Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I don't good of stuff.
I've never told your production of I Heart Radio. I
think we talked about this, Samantha. I know we've talked
about it personally. I can't remember if we talked about
it on the show. Are you afraid of needles? I am?
(00:27):
Indeed I am. When I actually got my vaccine, the
woman when the first woman I talked to, was like,
just look the other way, it'll be okay. And the
second woman when I talked to when I looked up,
just started laughing and jabbed me a little quick. But
when I was younger, I would get shots when I
was sick, and I hated shot so much. I remember
(00:47):
at one point I jumped so hard when she poached me,
I almost broke off the needle and the woman almost
had and the nurse almost had a heart attack, so
like she said, She's like, oh my god, and just
so we both just sat there and my mom was
like what because that was my reaction and I didn't
mean to. Obviously she was like she kind of she
didn't yell at me, but she told me very sternly,
(01:09):
you almost broke the needle. That was going to be
a whole different thing, and I was like, wow, sorry,
I'm not a fan of needles. Yeah, I'm not either.
I find when I was young I hated them, and
I remember once the nurse was like, just think of
Disney World, and I was like, my parents would never
take me Disney World, and at all off at what
(01:32):
to say. And then I used to cry when my
little brother would give them because I would feel so
empathetic for him. And now I still don't like them,
but I think it's more like I just don't look.
It's over so quickly and almost never hurts when you're
getting it. When I'm getting it, I'll safe for myself
later it might stick, but but I still am like
(01:54):
waiting and tacking my foot anxiously, like this over with.
I mean, at this point, I think it is the
anticipation than anything else, for sure. But I've definitely had
them when they different drugs within it does get that
cold and it has a little more than I anticipated.
Also had a spinal tab when I was eighteen, and
(02:15):
those leadles are huge and I had a really adverse
reaction to it. So yeah, all these bad memories, all
these bad memories that we're very pro vaccine. We are
no matter what do it? Yeah, I it really really
I agree with you Smith. I feel like it's become
more about the anticipation and remembering how much they scared
(02:37):
me when I was a kid at this point, UM,
and it does feel kind of silly because I'm an
adult and I'm like nervous and this nurse is having
to talk me down almost right, But we did want
to talk about women anti vaccine today, and we're just
going put a date on this. I will say we
did the research for this one a couple of weeks ago,
and stuff has already changed, but today's date is obvious
twenty four one. And here in the US, we are
(03:00):
seeing a terrifying surge of the delta variant of COVID
nineteen and school is going back in session UM, and
so we're seeing a lot of fights over mask mandates
as kids return. And it got me wondering about anti vaccers,
in particularly women anti vactors, because also there's been a
lot of viral clips about UM kind of these open
(03:23):
hearings the public where people most of it that goes
viral are anti vactors saying things that are are very
over the top and getting very angry and like yelling
and shouting and all this stuff. And a few listeners
you have written in about growing up with moms specifically
who were anti vactors and how you felt that it
(03:45):
puts you at risk, or how you had to give
vaccines in secret, or having arguments that end in both
parties furious with each other. So it's just something we
wanted to look into. This could really be a much
bigger episode, but like kind of base level what are
we talking about here, right? And for the most part,
I've seen when it comes to like public arguments, especially
like celebrities, it has been women more so than men.
(04:07):
Even the husbands who are famous typically don't have an
opinion from what we gather. And I will tell this
one story. I got a story. So my partner is
really into three D printing and he loves trying to
do some new things, and he saw a thing where
from the the fifth element they have the multi pass right,
and he was like, oh my god, we can make
(04:28):
multi pass thwee D prints and have the vaccine cards
into it so you can protect it with the multi pass.
I'm really excited offered to make it for other people.
I think he gave you one against your will as
well as gave a friend one because you know, it
was really exciting while he was showing them up on
his size and just letting people know he was doing it.
(04:49):
And then at one point he got a random Instagram
message saying, hey, my daughter told me you're a photographer.
It was actually his text that you're a photographer and
you do some great work. Would love to see if
I can get something set up with you, and he
was like cool, cool, cool, Yeah, what are you who?
I don't know? First of all, who is this because
it was a number he didn't know. Do you mind
telling me who? Ferred you? Would definitely work with you?
