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Witches, Bitches, and Sluts

Xtina Rose

Witch. Bitch. Slut. These are just a sample of the many names women have been called throughout history through today.


Witches, Bitches, and Sluts is a twice-weekly show about how women get discredited through these labels, and why the false version so often outlives the real one. Every week, Xtina Rose digs into how women get reduced to one word. Some episodes tell one woman's story — the accusation, the truth, and why the myth stuck. Others go deeper into the research behind the pattern.


Rigorously researched, casually told — this isn't a lecture, it's the conversation you'd have with a friend who did way too much reading before showing up.

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  • 5 episodes
  • Avg 28 min
  • English

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Episodes 5

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  • S1 · E4
    Monday · 45 min

    Anna May Wong: A Thousand Deaths

    Hollywood didn’t just typecast Anna Mae Wong, it built a whole set of “acceptable” fates around her and then acted like those limits were natural. We pull apart how a third-generation Chinese American woman from Los Angeles became one of the first true movie stars of the 1920s and 30s, while the industry still insisted she could only be a threat, a sacrifice, or a lesson for somebody else’s story. We follow the real-world machinery behind the Dragon Lady stereotype and the Lotus Blossom archetype, from early breakout roles like The Toll of the Sea and The Thief of Baghdad to scene-stealing performances in Shanghai Express. Along the way, we connect her life to the wider context Hollywood rarely acknowledges: anti-Chinese racism, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the studio system’s comfort with Yellowface. Then the trap snaps shut with the Hayes Code’s ban on interracial romance, a “rule” that becomes an excuse to deny her the one role everyone expected she’d finally get: Olan in MGM’s The Good Earth. We also trace what happens after the snub: Wong’s first trip to China and the pain of being rejected as “too American,” the smaller films where she finally gets more control, her World War II relief work, and the late-career recognition that arrives with sharp edges, including the dream part she never gets to play in Flower Drum Song. We end with how historians and modern culture are reclaiming her legacy, and why her story still explains so much about representation in film and television today. Subscribe, share this with a friend who cares about film history, and leave a review so more people can find the show. *Special Appearance by my golden Bao Bao (aka Dumpling) Support the show Follow us on Instagram for research graphics, photos, episode announcements and more. Works Cited and Photo Attribution for each episode can be found on our website. For collabs, sponsorship, and inquiries, contact us at info@wbspodcast.com Music by Stephen Mexler

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  • S1 · E3
    August 17 · 33 min

    Dumb or Deadly? Examining the Dumb Blonde and the Femme Fatale

    A single look can get a woman filed as sweet and harmless or cold and dangerous, and the switch can happen in seconds. We start with Dolly Parton’s iconic joke about the “dumb blonde” label (and the way Marilyn Monroe and Britney Spears echo the same pressure), then trace where these stereotypes came from and why they keep returning in new forms. We walk the long history of blonde hair as a Western beauty ideal, then set it beside the ancient lineage of the femme fatale, from mythic temptress to film noir’s calculating “fatal woman.” Next, we map both characters onto real psychology: the stereotype content model shows the dumb blonde as high warmth and low competence, while the femme fatale flips to low warmth and high competence. Ambivalent sexism ties the knot, revealing “benevolent” and “hostile” reactions as two sides of the same response to a beautiful woman. Then we get concrete with research. A large dataset analysis finds the dumb blonde’s central claim is simply false: blondes don’t score lower on intelligence tests. So what’s being measured? Studies show that directing attention to a woman’s appearance drops how competent, warm, and moral she seems. We also dig into experiments where attractiveness helps women in low-status roles but becomes a penalty for authority, plus courtroom and modern workplace findings that capture the “femme fatale effect,” including how insecurity in the audience can drive distrust. If you’ve ever watched a woman get praised as “cute” until she asks for power, pay, or credibility, this one will feel uncomfortably familiar. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the moment that hit you hardest. Support the show Follow us on Instagram for research graphics, photos, episode announcements and more. Works Cited and Photo Attribution for each episode can be found on our website. For collabs, sponsorship, and inquiries, contact us at info@wbspodcast.com Music by Stephen Mexler

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  • S1 · E1
    August 10 · 10 min

    INTRO: Are Women Human?

