Of the womb: That’s hysterical
Blogger Abby Jean has a great post up today at the new Feminists with Disabilities blog about the etymology of the word hysterical, and how it is used against both women and people with disabilities. The word itself is derived from the Latin word hystericus, meaning...
A Critique of SNL’s Recent “Ladies Billiards” Skit: “Tampax to the Max Tournament of Champions”
Guest Post by Heather Dillaway, Wayne State University Trying to find a reason to stay up late this past Saturday night, I found myself watching Saturday Night Live for a few minutes. Unfortunately I tuned in right before a skit called “Tampax to the Max,” a skit...
This is What Menstrual Activism Looks Like
Wow. Chella Quint, UK-based real live activist, posted this 40 seconds of brilliance [by filmmaker Lindsey Keith] on her blog recently. I caught the bug and hope to spread it around. No menstrual taboo? Uh.... Then why is this short film positively hysterical?
On the need for another kind of health care reform
Via Women's Health News (a very useful blog maintained by medical librarian Rachel Walden), I learned of My OB said WHAT?!?. This site tracks appalling, offensive, and a few downright abusive things OB-GYN practitioners have said to their patients. A few examples:...
The Etiquette of Menstrual Concealment Preserves Pain as well as Secrecy
It's great that menstrual taboo and stigma is 'over', as Amanda Fortini informed us earlier this week (see Chris' post about the menstrual activism shitstorm across several blogs this week). Now maybe all those women suffering from debilitating endometriosis can get...
Human Mate Choice and the Pill
In a review article in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, University of Sheffield researchers Alexandra Alvergne and Virpi Lummaa [1] present a range of evidence that using oral contraceptives influences women’s preferences for mates, and men’s sexual...