(05:12):
What were you're thinking? What were you asking for? And
then she's like, well, can I just talk to you
on the phone And he was like what And he
was like okay, cool, And we're both very suspicious and
trying to figure out who's contacting him because he's not huge.
He's got a few followings and he does great photography,
but like you know, he's not famous. So he ends
up calling this woman. It turns out that she thought,
(05:34):
because of the multi pass that he was selling fake
vaccine cards and was trying to get a fake vaccine card.
Of course had to do it on phone because she
didn't want to leave it in text. He was trying
to get one, and she's like, I have to do
a conference here and they won't let me in without
a vaccine card. And I was like, ma'am, ma'am, get
(05:55):
your vaccine. And at that point, I'm like, you should
have told her, yeah, it can meet me at and
then take out to CBS or a wall to get
a vaccine, because that would have been hilarious. But yeah,
people are actually trying to do this. And it ended
up that she talked to her daughter and saying, I
think the stude is trying to sell vaccine cars, which
by the way, he's pro vaccine, Get stupid vaccine. And
(06:17):
the FBIS had to look into that because there's been
so many fake vaccines printed that's so sorted. I've seen
the one that had like Jesus is my vaccine, which
is even better. So back to some facts, I just
had to share that story. There have been several recent
studies about the unvaccinated population in the US and why
they are unvaccinated and how the demographic is shake out,
(06:38):
and we've had discussions on the show about issues of
access or racial trauma that can't be ignored UM, and
a few of these studies have ran with headlines like
what women make up the majority of anti vactors online?
A couple of things before we dig into why that
might be. Firstly, while a recent study of a thousand
demographically representative folks found that about twenty two eight percent
(07:01):
always identified this way and fourties sometimes do of Americans
identify as anti vaxer's, most experts point out that they
really are the primary segment of unvaccinated people in the US. Yes,
And actually I have a story about this because I
was telling you the big conference, Dragon Con, of which
I usually attend, recently announced to get in. I mean,
(07:23):
there there's a bunch of health policies they're instituting, but
one of them is you have to have a vaccine
or a negative health tests a negative COVID test within
the last seventy two hours. And I was just going
through after they announced this, I was just going through
the comments UM to see what the how angry people were,
and a lot of people are really happy. A lot
of people were like, oh my gosh, thank goodness. A
(07:44):
lot of people were really angry and like, well, now
I see you, and I'll never attend again and you'll
never get my money again. But then there were a
plenty of people who are like, well, I guess I'll
go get one now. And I was like, really right,
this is the thing. Okay, okay, gott you gotta get
that vaccine if you want to dress up a party.
(08:04):
According to that study that you just mentioned, Samantha, a
lot of people were adapting kind of a wait and
see and so they were like, I'm going to see
what happens to people who get it early, and then
I'll get it. So I just thought that was really interesting,
and I know we've talked about that before. Is I'm
just curious about people who are getting it now, Like,
what is the thing that you were like, Okay, I'll
(08:25):
get it. Apparently for some people it is going can't
hear the conference A NERD coverence looking specifically at anti
(08:45):
vaxtors and Facebook, A recent study did find that the
vast majority in quotes of people commenting on, sharing and
liking anti vax posts are women. This conclusion was reached
by analyzing two years of data from six of the
largest anti acts or Facebook pages, and that equated to
over two million shares. The researchers behind this find point
(09:07):
out that spreading misinformation and disinformation is a huge part
of holding people back from getting vaccinated and possibly overall
leading to them to get sick. People on these pages
often report feeling repressed, and there are so many comparisons
to the Holocaust on them. A fourteen study found conspiracy
like thinking was more common among anti vactors as compared
(09:31):
to the general public. Right, because you know, we're all
magnetic now, so that's cool. So A twenty nineteen study
found that France displayed the highest level of anti VACS sentiments,
in Bangladesh had the lowest, and the US was overall
pretty positive towards vaccines. Which, yeah, I guess the loudest,
sweakiest will gets the most attentional work next up sayings
(09:53):
right there, But I got you, I understand. I found
that really interesting. And of course this is from twenty nineteen,
so I wonder if that's changed. Is like, there's been
some bombastic rhetoric um in the US and and in
other countries as well, but here I wonder if that shifted.
But I was kind of surprised that France was the
highest in the US. Was pretty overall was pretty positive,
pretty pro vaccine, like even even when the scientists in
(10:17):
it were like, you know, we wish this was higher.
