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Ep123: How women are written out of history with Rahaleh Nassri

If a man is forthright and takes charge of a situation, he's called a leader. If a woman does the same thing, she's called bossy at best or something like "a b*ll breaker" at worst.

Throughout history, there are examples men who've overturned countries, created vast empires or global businesses through the use of violence and while some are vilified, most are seen as heroes. Think Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, even Christopher Colombus. But how many women can you think of that have done the same thing?

Personally, I can think of two women that fit this criteria: Boudicca (Boadicea) and Joan of Arc and those woman are remembered because they had a Cause, a reason that they needed to fight that justified their actions in the eyes of the historians (who, let’s face it, were all male).
But how many women do you know who built any kind of empire through violence?

Rahaleh Nassri is a writer, actor, and director based in New York, whose spent the the majority of her time in theatre. As an actor or director, she has worked on more than 30 productions, much of which was in the political or classical realm and she soon realised that there are few strong female leaders in traditional literature or history and none who won their wealth or power through violence. So she started doing a little research and created a podcast, Violent Femme, all about these women.

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In this episode, I find out about some of these Violent Femmes, these women “who were brave, bold, and ingenious, yet are mostly remembered for their brutality or villainy, if at all.”

"Each episode [of Violet Femme] will resurrect one of history’s brutally brave women whose image has been tarnished or even erased by those who fear such women but have long been entrusted with our history... This is herstory."

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About Today’s Guest: Rahaleh Nassri

BA in International Affairs and an MFA in Classical Acting

Writer, Actor, Director, Podcaster

Rahaleh Nassri is the creator of Violent Femme. She is a writer, actor, and director based in New York. Prior to writing and hosting the Violent Femme podcast, the majority of her work has been in theatre.

As an actor or director, she has worked on more than 30 productions, much of which was in the political or classical realm.

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In Darfur, A Bright Room Called Day, Benedictus, Breath Boom, The Disputation, Hannah and Martin, Rock N Roll, Caligula, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, Titus Andronicus, and Romeo & Juliet, are just some of the productions she either acted in or directed. Rahaleh was born in Iran and raised in South Carolina (with some stints in France).

Violent Femme is a podcast about women in history who were brave, bold, and ingenious, yet are mostly remembered for their brutality or villainy, if at all. Each episode will resurrect one of history’s brutally brave women whose image has been tarnished or even erased by those who fear such women but have long been entrusted with our history. Violent Femme will retell and sometimes reimagine history from the heroine’s perspective. This is herstory.

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Violent Femme Podcast

History is filled with hellbent heroines whose stories have yet to be told. We’re going to resurrect them, one brutally brave woman, one episode at a time.
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