2005 July Archive | Feministing

Product Whoring, Part 2

A little too much jiggle in your jogging? Salon recommends the Last Resort Bra:
I ordered the bra while my class was at lunch, wincing at the $60 price tag. When it arrived the following week I grew nervous: it fastens up the front, with a hook-and-eye closure? It’s made of what, satin? And, good God: There’s no underwire!
The proof, however, was in the plodding. I went out for a slow test-jog along the lake. After two miles I was out of breath, had aching knees, and a stitch in my side, but I could have cried for joy: My breasts had stayed put, in perfect comfort, without sacrificing lung capacity. I ...

A little too much jiggle in your jogging? Salon recommends the Last Resort Bra:
I ordered the bra while my class was at lunch, wincing at the $60 price tag. ...

By Jessica • 18 years ago

Maternity leave, Shmaternity leave

While the Bush Administration argues for ‘culture of life’ that protects fetuses, America’s children go uncared for.
The United States is one of two industrialized countries (the other being Australia) that doesn’t provide paid leave for new mothers:
In Santa Fe, Linda Strauss McIlroy, a first-time mother, is trying to get used to the thought of soon putting her two-month-old boy in day care so she can get back to work.
“It’s hard for me to imagine leaving him,” she says. “Just not being with him all day, leaving him with a virtual stranger. And then that’s it till, you know, I retire. It’s kind of crazy to think about it.”
Across the border in Vancouver, Canada, Suzanne ...

By Jessica • 18 years ago

Statutory rape or spousal privilege?

From the Associated Press:

A 22-year-old man faces criminal charges in Nebraska for having sex with an underage 13-year-old girl, although he legally married her in Kansas after she became pregnant.
The man’s lawyer said the couple, with their families’ support, “made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem.”
Responsible decision? Yeah, these folks sound like family of the fucking year.
After the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission for 22 year-old Matthew Koso to take her daughter to Kansas where minors can get married with parental consent. You still want EC unavailable to teens?
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says that the marriage “is repugnant to me…These people made ...

By Vanessa • 18 years ago

Cervical cancer mobilizes MDs

While there have been a home-testing device created to make pap smears cheap and easy abroad in the fight against cervical cancer, doctors in the U.S. have been organizing to make some serious domestic changes, reports the Washington Post.
The fact of the matter is that 4,000 women in the U.S. will die from cervical cancer this year, although every death is preventable.
In response, a $25 million federal program is going into effect to have communities recruit “patient navigators,” or volunteers (a trusted member of the community who speak their patient’s language) who will push for pap tests and aid the diagnosed.
Dr. Stephen McPhee of the University of California put his two cents in:

By Ann • 18 years ago

When it’s “men’s work,” it’s respected

New British research shows that men who do “women’s work” get more respect than their female counterparts. Male nurses, teachers and child care providers say they’re taken more seriously, have better relationships with their supervisors and are given more kudos than women.
Ruth Simpson, who carried out in-depth interviews with 30 men about their jobs, said: “Women are definitely losing the gender war in the caring professions. While the caring performed by a woman is often devalued as a ‘natural’ part of femininity, the emotional labour performed by men is often seen as an asset.”
Men in these professions did encounter pockets of resistance from female colleagues, but were generally made welcome. Dr Simpson commented: “Women are more ...

By Vanessa • 18 years ago

Ordained and loving it.

As an update to our Sunday post on the San Jose State Roman Catholic women who have been planning on being ordained as priests, we find that the nine have (unofficially) been ordained as priests and deacons aboard a tour boat near Ottawa, Canada.
While seven women other women who were previously ordained in 2002 were later excommunicated, these women have no intention of changing their minds.
“I believe it’s valid even if it’s against the law of the Church, because it is an unjust law,” said Germany’s Regina Nicolosi, who was ordained as a deacon.
There has been no response from the Vatican as of yet.

As an update to our Sunday post on the San Jose State Roman Catholic women who have been planning on being ordained as priests, we find that the nine have (unofficially)

By Jessica • 18 years ago

Don’t swallow: vaginal emergency contraception on its way

Sorry we’re so chock full of repro rights news today, but they just keep rolling in…
Vaginal administration of emergency contraception could be a better alternative for women than oral administration.
A new study in Fertility and Sterility shows that giving EC to women vaginally is just as effective in the reduction of hormone levels as taking the drug orally.
Now I don’t know how much I want to take any frigging drug vaginally; just popping a couple of pills seems like a more reasonable alternative. However, the study showed that taking EC this way could lead to lower levels of nausea or vomiting.
I took EC when I was 17 (lucky for me there ...

By Ann • 18 years ago

Get vaccinated against measles, mumps… pregnancy

Peter Sutovsky, a researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia (my alma mater), is developing “the ultimate female contraceptive: a vaccine that would make sperm bounce off eggs like they were brick walls.”
The vaccine would only require an annual booster shot, and would work by preventing sperm from “burrowing” into an egg. Though Sutovsky is researching immunization for women, other scientists have studied a similar vaccine for men.
Many are skeptical of the vaccination approach: Vaccines are tricky, said [Rajesh Naz, a West Virginia University reproductive immunologist]. Even well-established vaccines, like for measles or tetanus, have a failure rate. Individual immune systems can overreact or underreact. Another problem is getting enough antibodies, which usually patrol the bloodstream, ...