they decorate them and all sorts of fun things

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Speaker 1: and throw them out and and it's uh all. Some

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Speaker 1: have said that they're just waiting for a lawsuit because

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Speaker 1: you can imagine throwing high heels into a crowd of

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Speaker 1: drunk people might not be wise, but that makes it

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Speaker 1: so exciting when you have big throw like that. It's

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Speaker 1: similar to the Zulu Parade where the signature throws a

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Speaker 1: coconut right, which tends to dent cars and heads. Yes,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, yeah, a similar thing. But you know Robin Roberts,

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Speaker 1: who in her two thousand six book on the topic

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Speaker 1: really really dove into the gender of gender and history

298
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Speaker 1: of Mardy Gras, points out the significance of holding this

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Speaker 1: night parade. This is this is a big deal, especially

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Speaker 1: for an all women group, because she says that by

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Speaker 1: scheduling their parade at night, the crew of Muses are

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Speaker 1: self consciously challenging the domination of these elite male crews.

303
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Speaker 1: They're moving from the behind the scenes roles that women

304
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Speaker 1: traditionally filled during Marty Gras, they're getting out there on

305
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Speaker 1: the parade route and uh now organizing and performing center

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Speaker 1: stage in their own parade. Like you said, they don't

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Speaker 1: need no stinking man. Well, and they become so popular

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Speaker 1: that there's actually a wait list now to even get

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Speaker 1: into the parade. It's one of the large is to cruise,

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Speaker 1: and it's only one of two all female super cruise.

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Speaker 1: There's also one called Nicks in y X. But Muses,

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Speaker 1: at least from my experience, is extremely popular. People love

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Speaker 1: the Muses parade. It's a lot of fun, but it's

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Speaker 1: also I mean, it's also at night, and if you're

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Speaker 1: a night parade during Marty Gras, it's probably gonna be

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Speaker 1: a little bit more fun because, let's face it, you've

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Speaker 1: been drinking hurricanes all day. Lord, I just can't imagine

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Speaker 1: how much I would how much I would pass out.

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Speaker 1: But you're also weighted down by beads. I get bead

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Speaker 1: fever whenever I go, And at first I get really

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Speaker 1: excited and start trying to catch as many beads as possible.

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Speaker 1: But then once you have about five pounds of beads

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Speaker 1: around your neck, you're like, nothing, nothing else. Don't toss

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Speaker 1: me anything else unless it's a bloody Mary. And I

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm I'm painting quite a rosy picture of

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Speaker 1: Marty Gras. But there is one thing that certainly stands

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Speaker 1: out in the parade, and that is the fact that

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Speaker 1: even today, it is very segregated racially. Yeah, the effort

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Speaker 1: to actually racially desegregate and we're not even talking about

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Speaker 1: gender yet, we're talking about racial segregation. The effort to

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Speaker 1: desegregate these parades and parties was led by a long

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Speaker 1: time civil rights advocate Dorothy May Taylor. She was the

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Speaker 1: first woman elected to the New Orleans City Council in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighties six and back in nineteen she proposed an

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Speaker 1: ordinance to desegregate the gentleman's luncheon clubs that had been

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00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,720
Speaker 1: the public face of the Marty Gros cruise crews weren't

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Speaker 1: actually desegregated until nineteen and basically the reasoning behind this

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Speaker 1: was like, it wasn't so much that, oh, we have

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Speaker 1: to have fifty fifty, or we need these quotas to

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Speaker 1: make these crews racially equal. It had a lot more

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Speaker 1: to do with going all the way back to the

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Speaker 1: origin of the American Marty Grass. So the origin of

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Speaker 1: Carnival and Marty Grass in general was the pagan rituals, right,

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Speaker 1: But in America it had a lot more to do

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Speaker 1: with businessmen, white upper class elite businessmen getting together and

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Speaker 1: striking deals. And if those deals are closed off to

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Speaker 1: the bulk of society, including African Americans, it's kind of

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Speaker 1: not a level playing field. Yeah, I mean, because that's

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Speaker 1: one thing you might not think about as an outsider

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Speaker 1: looking in at Mardi Gras, that views crews throughout the

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Speaker 1: year are actually very powerful networking opportunities, especially if you're

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Speaker 1: in something like uh, you know, the the Rex Crew,

353
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Speaker 1: which costs a lot of money to join. But in

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Speaker 1: this whole talk of desegregation really set off a firestorm

355
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Speaker 1: among a lot of these crews, and in fact, Comus

356
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Speaker 1: and another crew called Momus canceled their parades that year

357
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,040
Speaker 1: in protest. They were like, listen, no, we don't we

