Here's some helpful information on how a menstrual cycle works. I found it here http://iheartguts.com/uterus
Happy menstruation everyone!
- Alice
I came across Marshal Miller and Dorian Slot's website the other day and their workshop on female orgasm seems really interesting. I'm going to contact them to see if they'll be in Toronto anytime this school year and perhaps they could come and do a workshop for us!
The York Federation of Students (YFS) is proud to announce that we have been successful in winning Women’s Only Gym Times at the Tait Mackenzie recreational facility. Women’s only gym time provides a comfortable and safe space for women to participate and enjoy recreational activities and has become a growing trend in the recreational programming of many campuses and fitness companies.
In order to supervise the recreational space, we are looking for female volunteers to monitor the area. Once applications are reviewed, volunteers will be provided with training by the Tait Mackenzie recreational facility staff.
Women’s only gym time hours will be dependent on the response we receive for volunteers and we encourage all applicants to provide their maximum availability.
Isn't it disturbing that the term 'feminism' has been co-opted to reflect this consumerist notion of freedom and women's rights? I mean, the idea that gender equity has been established because (some) women can now buy themselves a plethora of rings, shoes, and purses is just so bizarre. I really find this completely depoliticized version of "Carrie Bradshaw" feminism really problematic. So when I came across this "fashionism" site the other day, I couldn't resist. I had to comment.This is the story of my abortion. If you're against abortion or you are easily grossed out by talk of graphic surgical procedures, don't read. :)
I had an abortion last month. It was probably the hardest choice I've ever had to make. I love children and I want to be a mother SO badly. Call me unfeminist if you will, but my dream is to have that white picket fenced house in the suburbs with a pack of kids, a husband, and a bunch of pets. I'm 21 years old, I don't have a steady job or a car or my own house, my boyfriend and I have only been together for 6 months, my health is crap, I'm a borderline alcoholic, yada yada yada. So really, bad time to have a baby. I am not a fan of adoption - I've heard far too many horror stories, and I couldn't send my baby out in the world to be raised by someone else who might not be a good parent. If anyone's going to fuck up my kids, it's going to be me!, and given my health and drinking, it would have been likely that I and/or my child would have been seriously damaged by the pregnancy.
So the choice was clear: abortion was the way to go. Even though deep down I knew that I just couldn't have a child right now, it really hurt to admit it, and I was terrified (irrationally so) that maybe the pro-lifers were right - I WOULD regret it forever, I WOULD have "post-abortion syndrome", I WOULD be smote by God, I would become infertile and get breast cancer and DIE, or something. I was also scared that it would hurt too much, physically, and I would die from blood loss or something. Surgery scares me, and considering I found out I was pregnant quite late due to my irregular periods (14 weeks) and wasn't able to get an appointment until nearly 16 weeks, it was a more invasive and risky procedure than if I had found out at say, 6 weeks and had it terminated at 8 weeks.
So, I went in to the clinic with my boyfriend, filled out a few forms, and went in to the "counseling room" with a kind young woman who explained the procedure and asked if I had any questions. I had checked the boxes on the form for birth control prescription (obviously the pill wasn't doing it for me, so I wanted to try something new) and pap smear, so she also explained a few different types of birth control and we settled on the nuvaring, which she wrote me a prescription for on the spot. I was a little shaky, so she gave me a hug as well.
After that, I continued on to the exam room, where the tech did a quick ultrasound and gave me a muscle relaxant and some sort of white, sharp sided pill (cytotec?) to put up my vagina to soften the cervix. Ick! This was the worst part of the procedure by far. The feeling just grossed me out. But somehow I survived, and after an hour of listening to White Snake in the "comfort room", I was led to the OR and I cracked grammar jokes with the nurse while she hooked me up to an IV. I honestly don't remember much after that, but apparently the procedure took a mere 5 minutes, and it didn't hurt at all. The nurse led me out to another waiting room and fed me juice and cookies, and I was allowed to rest for as long as I needed.