I think it was still like nine out of ten,
and even kids like, yeah, I get my kids a vaccine.
So that was interesting. But a part of the problem,
experts say of this anti vaccine mentality isn't an identity piece.
It's it's this idea that it is a piece of
(10:38):
social identity, that it is a marker that people see
as a part of themselves, like a core value that
they are proud of, and when you approach them about it,
they may feel attacked. Um, and that is difficult to change.
That was saying because obviously we're we being mostly scientists
and researchers, but I'm invested to were all invested looking
into why people aren' getting vaccinated, so they are trying
(10:59):
to find and like, well, what is it. How can
we approach this to change people's minds or to get
them to do it, And they were saying that it's
going to be really tough if people see it as
a piece of themselves. But what about women anti vaccer
specifically well, like we talked about in several past episodes,
including the one on Q and on, it has a
lot to do with myths around pregnancy and children. March.
(11:23):
He found that sixty six percent of women said they
planned to get the vaccine or had gotten their first dose,
compared to men. It also found that Republican men are
the most vaccine averse group, followed by Republican women and
then Democratic women. Experts believe this has to do with
myths and disinformation around vaccines causing infertility in women are
(11:43):
triggering in adverse effect in children. Group of people published
a petition to a German website suggesting with zero evidence
that the COVID vaccine might cause infertility, and one of
the authors was a former president of FISER, which gave
it a lot more credibility than it would have had
in anti vac circles. This could be part of a
population control plan. That's one of the theories Many misinterpret
(12:07):
or misrepresent scientific findings to gain support for their theory,
which is what happened with the study around autism and
children and vaccines, which I believe we talked about before
in the past. In times of uncertainty and fear, people
are more susceptible to think things like this makes sense,
so you're always kind of looking for this step. And
that's been a topic of conversation as well during all this. Yeah,
(12:29):
others have pointed out the arity of anti vac stort
of women using the phrase my body, my choice to
protest masks and vaccines when they are so gives reproductive
rights and abortion. Yeah, they really think they're flipping the
coin on that one. Some Republican officials have been introduced
and gotten pasted laws prohibiting mass mandates, although the Supreme
(12:52):
Court did actually decide not to rule on one of
the mass mandate laws. And at a school which pistol
lot of Republicans of because now they're like, oh no,
we can't afforce this. It's interesting at a Republican conventions,
people have cheered low vaccine numbers as in fact, though
apparently Donald Trump himself try to recommend and encourage it
(13:15):
and got booed by his own people. Yeah, and then
he backed up and he was like, well, you know,
only if they want it, but I you don't have
to get it, I have said. But yeah, there's just
a lot of interesting things that play, and I find
it fascinating how often we do go back to this
idea of children in pregnancy when it comes to conspiracies
(13:38):
and women. It's just a theme that we're seeing over
and over again and really praying on and building up
that idea of almost like kind of this ultra women
are the protectors of children and this is your role
is to have children, and just really playing that up right.
(13:58):
There's definitely a whole level of converse station that's interesting
to me, where the majority of people that I've seen,
once again not necessarily all, and I haven't done the research,
but what I've witnessed is pretty much predominantly white says
female who are the ones that are the loudest about
being anti vaxers, and typically when it comes to eugenics,
that doesn't target them when it comes to the fact
(14:21):
that this type of thing does happen and they're trying
to cause infertility on purpose so that people, you know,
population control has never been geared towards white women typically,
So it's kind of ironic to me the best what
they want to harp on because the true incidents of
this happening have been typically towards ablest and or racial ideas.
(14:42):
So so like, hey, buddy, you're jumping into anything that
you don't even really understand, right, I mean, you're absolutely
correct because that brings up like multiple other issues that
horror conversation that we're not giving as much air time
or we're not even including like some like we separate
them out, and we shouldn't separate them out because it
(15:02):
is part of this whole thing, right. But yeah, obviously
there's a lot we could unpacked here, but we just
wanted to do a quick overview. As always, listeners, we
would love to hear from you. We would love to
hear what's going on and your neck of the woods
and you're part of the world if it's different than
what we're talking about. You can email us at Stuff Media,
mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
(15:24):
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on Twitter at moms of podcast. Thanks as always to
our super producer Christina, Thank you, and thanks to you
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