358
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Speaker 1: don't want to have to do this. And um, I

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Speaker 1: was reading a story before we came into the studio

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Speaker 1: today from the Times Picune. I think it was came

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Speaker 1: out last year looking back at the or maybe it

362
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:05,280
Speaker 1: was from two thousand twelve, because I was looking at

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Speaker 1: the twenty years since desegregation debacle because people were so

364
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Speaker 1: panicked by it. And um, the takeaway from the story

365
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Speaker 1: was that a lot of the desegregation that has happened

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Speaker 1: has been a lot more organic through organizations like the

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Speaker 1: Muses starting up. And I believe Orpheus is a newer

368
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Speaker 1: crew that's a lot you know, it just accepts everybody.

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Speaker 1: So it's almost like with a new generation coming in

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Speaker 1: and taking over Marty Gras, they're just sort of doing

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Speaker 1: it in their own way and not paying as much

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Speaker 1: attention to the old guard, like White Secret society factor. Yeah. Well,

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Speaker 1: an earlier version of Taylor's ordinance had actually called for

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Speaker 1: an end to gender discrimination as well, but it was

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Speaker 1: thrown out because not only were men not excited about this,

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Speaker 1: but women were like, hey, hey, wait, wait wait, we

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Speaker 1: want our own things too, Like you know, women today,

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00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,160
Speaker 1: especially like the Muses, are like, no, we don't want

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Speaker 1: to have to accept men, so we're fine if they

380
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Speaker 1: don't accept us, because we're not accepting them either. Yeah,

381
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Speaker 1: it's funny they want to keep their own floats to themselves.

382
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Speaker 1: And one woman made a point saying that I think

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Speaker 1: she was she's a member of the Muses, talking about

384
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Speaker 1: how listen, Marty grav is the time when you know,

385
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Speaker 1: things can get weird really fast, and if you have

386
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Speaker 1: I mean, they're not supposed to drink on the floats,

387
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: but it totally happens. And they're like if you mix

388
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,879
Speaker 1: alcohol and say a husband and wife standing next to

389
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 1: each other and the husband tosses beads too an attractive

390
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 1: girl in the sideline, she was like, it's just that's

391
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Speaker 1: just one example of how things could get uncomfortable, right,

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Speaker 1: And Arthur Hardy that Marty Gras historian UH talked to

393
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Speaker 1: a lot of these women, and he said, look, the

394
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,000
Speaker 1: ladies crew said, we love men, but they are not

395
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Speaker 1: going to dress with us or being our floats. They

396
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 1: can just meet us at the end of the parade.

397
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: And so that ordinance was amended to allow for single

398
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: gender cruise gender exclusion. A okay on all sides that

399
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 1: it was that racial aspect that was the one that

400
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,879
Speaker 1: was more contested. But we also need to talk about

401
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,440
Speaker 1: how African Americans in New Orleans have also made their

402
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 1: own Marty Gras traditions. While this is happening, that that

403
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,160
Speaker 1: initiative in wasn't like, oh, no, you know, there's nothing

404
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,000
Speaker 1: for them. No, They've been doing their own thing for

405
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 1: a while, right, like the Marty Gras Indians who began

406
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,280
Speaker 1: appearing in the late nineteenth century, and the first group

407
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,000
Speaker 1: was the Creole wild West from the seventh ward. And

408
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,920
Speaker 1: there's some origin theories about these participants, one of which

409
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 1: is that the groups are honoring Native Americans who helped

410
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 1: hide runaway slaves from bounty hunters and slave masters. Another

411
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: theory is that the Buffalo Bills Wild West show that

412
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 1: traveled through New Orleans in the late nineteenth century inspired

413
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: African Americans to dress as Indians. Others that were interviewed

414
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,159
Speaker 1: in the news talked about how because a lot of

415
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,880
Speaker 1: their costumes kind of harken back to like an Afro

416
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,320
Speaker 1: Caribbean heritage or a West African heritage, that they are, yes,

417
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: honoring Native Americans, but also honoring their own West African heritage. Yeah.

