- Sociological Images presents analysis of how a purportedly informative slide show about birth control shows a socially approved timeline for reproduction: no sex for teens, wait until 30s to have babies (which is not optional), etc.
- The Washington Post exposes the lie about post-abortion stress syndrome and other anti-woman legislation: “The latest war on abortion is being fought less over women’s bodies than over their minds.”
- TIME magazine reports on new research about anorexia, menstruation, and conception, and the surprising finding that anorexic women have higher rates of unplanned pregnancy than other groups.
- A humorous and informative conversation at Reddit about the new TSA scanners and menstrual cups vaginal terror flasks. [via Geek Feminism]
Okay, so I’m not sure why I just took the time to view the ivillage slideshow that Sociological Images is talking about, but, wow. Not sure who would fit into that life course. What terrible information! Amazing that they they don’t even acknowledge the fact that the majority of women have sex for the first time before their 20s. How conservative. I’m surprised they didn’t warn women to get that blood test that lets women know how many fertile years they have left at age 30, so that they might know how much of their 30s they really have to get pregnant. I am not surprised, however, that the slide show also refers to menopause as a time when ovaries “shut down,” considering the medicalized nature of the info shown for each phase of the life course. Nice to see they didn’t miss their chance to slam menopause. One surprising thing, though, is that the first time they mention that women might have gotten rid of a partner is on the “age 50 and beyond” slide. They don’t mention that women might have gotten rid of that partner a long time ago. I guess they’re at least mentioning the fact that new midlife relationships are commonplace.