Bad Reviews for Vagina Biography and for Vaginoplasty, an end to Bears and Menstruation Mythology, and More Weekend Links
by Elizabeth Kissling | Sep 8, 2012 | Internet |
- Alison Bechdel (Dykes to Watch Out For) tells Jezebel what reaching menopause on one’s 5oth birthday is like: “I feel like every joke about menopause ever.”
- German manufacturers of thalidolmide, widely prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness in the 1950s and 1960s, issued a belated apology last weekend, fifty years after pulling the drug from the market.
The drug was never available to pregnant women in the US, thanks to Frances Oldham Kelsey, M.D., Ph.D., who was director of the FDA in 1960. She refused to grant approval of the drug in the US due to her concerns about its safety. Despite pressure from the manufacturer, she insisted that further testing was needed.
- Most women trying to conceive need better education about menstruation, not assistive reproductive technology.
- A small study recently published in Headache shows some success reducing frequency of migraine with aura and menstrual migraine by using the extended-cycle vaginal contraceptive ring.
- At RH Reality Check, doula Lauren Guy explains why pro-choice critics should stop referring to Arizona’s new abortion ban as the “Pregnancy Begins Two Weeks Before Conception Act”.
- Naomi Wolf’s new book, Vagina: A New Biography, is scheduled for release next week. Judging from the early reviews, it’s cringe-worthy, wincing-awful, on several levels.
- In an effort to understand the popularity of vaginoplasty and labioplasty, Melanie Berliet pretends to be a patient to a surgeon who specializes in those procedures.
- We thought this story had been put to rest ages ago, but it keeps popping up: A report published earlier this year by Kerry Gunther, a bear biologist who leads Yellowstone’s bear management program, states that “there is no evidence that grizzly and black bears are overly attracted to menstrual odors more than any other odor.”
Stopping by in the name of Women’s Health ~ wanted you to know it is Menopause Awareness Month ~ please visit our blog and comment if you would like, as we would love to hear from you!
Margaret A. Ferrante, MD
http://www.girlpowerinamm.blogspot.com
http://www.drmargaretaranda.blogspot.com
A slight correction — most women trying to conceive need better education about ovulation, or the menstual cycle, not just menstruation. And women with regular cycles who are having trouble conceiving need information about stretchy mucous and the variability between women in timing conception.
A friend of mine ( now in her 80s ) told me that it turned out that she ovulated typically around day 18. Because she and her partner believed that she would ovulate on day 14, they had exhausted their efforts and were no longer trying by day 18.
A quick thing to look for is stretchy mucous, clear, stretchy fluid about the consistency of egg whites. It is made by the cervix in response to estrogen, and there is an estrogen peak that triggers a sequence of endocrine events resulting in ovulation. Having sex when the stretchy mucous is present is an easy way to increase your odds of conception.
Chris, I read this piece, too, and couldn’t agree more. Body literacy, fertility awareness, and knowing that AND when we ovulate are life skills all women should have. It’s really so simple.