418
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 1: And I mean then their costumes, which a lot of

419
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: them make themselves, are incredible in the level of like

420
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,880
Speaker 1: craftsmanship and detail that goes into it. Um. But we've

421
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,640
Speaker 1: also got to talk about the Crew of Zulu because

422
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 1: Zulu is a tough parade to make because it's early

423
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,919
Speaker 1: in the morning and if you've been out at a

424
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 1: night parade, that can be hard to make, but it's

425
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 1: so worth it. The Crew of Zulu started out as

426
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,639
Speaker 1: Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, and apparently it was

427
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,000
Speaker 1: essentially a group of like African American men who got

428
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: together to sort of parody these rich white guys secret

429
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 1: societies are like, oh, yeah, we're gonna do this to

430
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 1: look at these white guys wanting to make themselves kings

431
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,480
Speaker 1: for a day. Yeah. And what's funny about the Crew

432
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,879
Speaker 1: of Zulu is they are dressing in black face wearing

433
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 1: grass skirts and coconut bras, things that like, you know,

434
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: if if one of these elite white men and the

435
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: Rex Crew, for instance, were to do it would be

436
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: incredibly racist. Yeah, I mean, basically, what they're taking is

437
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: all of the racism that has been directed at them

438
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,000
Speaker 1: and making a complete mockery out of it, right. And

439
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 1: uh So they came together and had marched together as

440
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: early as nineteen o one, but the first official Zulu

441
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 1: parade happened in nineteen o nine. And a few years

442
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,119
Speaker 1: later we have the emergence of the million Dollar Baby Dolls.

443
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: And this was a group that I hadn't heard about before,

444
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 1: but it was an organization of African American women who

445
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: were a lot of them were working in the Storyville district,

446
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: which is no more, but it was a Storyville was

447
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 1: New Orleans red light district. Yeah, and so they sort

448
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: of used their profits from working in that red light

449
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 1: district to compete with other African American prostitutes on Mardi Gras.

450
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: And the origin of the name and their costumes came

451
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 1: from reclaiming what pimps called them basically, which were which

452
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: was baby doll. And so they donned short satin dresses,

453
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 1: stockings with garters and bonnets. But they paired that, you know,

454
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: play on dressing like baby dolls against bold and provocative

455
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: public behavior for at the time that not only exploited stereotypes,

456
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,440
Speaker 1: but empowered them, made them visible. It brought them out

457
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 1: of that red light district where they were basically segregated

458
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,959
Speaker 1: in their own black red light district, and brought them

459
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: out into the streets to parade. Yeah, and uh recently

460
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: Kim marie Vez wrote an entire book about this called

461
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,240
Speaker 1: The Baby Dolls Breaking the race and gender barriers of

462
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,360
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition. And I don't think

463
00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,400
Speaker 1: the baby Dolls they aren't a crew necessarily, they don't

464
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: have their own float or anything like that, but they

465
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 1: march through the parades um. And in her History of

466
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,960
Speaker 1: the Baby Dolls, Voz talks about how they later collected

467
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: dues and help dances to raise money for their baby

468
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: doll costumes, which possibly made them the first organization in

469
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:21,800
Speaker 1: fact of parading women, predating that I believe crew of

470
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: Venus Parade that we mentioned earlier, and she talks about

471
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:29,160
Speaker 1: how at the time high society white women's carnival organizations

472
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: held balls, but they didn't parade, So the baby dolls

473
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,560
Speaker 1: were kind of the first and a lot of them

474
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,280
Speaker 1: have resurfaced. A lot of women in New Orleans are

475
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 1: are kind of reforming these groups as a nod to

476
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 1: their heritage. Yeah, and and in one less nod again

477
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,239
Speaker 1: to the African American traditions around Marti Gras. One of

478
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,920
Speaker 1: my one of my favorite things too are the second

479
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: line parades that happen. And those are just the brass

480
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 1: bands that will march along behind the floats or alongside

481
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,000
Speaker 1: the floats and really keep spirits high. I know, I

482
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 1: love those marching bands. I say, like I've been to

483
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: New Orleans, but I like them when I see them

484
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: on television exactly. Well, Caroline, now we've got to talk

485
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 1: about what I have a feeling a lot of podcast

486
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,000
Speaker 1: listeners have been waiting for in this episode, which is

487
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: digging into the issue of boobs and beads. And we'll

488
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 1: talk about that right after we come back from a

489
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 1: quick break. But now, Caroline, boobs and beads. Yeah, I

490
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 1: would think, you know, if I, you know, as someone

491
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: who's never been to New Orleans, Marty Gras, I would

492
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: think that's all there is to it. That's that's what

493
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: people are doing morning, noon and night. And a lot

494
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 1: of women in New Orleans are very upset that this

495
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 1: is perceived as an entrenched tradition. Yeah, if you go

496
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 1: to more of the neighborhood Marty gross celebrations and go

497
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:04,760
Speaker 1: and see like the larger parades, you're not going to

498
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 1: see a lot of nudity because, I mean there are

499
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,320
Speaker 1: also kids everywhere up and down the streets and it's

500
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,240
Speaker 1: more of a family kind of thing. It's really once

501
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: you get into the French Quarter and go to Bourbon

