Category Archives: Women’s Health

The Real Story Behind the Massachusetts Pregnancy “Pact”

As most people should know by now (and should have suspected originally), the story of the Massachusetts teen pregnancy “pact” was wrong. And, a follow-up story on Women’s eNews today has this paragraph, which really should be getting all the … Continue reading

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“Gardasil Not Approved for Women Over 26”

From the Feminist Daily News: The Food and Drug Administration denied Merck and Co Inc’s application to expand Gardasil use to women over the age of 26 on Wednesday. The FDA cited pending issues with the vaccine that could not … Continue reading

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How much prostitute sex does a woman who is not a prostitute have to displace, to effectively lower a nation’s HIV transmission rate?

That’s a question some economists are vigorously debating. Yes, high HIV transmission rates are apparently the fault of women who are not putting out enough, and therefore driving men to disease ridden prostitutes. Feel free to unpack that, and all … Continue reading

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Pimp Empowerment

A few short excerpts from this NYT article: Mr. Elms said that he started The Erotic Review in 1999 because he wanted to empower the customers of prostitutes. “I was getting ripped off,”he said.”There was no way to hold people … Continue reading

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Thomas McGarity and Wendy Wagner, “Bending Science: How Special Interests Corrupt Public Health Research”

From here: In their book, McGarity and Wagner describe how scientists can find their research blocked, or find themselves threatened with financial ruin. Corporations, plaintiff attorneys, think tanks, even government agencies have been caught suppressing or distorting research on the … Continue reading

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“Health care for female military veterans lags behind the care offered to male vets at many VA facilities, an internal agency report says, even as women are serving on front lines at historic levels.”

Story here.

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Stop Violence against Women website looking for volunteers!

The Advocates for Human Rights is seeking volunteers to create content for a website that is accessed by people all over the world. The Stop Violence against Women website (StopVAW) is an online resource with more than 4,000 pages of … Continue reading

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“NOMAS supports Reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, HR 3887”

The National Organization of Men Against Sexism gets it. The organization stands with decent people everywhere in opposing human trafficking, and affirms the following: The U.S. law addressing the crime of Sex Trafficking, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 0f 2000, … Continue reading

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Feminism and FGM

Interesting post here at Womanist Musings.

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Human Trafficking, Coercive Sex and Feministing

I’m having a difficult time understanding this post at Feministing. As far as I can tell, the post author prefers that the federal government NOT “waste time” investigating cases where pimps claim that trafficked, prostituted people are “free to leave.” … Continue reading

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The Days Before Roe

The New York Times today has an essay from an obstetrician/gynecologist who recalls the days before Roe.   He treated women with all sorts of medical problems as the result of attempting an illegal abortion without medical assistance.   The … Continue reading

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What is the Health Benefit of Wealth? About 2 Years of Life

The IRS has issued its quarterly    SOI Statistics of Income Bulletin  Spring 2008  (IRS Publication 1136). Included in that bulletin is an analysis of  Federal Estate Tax Returns Filed by 2004  Decedents.   As shown in Figure C, both … Continue reading

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Guess What “How To” Advice This Photo Advertises…

Answer here. And no, I do not think that is a cherry tomato. Via.

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On Footbinding

Heart has a post here, with photos.

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New Blog: “Care Talk”

Ingrid Robeyns notes at Crooked Timber: Nancy Folbre, who is widely considered to be one of the most knowledgeable economists on issues of care work, has recently started a new blog, called Care Talk. It’s a research blog that aims … Continue reading

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“Equality Now has issued Women’s Action 30.1, India: The Demand for Sex Trafficking: Holding Commercial Sex Buyers Accountable”

Government and NGO reports estimate that there are from hundreds of thousands to millions of women and girls prostituted in India, many of whom are victims of sex trafficking. The majority of women prostituted and trafficked within India are from”lower”(scheduled) … Continue reading

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“Feeling powerless impairs higher mental abilities”

From Not Exactly Rocket Science: Feeling powerless is no fun. A lack of control can make the difference between contented and unhappy employees. But new research shows that a lack of power doesn’t just make people feel disgruntled. It has … Continue reading

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Is It Really That Hard to Say “Abortion” on TV or in the Movies?