And....that's it! I felt pretty crappy for about 2 weeks afterward - I bled like a stuck pig for almost a week, my breasts were swollen to painful proportions, and my emotions were a total rollercoaster, but...it got better. I'm sitting here now feeling 100% okay with my choice. My abortion went totally by the book, I haven't been smote by a vengeful god, I'm not wracked with guilt, and my boyfriend and I are still together and happier than ever.
That's my happy abortion story. Does anyone else have one to share?
Shameless is Canada’s independent voice for smart, strong, sassy young women. It’s a fresh alternative to typical teen magazines, for girls who know there’s more to life than makeup and diet tips. Packed with articles about arts, culture and current events, Shameless reaches out to readers who are often ignored by mainstream media: freethinkers, queer youth, young women of colour, punk rockers, feminists, intellectuals, artists, activists — people just like you! We tackle teen life with wit and wisdom.
Proudly independent, Shameless is a grassroots magazine produced by a team of volunteer staff members, with content guided by a teen advisory board.
Each issue of Shameless entertains and inspires with profiles of amazing women, discussion of the hot topics that concern you most, DIY guides to crafty activities, sports dispatches, the latest in technology, columns on food politics, health & sexuality, advice and more.
Shameless has been making waves since its launch in June 2004. That year, Shameless was named Best New Magazine by Toronto alt-weekly NOW and nominated for two Utne Independent Press Awards (Best New Title and Best Design). In 2005, Shameless won an Utne award for Best Personal Life Writing. We were nominated again in 2006, for Lifestyle coverage. In 2005, cover story “Making The Cut” was nominated for a National Magazine Award.
Published three times a year, Shameless is available in independent bookstores and Chapters/Indigo locations across Canada and select locations in the United States.
I came across this on feministing.com. The caption in the bottom right-hand corner reads "Becoming an organ donor is probably your only chance to get inside her." Are you serious?! This is so horrific.
Exhibition Overview
Living legend of feminist art, Judy Chicago’s place on the landscape of contemporary textile practice is a significant one. Best known for her groundbreaking sculptural installation, The Dinner Party (1974-1979), Chicago has spent decades exploring the possibilities of “thread as brushstroke.” This exhibition surveys some of Chicago’s most important contributions in cloth, highlighting both key and lesser-known works dating from 1971 to present. From macramé to needle point to airbrushed quilts, Chicago employs “technique as content” in her major projects selected for this survey exhibition including the Birth Project (1980-1985), the Holocaust Project (1993) and Resolutions: A Stitch in Time (1994 to present). This exhibition centralizes the labour-intensive nature of Chicago’s textile work as a metaphor for investing in the ideas, values, histories and provocations in her artwork.
To give you a place to start, there are two general kinds of sex toy adaptations. There is the kind where you take a toy and change some aspect of it. You can build up a handle, change the switch, or attach the toy to something else that lets you use it. The other kind of adaptation is where you find a toy that may be intended for an entirely different purpose, but actually suits your needs.
Homemade adaptations (using grab bars, reachers, foam, tape, gloves, etc.) can be a great way to adapt a toy, and you don’t need to wait for an OT! If you stick to inexpensive toys, the adaptations will probably outlast the toy.
On the other hand, finding a toy that doesn’t need to be adapted at all can be good. For that you mostly need to be creative. A good example of this kind of adaptation is really long sex toys. At first you might think buying a vibrator that’s 14 inches long would be ridiculous. But if you’re someone who needs to get a complete firm grasp on a toy, and you have big hands, then your hand ends up covering most of the toy. You need those extra 5 inches just to get a good grip. There are other toys that are made as rings to wear around the penis, but work really well when strapped to hands and fingers. And then there are a thousand things you can do with remote control toys.
The benefit of not making a major adaptation to a toy is that you don’t usually need to rely on someone else to adapt it, it doesn’t cost you anything, and you only need to worry about the toy breaking, not the adaptation.