502
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 1: Street where you have all the balconies that you see

503
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 1: all the boobs and some penisils and butts. Yeah, women

504
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: writing on the website Marty Gros New Orleans dot com

505
00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: blame it on basically some spring break college age tourists

506
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,280
Speaker 1: who you know, end up getting fall down drunk on

507
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:45,400
Speaker 1: Bourbon Street, losing their inhibitions and flashing various genitalia at

508
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 1: people on the floats. Yeah. But uh well, there wouldn't

509
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: be any floats in the French Quarter. This is all

510
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: people in the balconies with beads yelling down to people,

511
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 1: And I mean every now and then you have people

512
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: in the street yelling up. But yeah, it's it's a

513
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 1: sight to see in a sight that unfortunately you sometimes

514
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 1: can't forget. Um. But there is a paper called Ritual

515
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: Disrobement at Marty Grass Ceremonial Exchange in Moral Order by

516
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 1: a pair of researchers at l s U, which I

517
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,480
Speaker 1: was very excited to find because I was like, yes,

518
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: there is an academic paper on boobs and beads at

519
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 1: Marty Gras. And they think though that the nudity began

520
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 1: in the mid seventies, largely because the French Quarter had

521
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 1: become sort of a haven for gay men and during

522
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: Marty Gras they would get really wild and the tendency

523
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 1: flashing their penises. Um. But they say that it really

524
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: didn't become a widespread feature until the nineteen eighties. So

525
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 1: he had big bangs and boobs coming out of this time. Yeah,

526
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: And they do they talk about the gender and social

527
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,239
Speaker 1: hierarchies and do note that it was both men and

528
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,840
Speaker 1: women ritually disrobing, but women disrobing far more often than men.

529
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: And what what these researchers did the It's the creepiest

530
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: methodology I've ever read, because they essentially set up cameras

531
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,640
Speaker 1: all around the French Quarter to capture moments of disrobement,

532
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: and they found that in terms of catching beads without

533
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,680
Speaker 1: flashing something, guys were getting beats seventy percent a time,

534
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: not haven't shown anything women. And this is French Quarter specific,

535
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: which makes a difference. But for women it was only

536
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,200
Speaker 1: twenty two point five percent of the time. And it's true.

537
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: And if I walk down Bourbon Street, no, for the

538
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: record podcast listeners, no, I all of my beads have

539
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 1: come from non disrobement, keeping my shirt on. But if

540
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: I walked through Bourbon Street, now you're not going to

541
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: get anything. You're not showing showing off your gals. Well,

542
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: you know, I think that's good to hear. Yeah, I think.

543
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,960
Speaker 1: I think the history of Marty Grass is so rich

544
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 1: and colorful and amazing. I I love that it came

545
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 1: from pagan orgies that were incorporated into Christianity and now

546
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 1: it's just like this long stretch of a good time

547
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 1: before you go into Lent. Speaking of those pagan rituals,

548
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 1: you could say that perhaps the nudity that you see

549
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 1: today is merely a manifestation of that uh shrum and

550
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: kilborn those l s U researchers right that, owing to

551
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:27,000
Speaker 1: the continuing significance of gender differences in sexuality, women sometimes

552
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 1: adopt the identity of ritual objects who perform for the

553
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: veneration of the crowd and hence bear their breasts for beads.

554
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,520
Speaker 1: So like, we're almost like floats too, exactly, we have

555
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,160
Speaker 1: to we have two floats. We have two floats. Yeah,

556
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: but I would like to underscore on behalf of all

557
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,959
Speaker 1: the New Orleans locals out there that yeah, you don't, ladies,

558
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: you don't have to show you boobs for beads. Yeah,

559
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: just go go and have a good time and have

560
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 1: a good time. And you know what, Hey, if you

561
00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 1: if you, if you end up in the French Quarter

562
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 1: and you do and you want to do it, Okay,

563
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: we're not going to judge you. But in the era

564
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:12,719
Speaker 1: of camera phones and Twitter, the fact that it still

565
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,879
Speaker 1: happens astonishes me. I'm like, okay, yeah, i'd the era

566
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: of Joe Francis. Yeah, girls gone wild. Yeah. Um. So

567
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 1: this was really fun though, to look at the the

568
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: gender and racial intersections of Marty Graw because it's a

569
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 1: it's a whole lot of fun in general in terms

570
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,040
Speaker 1: of just a wild event that I think everybody should

571
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: experience once. Um, but there's yeah, there's a lot of

572
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: rich history to it. There a lot of layers to this,

573
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,239
Speaker 1: to the sill Kingcake and I mean I want to

