Travel Channel Stars Debunk Myths About Women in the Paranormal

On Thursday, July 23, Travel Channel stars Amy Bruni, Cindy Kaza, Katrina Weidman and Chelsea Laden will participate on the Comic-Con@Home panel “Wonder Women: Superstars of Paranormal.” On Monday, July 20, they had a press conference to promote their panel. As I shared in the post about who the ladies regard as a female paranormal role model, I wasn’t able to attend the call, but Travel Channel generously shared the transcript with me. Another great question let the stars debunk myths and misconceptions about women in the paranormal.

Like I did in the other post, I’m sharing their answers, as is, straight from the transcript. What did they have to say about which gender they see representing the paranormal most? (If not on TV, at least at conferences and in follower stats.) And who did they say screams more –men or women?

Let’s see how the stars debunk myths about women in the paranormal.

The Question

The question came from James Witham from the Down & Nerdy Podcast.

Thank you, and thank you to you wonderful ladies for taking the time today. I appreciate that. You all have been able to do a lot of amazing things in this field that’s predominantly dominated by men and has been for years. So, what are some of the common misconceptions that you think people see about women in this field that you can debunk for us?

Amy Bruni

Well, I think–this is Amy. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that it is very male-dominated. I think that, for a long time, on television, it was heavily represented by men. But, I think that when you actually get out into like, you know, paranormal conventions and events and see the faces out there, it’s actually a very female-driven field. I just–I find that it’s probably, you know, at events and things, like 75 percent women. I know even on all my social media statistics, 75 percent of my followers are women. And so, it’s so interesting that something that is so female-based would be, for the longest time, represented by men in the public eye. So, I’m so happy to kind of–to see that changing and to see Travel Channel, in particular, representing and, you know, making sure that there are plenty of female, you know–female researchers on their shows as well.

Cindy Kaza

Yeah. I agree with you. This is Cindy. Amy, I agree with you. The field of mediumship is very female-driven as well, and I know a lot of the shows that we see on television, just specifically around mediumship, are very female-driven. So, I’m really excited to be part of a paranormal show, bringing mediumship to the table, because it really shows how the two worlds can really work together with having the mediumship being, you know, in conjunction with all the tools and the technology of the paranormal. So, I’m really excited about the opportunity. And I think there are a lot of women, like I said, in paranormal and in mediumship. But, I’m glad that we’re finally being represented on TV. So, it’s great.

Katrina Weidman

Yeah, this is Katrina. I–something to add about, you know, the misconceptions of women in the paranormal–I think, you know, culturally, we’ve been kind of inundated with these messages for a very long time that women can’t lead, women can’t be brave, women have to learn from men. You know–and I think that’s definitely bled into this genre for a really long time. And my work in the field, at least–I haven’t found that to be–I haven’t found any of that stuff to be true. And, of course, there are women who don’t want to be in those positions of leadership in the paranormal, and that’s totally fine. But, there is definitely a lot of women who are qualified for it and who want to be in this position. And, you know–so, I think that whole misconception of the scared woman in the scary place–although maybe that’s true for some people, I don’t think that the–that’s the standard of what is the normal really because it’s–what we–I think what we’ve all seen is that it’s not. It’s a lot of really brave women in the field who are more than happy to step forward and take on that role.

Chelsea Laden

And I can chime in on this one. This is Chelsea. And kind of going off what Katrina said, kind of like on the flip side of the coin, I can humbly say that I am one of those girls who gets a little freaked out at times, and, you know, I scream when I’m scared and all of that. But, I also wanted to prove that, you know, women can do what guys can do, even when that fear is there. When I (inaudible) to the show, I had a conversation with the guys, and I told them, you know, “I might be the most scared person of the group. But, I don’t want that fear to dictate what I can and can’t do.” I didn’t want to be like this (inaudible) what the others were doing just because I was a girl or just because I was scared. I want to, at the very least, try to hang in there and do what they were doing, even if, you know, it involved doing things that, you know, you don’t typically think of when you think of, you know–of women on a TV show, like being put in a dungeon alone or a hallway that was notorious for women having experiences there. But, you know, I just wanted to prove that we can do what the guys can do even if there is more emotion tied to it.

Amy Bruni

Chelsea, this is Amy. I promise you the guys are all screaming on TV too. So–.

Chelsea Laden

–You’re right–.

Amy Bruni

–It’s not just the ladies. I thought about that too. I was like–you know, actually the guys do their fair share of screaming and being scared. So, it’s all good.

Chelsea Laden

That’s great. Very true.

Cindy Kaza

I think I scream the least on Holzer Files. So, that’s funny.

Chelsea Laden

That’s awesome. I mean, I can picture Dave (sp) screaming, a little bit, to be honest.

Check-In

Do you think there are actually more women in the paranormal than men, but that men are more visible thanks to TV shows?