In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

From the pages of Duh Online…

Study finds that free contraceptives lower the abortion rate.

Free birth control led to greatly lower rates of abortions and births to teenagers, a large study concludes, offering strong evidence for how a bitterly contested Obama administration policy could benefit women’s health. The two-year project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured, who were given their choice of a range of free contraceptives. These women experienced far fewer unintended pregnancies as a result, reported Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis in a study published Thursday. There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study, compared with a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010. There also were substantially lower rates of abortion, when compared with women in the metro area and nationally: 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women in the St. Louis region, Dr. Peipert calculated. The national rate is almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women. Women’s health specialists said the study foreshadows the potential impact of the new health care law, in which millions of women are beginning to get contraceptives without a co-payment.

Most thinking people are like, “Why is this news?”

People who have basic logical reasoning skills are like, “So this means that Obamacare will reduce the number of abortions.”

Prolifers are like, “LALALAALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”

The Meat We Eat

True story: I was mostly vegetarian (technically pescetarian) for 11 years. Then I moved to Sardinia to be a nanny for an Italian family. After a few weeks of not eating any meat, I started to feel bad about the fact that the family always had to make a different dish for me, so I abandoned my vegetarianism. The first piece of meat that I tucked into was a tough little hockey puck with some garlic and butter on top. I figured it was over-cooked beef until, after polishing it off, the father of the family asked me if I enjoyed the cavallo.

V-Cards etc.

I talked to Karley from Slutever at Vice about virginity — why the whole idea is harmful and when to “lose” it (although for the record, I don’t even buy that virginity is a real thing). If any kind Feministe reader has some time this afternoon to write up a transcript of the video, that would be much appreciated. Apologies that I am swamped for the next few days and do not have the ability to transcribe right now. And, you know, it’s Vice, so prepare for hefty doses of irony and irreverence (again for the record, I think Karley is awesome and hilarious; it’s just not typical feminist blog fodder).

Posted in Sex

Midwifery should go international

Sorry I haven’t been blogging much this week — I am writing other things elsewhere, though, like this summary of a conversation with UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson. He gives a nice shout-out to midwives at the end, and is inspiring me to organize some sort of Midwives Without Borders group to send midwives to developing nations, and also train local women in midwifery to provide support for birthing women. Eliasson also talked about Syria policy, and the benefits of a political solution over a military one (which I am sure many readers here, including myself, aren’t entirely sure about). And while you’re over there, check out the other great pieces that UN Dispatch has on offer.

Event: Support The Anew School on Oct. 5

The Anew School, which provides “unprecedented academic, emotional/mental health, and social training to “at-risk” seventh and eighth grade youth” by taking American students and educating them at the Anew international boarding school in Ghana, is hosting its annual fundraiser tomorrow, Friday, October 5th from 6pm-10pm at Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St, NY, NY. The party features DJ Commish, special live performances, and an amazing crowd assembled for a good cause. More about the Anew School: