Topic: womens-issues

Chris Brown’s Grammys Comeback: This Is How Men Get Away With Domestic Violence

Chris Brown's Grammys Comeback: This Is How Men Get Away With Domestic Violence

Last night, America watched known abuser Chris Brown perform at the Grammys and, just like in the real world, no one said a thing about the fact that he once beat Rihanna. And sadly, this is why so many of us are still shocked that one in four women is the victim of domestic violence: When we all choose to ignore it in favor of lighter entertainment, it just keeps happening in silence. Giving Chris Brown a free pass is not only infuriating, it’s also a missed opportunity to talk about domestic violence…and stop it. More »

Strange TODAY Show Story Reminds Us That “Hysteria” Is Still A Thing

Strange TODAY Show Story Reminds Us That "Hysteria" Is Still A Thing

Yesterday on the TODAY Show, a group of 12 teenage girls from New York discussed the sudden, bizarre onset of a Tourette’s-esque disorder that’s resulted, for no clear reason, in all of them displaying tics, twitches, and uncontrollable outbursts. And while the epidemic itself sounds strange and interesting (there’s a RadioLab about a similar outbreak), it’s the clinical diagnosis by a doctor on the show that made me pause–mass hysteria. Really? With it’s gendered, pejorative, and non-scientific roots, that’s still a word that’s being used medically? More »

I Just Can’t Get Behind Reusable Menstrual Pads

I Just Can't Get Behind Reusable Menstrual Pads

With the DIY movement going strong, crafty women have started making just about everything themselves, which delights my green, tree-hugging heart. But it’s time I came clean on the sustainable something I just can’t do. I admit it: I’m the worst body-positive, eco-friendly-living-espousing feminist of all time. Because, despite my best efforts, I cannot make myself be OK with reusable menstrual pads. More »

Three Years Later, The FDA Revisits Concerns Over The Safety Of Yaz

Three Years Later, The FDA Revisits Concerns Over The Safety Of Yaz

If you were looking to start a new birth control pill in or around 2008, your OB-GYN probably suggested Yaz, by Bayer, which was that year’s most popular pill. If, in 2011, you’re still on it, you may soon be seeing new warning labels, courtesy of the FDA, who are meeting this week to revisit the safety of Yaz and similar drugs. The reason for the meeting? Concern over conflicting safety studies, some of which show a higher-than-average risk of blood clots–just three years after copious lawsuits and oodles of bad press. Why did it take the FDA so long to catch up? More »

Daily Fail: Lady Gaga’s ‘Love Handles’ Do Not Exist

Daily Fail: Lady Gaga's 'Love Handles' Do Not Exist

Today, in an article that should have been a review of a charity concert, The Daily Mail did what The Daily Mail (and a lot of gossip sites) loves to do: they made the headline and lead of an important event entirely about a female celebrity’s flaws. Because apparently, we, the readers and consumer of media, must really, really love pictures of celebrities having  breakouts, cellulite, and muffin tops, and generally looking “fat” or “bad”. More »

Are Ultra-Curvy Celebrities Actually Helping Women Feel Body Positive?

Are Ultra-Curvy Celebrities Actually Helping Women Feel Body Positive?

Last week,  I wrote about how much I love Mindy Kaling, both for her brain (because she is brilliant), and for her body, which is real and healthy and female–and neither “model skinny”, nor Kim Kardashian/Christina Hendricks/ Insert bodacious celebrity here- ”curvy.” Because while scary-skinny models airbrushed into oblivion aren’t helpful for women, to be honest, the recent boom of “curvy” women may not be either. More »

Courtney Stodden’s TV Breast Exam Makes Me Sad For Her

Courtney Stodden's TV Breast Exam Makes Me Sad For Her

Over the course of Courtney Stodden‘s 14.5 minutes of Internet fame, the child-bride (or possible performance artist) has had some pretty wonderful/terrible publicity stunts. There was the pumpkin patch trip, her amazing Halloween costume (as herself?) and, most recently, her “makeup free” outing. But, because Stodden’s general appearance and life are essentially the opposite of all things healthy, coverage of her never-ending antics have mostly been left to our sister sites. Yesterday, though, the Pouting Princess finally did something that put her on our radar: she got a live breast exam with Dr. Drew. That’s health-related, right? More »

Bring Back The Buddy System For A Safer Halloween Weekend

Bring Back The Buddy System For A Safer Halloween Weekend

Sexy Halloween costumes have been both embraced and maligned in recent years–as evidenced by our sister site, The Gloss, and their amazing celebration of Slut-o-Ween–but unfortunately, with revealing outfits comes victim-blaming and less-than-emphatic public officials, who can be, as the SlutWalk movement has pointed out, quick to dismiss sexual harassment or rape charges against scantily clad women. And while you’re never at fault for being victimized, there are things you can do to help protect yourself on a spooky night where people wear masks and things are not what they seem. Ladies, let’s re-familiarize ourselves with the Buddy System. More »

Sex (Re)Ed: What Actually Happens During Both Kinds Of Abortion

Sex (Re)Ed: What Actually Happens During Both Kinds Of Abortion

Regardless of your stance on what’s probably one of the most polarizing issues in America, clinical abortion and the abortion pill are both still legal, and still something that, every day, women choose to make use of. And yet, for those who have never actually taken the pill, or experienced the procedure, the topic is an amalgamation of talking points, illustrated by images of horrific pre-Roe v. Wade chop-jobs and that scene from Juno when she goes to the clinic and the receptionist offers her a pie-scented condom. More »

Sex Re(Ed): The IUD Terrifies Me (So I Asked A Doctor All About It)

Sex Re(Ed): The IUD Terrifies Me (So I Asked A Doctor All About It)

It’s already a known (and hotly debated) fact that I don’t want children, and that a tubal ligation is, apparently, out of the question until I reach some arbitrary age, at which point I will no longer, according to my doctor, be a zombie at the mercy of my womb’s insatiable desire to procreate, which could kick in at any time. Which means that, consistently, well-meaning friends and family (and strangers) suggest that I try the intrauterine device (IUD), which is implanted into a woman’s uterus and lives there and keeps her from getting pregnant for years. It’s less expensive than years upon years of birth control, and is pretty much a set-it-and-forget it situation. Assuming you can get past the actual insertion. But here’s the rub: the idea of inserting something into my cervix sounds like the worst kind of hell. More »

Sex (Re)Ed: Two Truths And A Lie—What Does The Pill Do To Your Body?

Sex (Re)Ed: Two Truths And A Lie—What Does The Pill Do To Your Body?

When Loretta Lynn recorded “The Pill” in 1975, women across America heard a familiar voice touting the benefits of birth control, like being in charge of her reproductive choices. The song spread the message that taking the Pill wasn’t just something that loose women needed–it was for everyone, and it was safe and easy. Unfortunately, there were also still a lot of rumors about side effects floating around, and doctors still weren’t really sure what the Pill could or couldn’t do. Three decades later, there are more varieties of the Pill than ever before, and more is known about its effects, yet the misinformation persists. More »

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