Newsletter
Newsletter The Women’s Health Activist® is a bimonthly publication of the National Women’s Health Network. We’d like to hear from you. Please e-mail questions or comments to editor@nwhn.org.
Billboards, Women of Color, and Politics
May/June 2012
By Shaniqua Seth and Malika Redmond
Accentuated and airbrushed, often young and Caucasian, female body parts are displayed on billboards throughout the U.S. as a staple marketing technique to attract consumers’ attention and dollars. Feminists have long critiqued the way this advertising strategy objectifies women, but the strategy took a twist when a controversial billboard made national news after it was erected in New York City in 2011. The ad used a woman of color’s body not to sell a product, but to promote an anti-choice message. The young African-American girl in the billboard was both the object and subject of the message, which read: “The Most Dangerous Place for an African-American is in the Womb.”
Contraceptive Safety Conversations — What’s a responsible feminist to do?
May/June 2012
By Amy Allina
Here in the U.S., we aren’t very good at talking about contraception. In fact, we’re usually down-right terrible at it! Recent conservative attacks have focused public attention on how universally accepted contraceptive use is in this country, which may make it a little easier for us to talk about. But, these attacks have serious downsides for the contraceptive conversation, too.
Women and Temporomandibular Disorders
May/June 2012
By Joan Wilentz
Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) are characterized by pain and dysfunction in one or both jaw joints and/or their surrounding tissues. These joints are the most complex in the body. They work as a pair, positioned on either side of the head, connecting the upper ends of the mandible (the lower jaw bone) to the temporal bone of the skull. The joints enable you to move your jaw in three dimensions: up and down, forward and back, and side to side. Serious disruption in the jaw’s function affects the ability to eat, chew, and swallow food; speak and make facial expressions; and breathe and sleep comfortably.
Young Feminists: Strong, Confident, & Single — Dating Distresses of a Young Feminist
May/June 2012
By Christina Cherel
They say good men are hard to find and that sailing through the dating waters can be rough. I’ve found that, for an outspoken, pro-choice feminist woman in her early twenties, the pool of eligible bachelors is even shallower.
Can We Turn Back the War on Women?
May/June 2012
By Ellen Shaffer
The Virginia woman's hand-made sign summed it up: “I Can't Believe I'm Still Having to Protest This Shit!” The pro-choice majority is astounded by the tidal wave of vitriolic attacks on reproductive health, rights, justice, and on women's dignity, that constitute the War on Women. These include legislative proposals mandating intrusive and humiliating vaginal ultrasounds with no therapeutic justification before permitting abortion; Rick Santorum's advice that rape victims should celebrate a resulting pregnancy as a blessing; and debates on covering contraception, which is used almost universally. Transforming outrage into decisive policy and political victories requires understanding what is coming at us (and why), and new approaches to seizing the initiative.
Prescription for Change: Sorry, But We Are Out of Aspirin…
May/June 2012
By Charlea T. Massion, MD & Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Here’s an all too common scenario in health care today: Dehydrated from a severe stomach flu, you’re admitted to a hospital. Your doctor wants to order medication to relieve your nausea and vomiting. A savvy user of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), she enters an order for prochlorperazine, a generic drug in use for over 30 years. The electronic response from the pharmacy is: “This product currently unavailable from the manufacturer.” So, your doctor orders another antiemetic, ondansetron, medication that became generic more recently. The same message returns from the pharmacy: “Unavailable…”
COUNTDOWN TO COVERAGE
March/April 2012
By NWHN Staff
On March 23, 2012, we will celebrate the second anniversary of the new health reform law, the Affordable Care Act. And we’ll launch the Countdown to Coverage campaign.
Thank You, Health Reform!
March/April 2012
By Cindy Pearson
As I write this column, health care reform is under attack in Congress. Opponents of reform have seized upon one specific women’s health issue and are using it to try to undermine the entire effort. Sound familiar? It should. Almost exactly two years ago, health care reform opponents used a specific women’s health issue to try to stop the reform process altogether.
DES: 40 Years of Research with More to Learn
March/April 2012
By Fran Howell
A drug prescribed years ago is responsible for health problems today and individuals who were exposed have absolutely no memory of it. How could they? They were exposed before they were born! Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic estrogen that was given as an anti-miscarriage drug to millions of pregnant women primarily between 1938-1971 (but not limited to those years).i Unfortunately, DES not only did not work to prevent miscarriage, but also caused severe medical problems for both the women who took the drug and their children who were exposed to the drug in utero, who are known as DES Daughters and DES Sons.ii In 1971, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised providers not to prescribe DES to pregnant women when it was found to increase the risk of clear-cell adenocarcinoma, a rare vaginal cancer, among DES Daughters.
Put a Ring on It!
March/April 2012
By Keely Monroe
Cities around the country are making sure that more women stay healthy and sexy by telling them to “put a ring on it”! What type of ring, you may ask? We aren’t talking about the kind Beyoncé warned men they better give their ladies or get kicked to the curb; we’re talking about the new and improved female condom.
Breast Cancer Risks & the Environment: So Much We Don’t Know
March/April 2012
By Rachel Walden
In December, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a new report, Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach.1 Commissioned by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, the report reviewed evidence on breast cancer and the environment, explained the difficulties of studying how environmental factors affect breast cancer risk, and recommended both future research needs and ways to reduce breast cancer risk.
Rediscover the Network Online!
March/April 2012
By Shaniqua Seth
We did it before — and we did it again! In 2010, we gave our website a new look by adding fresh and exciting features to the site. This year, we have taken the website update one step further and added much more content and upgrading usability. You may be thinking, “What was wrong with the old website?” Or “It’s about time you made the change!” We felt that the NWHN has so much to offer that our previous site, which only highlighted certain components of the Network, wasn’t letting users take full advantage of everything we have to offer.
Young Feminist: Defining Young Feminism Today – My Personal Journey to Activism
March/April 2012
By Bora Chang
When asked to write this article, I spent several weeks pondering which topic to choose. The more I contemplated, the more I realized that I was not clear on what or who is a “young feminist” today. Upon poring over sources and visiting historic sites, I learned that the U.S. feminist movement divided into three waves, each with its distinguishing characteristics. First-wave feminism accomplished major legal feats like women’s suffrage. Second-wave feminists stood against the inequalities ingrained in our patriarchal society and enacted in schools,
Why are Women Afraid of Giving Birth?
March/April 2012
By Kate Ryan
Growing up, I never thought of giving birth as something painful or inherently dangerous. I didn’t realize until later in life that my perspective on giving birth, and pregnancy in general, was a bit out of the ordinary. For one thing, I was thinking about the process of giving birth when I was in grade school – which is apparently not typical! And, when I did think about birth, it seemed like a normal part of life, not a potentially life-threatening medical crisis.
Excuse Me, Is that a Metal-on-Metal Device You’re Wearing?
January/February 2012
By Charlea T. Massion, MD & Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Hip replacement, a surgical procedure where the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic device, is usually done to relieve severe pain and mobility problems in a natural joint damaged by arthritis or trauma. Usually, both the “ball” (i.e., femoral head) and “socket” (i.e., acetabulum) are replaced, with excellent results. Unsuccessful hip replacement, however, can result in more pain and an inability to walk at all. And, devices with a metal ball and socket (metal-on-metal, or MoM) can cause other problems, some of which are extremely dangerous. Astonishingly, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows some types of joint replacement devices to be used without any clinical studies on safety or efficacy.