Thanks to TiVo, I’m several days late on this one, but last week’s 30 Rock continued in the tradition of television shows such as Scrubs, Friends, and the Nine as well as movies such as Waitress, Knocked Up, and Juno … Continue reading

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“‘Mad Pride’ Fights a Stigma”

That’s the title of a NYT article about “Mad Pride,” featuring the awesome blogger Liz Spikol, and USC (the other USC) law prof Elyn Saks, here. Below are two excerpts: … About 5.7 million Americans over 18 have bipolar disorder, … Continue reading

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Conference May 23rd in NYC: New Dilemmas in Medicine

Conference: New Dilemmas in Medicine, co-hosted by the IHEU-Appignani Bioethics Center & Bioethics International Where: 777 United Nations Plaza, 2nd Fl., New York, NY When: May 23, 2008 9.30 am – 7.00 pm Topics include: “To Have the Best Child … Continue reading

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“Canadian train in quarantine after death, illness”

Story here. There are no obvious links to feminism, but there is one to academia generally. I once had a fairly lengthy conversation with an epidemiologist who was studying and making recommendations for Universities with respect to the Coming Flu … Continue reading

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Breast is Best, But . . .

The New York Times reported last week that about 77 percent of new mothers breast-feed, the highest percentage in the United States in over a decade.   However, at six months age for the newborn, the rate of breast-feeding is … Continue reading

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“Challenging Men’s Demand For Prostitution In Scotland”

Full report here (PDF). The research reflects a collaboration between the Women’s Support Project in Glasgow and Prostitute Research and Education in the U.S.. Links to press coverage of the report here. Via The Burning Times.

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Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dildo?

From the University of Wisconsin’s Badger Herald, this article, “Law School Shuts Down ‘Sex Toys 101′ Talk:” The University of Wisconsin Law School canceled an event with controversial sexual content last Wednesday, and some students are calling the action a … Continue reading

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The Chemicals We Ingest

“Liquid infant formula from the top manufacturers is sold in cans lined with a toxic chemical linked to reproductive disorders and neurobehavioral problems in laboratory animals, according to an investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG).” More here. Scary. -Bridget Crawford

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Most Depressing Blog Post I Read Today

So far, anyway: This. Why does the blogger worry that feeling upset about a “manager” father who is pressuring his 18 year old daughter into porn and prostitution means she is “not as progressive as [she] thought”? Coercion and manipulation … Continue reading

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“How do You Keep A Social Movement Alive: Why We Can’t Wait”

That is the title of a post about sexual violence at Document The Silence, which in part suggests Wearing Red on April 30, 2008 in observation of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

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“A new study of young children living in extreme poverty found that those whose mothers showed symptoms of depression had low levels of cortisol, a hormone activated during times of stress, compared with children whose mothers did not exhibit depressive symptoms.”

That’s the first sentence of this article, from the U.C. Berkeley News. A second account of the study is here.   Via Sharon Sandeen.

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“What’s the Truth About Teen Pregnancy?”

Very informative post addressing this question at Our Bodies, Our Blog.

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“Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast”

Here, a report issued last week by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research – related press release here.   Via Feminist Philosophers.

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“V.D. Is For Everybody”

One weird PSA.

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“Prostitution, Politics and Policy” by Roger Matthews

From the publisher’s website: Governments in different parts of the world have been struggling to develop constructive policies to deal with prostitution – as, for example, the British Home Office recently instigated a £1.5 million programme to help address the … Continue reading

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“In the late 1990s the government began underwriting studies … using poor neighborhoods as laboratories to make a case that sludge may … directly benefit human health.”

