- PZ Meyers at Pharyngula summarizes a fascinating new proposal to explain why women (and a few other animals) menstruate: Emera, Romero, and Wagner, the authors of the paper, suggest the question to explained is decidualization, the production of a thickened endometrial lining, rather than its shedding.
- If fear of a yeast infection is keeping you from enjoying those holiday sweets, relax. Dr. Jen Gunter tells us that,
“The sugar consumption-yeast connection is an urban myth, perpetuated it seems both by many well-meaning, but ill-informed, health care professionals as well as purveyors of snake oil (you know the ones who want to sell you the cleanses, diets, and books designed to help you rid your body of yeast).”
- More yoga poses for menstruation.
- What do you do when Mom wants to throw a period party for your menarche and you don’t want one? Have Dad run interference: My dad was my menstruation role model.
- Read about how CBSnews.com asked Dr. Lissa Rankin to write 15 Crazy Things About Vaginas for their website last year, and then pulled the piece because it was “too saucy”.
- Our old friend, Holly Grigg-Spall, has written a great piece at f-bomb about why young women should think twice about whether the pill (or other long-acting methods of birth control) is best for them.
- I Wanna Be A Menstrual Blogger.
- We’re not big on end-of-year lists around here, but we agree with Copyranter that the Summer’s Eve racist talking hand vagina video belongs on any worst ads of 2011 lists.
Liz, Your title grabbed my attention this week, and, wow, what a collection of great pieces about blood, periods, vaginas and the Pill wars. Has anyone read the comments on Grigg-Spall’s f-bomb post? Ouch! Hang in there, Holly. Thanks for some great end of the year reading.
Related to your link to the blog entry on yeast infections- Someone HAS to do more research on yeast infections over the reproductive life course. Just the blog entry and comments on it show how we have no definitive info on yeast infections and how maddening that is for individual women. Neither doctors nor women know why they occur or how to prevent. It makes no sense to me that we can’t find out more info, and also why they’re more/less likely to occur at different points of the menstrual cycle/reproductive life course.
Wow! What a reading, thanks! Especially about the myth busting, shame so many of us had to grow up believing myths, or in total darkness about everything regarding menstruation. Some women still do. At least the generation we raise will be more knowledgeable and, hopefully, comfortable.