    “Are women human?” Dorothy Sayers asked that question in 1938, and it still lands because so many women are treated as roles, symbols, or warnings instead of full people. We’re Christina Rose, and this special Episode Zero lays the foundation for Witches, Bitches, and Sluts by tracing how gendered labels get assigned when women disrupt what society expects them to be. We start by naming the system we’re examining: patriarchy. That means we’re not doing a man-hating show. We’re looking at how a culture can reward and punish women through language that sounds like a joke, a compliment, or “just an opinion,” while still working as a tool of control. From there, we walk through ambivalent sexism theory, breaking down the difference between hostile sexism and benevolent sexism and why “she needs protecting” can be another way of saying “she can’t handle it.” Then we zoom out with the stereotype content model: warmth and competence. Those two snap judgments shape whether a group gets admiration, pity, envy, or contempt and they explain why some women get framed as harmless and unserious while others get treated as cold, threatening, or resented. We also bring in a classic workplace study that documents four familiar boxes women get pushed into: mother, pet, seductress, and Iron Maiden. Finally, we introduce a key idea we’ll keep testing throughout the series: attractiveness can change the exact label a woman receives even when she’s judged in the same category. If you care about gender stereotypes, sexism research, workplace bias, and how women get dehumanized by “easy” labels, start here, then jump to our first main story on Marilyn Monroe. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. Support the show Follow us on Instagram for research graphics, photos, episode announcements and more. Works Cited and Photo Attribution for each episode can be found on our website. For collabs, sponsorship, and inquiries, contact us at info@wbspodcast.com Music by Stephen Mexler

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  • S1 · E2
    August 10 · 51 min

    BIO: Marilyn Monroe - "You have to be smart to play dumb"

    They called Marilyn Monroe a “dumb blonde,” and the world repeated it so often that the label started to sound like a fact. We’re not buying it. We trace how Norma Jean became “Marilyn,” how studios shaped her image, and how the public confused a paid performance with a real personality. Along the way, we look at the cost of turning a woman into a symbol: critics dismissing her as a phenomenon, people insisting she was “witty but not smart,” and an entire culture more comfortable with her being sexy and harmless than sexy and intelligent. We get specific about the mechanics: the early attempt to market her as a femme fatale, the pivot into comedic sex symbol, and the careful work behind the voice everyone imitates. We talk coaching, breath work, and the stories that show she could switch the persona on and off, treating “Marilyn” like an alter ego she controlled. We also dig into evidence of her intellect, including her reading life and the way lazy commentary still tries to flatten her into a joke. Then we follow the power move that should have defined her legacy: refusing another shallow role, founding Marilyn Monroe Productions, and forcing Fox into a renegotiation that raised her pay and gave her real creative approval. Finally, we name the darker through line: how denying her agency shows up in mental health treatment, conspiracy narratives, and even the way she’s exploited after death. If you care about Hollywood history, gender stereotypes, celebrity branding, and the true story behind Marilyn Monroe, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review. Support the show Follow us on Instagram for research graphics, photos, episode announcements and more. Works Cited and Photo Attribution for each episode can be found on our website. For collabs, sponsorship, and inquiries, contact us at info@wbspodcast.com Music by Stephen Mexler

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  • July 24 · 2 min

    The Story Behind the Labels

    Witches, Bitches, and Sluts — the labels history hands women it's decided are a threat. In this trailer, host Xtina Rose explains why the show goes past the story itself into the research behind why these labels stick, and shares the personal reason this project matters to her. Launching Monday, August 10! New episodes every Monday. Support the show Follow us on Instagram for research graphics, photos, episode announcements and more. Works Cited and Photo Attribution for each episode can be found on our website. For collabs, sponsorship, and inquiries, contact us at info@wbspodcast.com Music by Stephen Mexler

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