BUT: … Meanwhile, there has been a paucity of research into the possible harmful effects of heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, other chemicals and disease-causing microorganisms often found in sludge. A series of reports by the EPA’s inspector general and the National … Continue reading

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That’s Not the Protection We Had In Mind

If Johnson & Johnson withheld information about the level of hormones delivered by the Ortho Evra birth control patch, in what universe should FDA approval shield the company from lawsuits? According to this NY Times article, More than 3,000 women … Continue reading

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“Nipple Rings, Respect and the Undertreatment of Women’s Pain”

Really interesting post by this name by Jennifer Bard at the Women’s Bioethics Project blog.

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Another Excuse for Non-Reciprocal Oral?

According to this Time article, oral sex can add to HPV-associated cancer risk in men. Oral sex can get most men’s attention. The topic becomes considerably more relevant, however, when coupled with a new study linking the human papillomavirus (HPV) … Continue reading

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You might want to remove your nipple jewelry before you travel by air.

Cronespeaks explains why.

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“JK Rowling admits having had ‘suicidal thoughts'”

Props to Rowling for discussing this here. Below is an excerpt: … Rowling and her first husband, Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes, had their daughter Jessica in 1993 but split up several months later. The author, now 42, said the end … Continue reading

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Doctors and Cosmetic Surgery

At Concurring Opinions, Frank Pasquale explains why top medical students would rather treat wrinkles than diabetes.

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“What You Should Know About Clinical Trials”

Interesting, link filled post at Our Bodies, Our Blog.

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South Carolina No. 4 in New Study of”Most Dangerous”Places to Live

Rankings data here. This is in part because the Palmetto State has the highest level of violence of any state in the nation. See also (“…South Carolina has ranked first in the nation, per capita, for violent crime in all … Continue reading

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Samsung applies for patent on cell phone that monitors a woman’s menstruation cycle by measuring basal body temperature (BBT).

Patent application here. The abstract: A basal body temperature (BBT) measurement method includes: measuring each distance to at least one ear canal area by emitting a pulse to a user’s ear canal; measuring a body temperature in the at least … Continue reading

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Scott Moss on Abortion Rights Under State Constitutional Law

Feminist Law Professor Scott Moss has a new piece available about abortion rights under state constitutional law.   The premise, that with the ever-more-conservative Supreme Court state courts are going to be the better outlet for protecting abortion rights, echoes … Continue reading

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Bed Rest

My wife is 33 weeks pregnant and has been put on bed rest. She had a very serious case of preeclampsia last pregnancy, so the doctors are being extremely cautious this time. The difference though is that last time she … Continue reading

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Melissa Farley and Victor Malarek, “The Myth of the Victimless Crime”

NYT Op-Ed, accessible here.

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“Oral sex-related cancer at 30-year high”

From New Scientist: The incidence of oral cancer due to a virus transmitted during oral sex has increased steeply over the last 30 years, according to research in the US. And scientists relate this trend to changes in people’s sexual … Continue reading

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Barbara Seaman

Seaman died on 2/27/08. From Women’s Enews: Barbara Seaman always believed that women knew more about their bodies than male doctors did. As a young mother in the 1950s, she made the revolutionary decision to breastfeed her child at a … Continue reading

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Guest Post: A United Nations committee expressed concern about “wide racial disparities” in sexual and reproductive health in the United States.

It’s not every day that the United States is reprimanded on the international stage for racial discrimination. And it’s certainly not every day that part of the charges includes discrimination against women of color in the area of reproductive health … Continue reading

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Motility and Fertility

Fertility is a presumption we have about our bodies. If that presumption turns out to be wrong (or partially wrong or at least wrong for several months in a row), it can be crazy-making. Fertility treatments can be even crazier-making. … Continue reading

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NGO In Congo Says Pornography Contributing To Atrocities

From Womensphere: Last month, Stop Porn Culture (SPC) was contacted by Groupe d’Action pour le Droit (GAD), a non-profit NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that advocates for the human rights of children, youth and women affected by sexual … Continue reading

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