574
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 1: hear listeners layers like I want to hear you tell

575
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 1: us about your Marty Grow experiences. So yeah, send us

576
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,880
Speaker 1: all of your Marty Grow thoughts Mom stuff at Discovery

577
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 1: dot com. And hey, if you want a male Caroline

578
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 1: a Kingcake Kristen too, Yeah, I'll totally send it to

579
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,799
Speaker 1: both of us. You can do that as well, uh

580
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 1: mom sa Discovery dot com. And for all of our

581
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,320
Speaker 1: sources on this episode, you can head over to stuff

582
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 1: Mom and ever Told You dot com and click on

583
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,839
Speaker 1: the podcast link and you will see the episode which

584
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,240
Speaker 1: contains all of our sources for further Madigra reading. So

585
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:25,479
Speaker 1: we've got a couple of letters to share with you

586
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:31,719
Speaker 1: right now. In fact, I have a message here from

587
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,799
Speaker 1: Mindy who wrote us to say thanks for the Understanding

588
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,840
Speaker 1: miscarriage episode. It has been nine years and I have

589
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: two healthy children, but it sometimes causes a lot of heartache.

590
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 1: The podcast made it easier to talk to my best

591
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,279
Speaker 1: friend about it, and we have had similar experiences. We

592
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 1: both feel like a huge load has been lifted and

593
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 1: we both feel a lot better. Thanks for being so amazing,

594
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 1: and thank you Mindy for your letter, and I'm so

595
00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 1: glad it's sparked a conversation between you two. Well, I've

596
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: got an email here from Kara, and it's actually not

597
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 1: about a podcast that we've done, UM, but a Twitter

598
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:11,400
Speaker 1: conversation that started a few weeks ago. And I asked

599
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 1: um Twitter followers at mom Stuff podcast about whether they

600
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:19,560
Speaker 1: thought that quote unquote skinny shaming or thin shaming exists.

601
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,799
Speaker 1: And this was in response to a question that we

602
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 1: had received on YouTube, and Kara not only tweeted back,

603
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 1: but she also sent a follow up email UM. And

604
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,880
Speaker 1: and for the record, all of the Twitter responses that

605
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:33,799
Speaker 1: I received were very much like, Yeah, I know this.

606
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,799
Speaker 1: This totally exists, and we need to stop it as

607
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,200
Speaker 1: much as fat shaming needs to stop. So, she writes,

608
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,920
Speaker 1: I've been dealing with skinny shaming myself since I was

609
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,359
Speaker 1: about fifteen years old. Ever since I hit puberty, I've

610
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:47,160
Speaker 1: been tall, thin, and large breasted, and I've always been

611
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 1: criticized for it. I eat plenty of cheeseburgers, but I

612
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 1: also work out to stay active, and I also avoid

613
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 1: unhealthy foods, and on top of that, I am blessed

614
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,680
Speaker 1: with a fast metabolism and quote unquote thin jeans. My

615
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 1: first experience with skinny mean came from my own grandmother,

616
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,200
Speaker 1: who asked everyone in my family if I wasn't eating,

617
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,160
Speaker 1: and whenever I went to the bathroom, she would follow

618
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: me and ask what I was doing because you thought

619
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 1: I was throwing up. Zero is my size because I

620
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,680
Speaker 1: have a small waist and minimal hips doesn't mean that

621
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 1: anything is wrong. I believe if you're treating your body

622
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,960
Speaker 1: with respect and living well, then your body is just right.

623
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,520
Speaker 1: How many times have we heard that people come in

624
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 1: all shapes and sizes and this applies to everyone, no

625
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 1: matter how big or small. And I agree with Kara

626
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,959
Speaker 1: and wanted to share this email to kind of open

627
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:35,520
Speaker 1: up this discussion even more broadly, to see if we

628
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:40,920
Speaker 1: should devote perhaps an entire podcast to this issue of

629
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 1: body shaming and how it often does get this divisive,

630
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: pitting fat shaming versus thin shaming, and wanted to get

631
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,400
Speaker 1: listeners thoughts on that, so let us know. Mom Stuff

632
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,200
Speaker 1: at Discovery dot com is where you can email us

633
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 1: or you can just also tweet us at mom Stuff

634
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,000
Speaker 1: podcast or send us a message on Facebook as well.

635
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:03,200
Speaker 1: And to find all things Sminty, all of our podcast,

636
00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,880
Speaker 1: blogs and videos, and all of our social media links,

637
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,480
Speaker 1: you need to head over to our website It's Stuff

638
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: Mom Never Told You dot com for more on this

639
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,839
Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how Stuff Works

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Speaker 1: dot com