Final Article for Shweers Lecture

Dr. Carolyn Howard’s Fredrika Wild Schweer’s Lecture on Women and Health: No subject is taboo​
 
​Perhaps “lecture” isn’t quite the right word for what took place in Swan Auditorium as part of the Schweers lecture series at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Carolyn Howard’s presentation, “Own Your Reproductive Health,” was more like sitting down at the kitchen table with a close friend. Her angle on women’s health: there is no taboo.
​The open discussion-based presentation touched on what to expect at your genealogical exam, sexually transmitted infections, contraception, and breast health.
​Equally as important was Howard’s in-depth explanation and diagram of the female pelvis. Knowing the consequences of sex is important, but as Howard explained, understanding what your body looks like, feels like, and does naturally is the first step in managing your health.
​Howard emphasized that women need to be their own self-advocates. She finds too many women in the U.S. go undiagnosed and untreated because they are not active participants in the doctor-patient relationship.
​Howard provided the information women need to become active in that relationship. She had the positive attitude and attentiveness that left the audience encouraged that gynecologists are also committed to a healthy patient-doctor relationship.
​Howard is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale New Haven Hospital. She received her Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health before working as a physician at hospitals in Texas where she was honored with the award of “Outstanding Clinical Faculty in Obstetrics and Gynecology.”
​In 2003 Dr. Howard moved to Rhode Island, working first at South County Hospital before being hired as a gynecological consultant in the Women’s Clinic at URI’s Health Services.
​The Fredrika Wild Schweers lecture was established in 1981 by Dr. Patricia M. Farnes in honor of Freddie Wild, a gifted young woman who passed away at the age of 16 after a 13-year battle with Leukemia. This annual lecture honors the courage and dedication of Dr. Patricia Farnes, Fredrika, and her mother Genie Wild, who has been a strong activist in establishing supportive emotional health services for patients and their families at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

Getting Published?

I wrote a paper for my women's studies class about a week and a half ago and I was asked today to edit it  so that it can be submitted into the women's studies journal. I was fairly excited. The following is the original piece and once I finish editing it I will post the finished product as well!

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                I found that I learned more in the lecture on Women’s Health last night than I learned in the cumulative years of middle and high school health courses. Before the lecture, I don’t think I have ever seen a comprehensive picture of the female reproductive organs, healthy or unhealthy, and I went to a federally funded magnet school.

                Learning as much as I did in just an hour and a half showed me just how little we are taught about women’s health during a period in our lives where we need the information most. Dr. Howard mentioned in her talk that most women don’t get the information they need when they need it most—which should be before there’s an issue. While we’ve come a long way from not even being allowed to talk about sex in school, there is still so much education that needs to be available for women. I think the example from the lecture that best demonstrates this need was what to expect during a gynecological exam.

                When I went to my first gynecological appointment I felt like I was being thrown to the lions, as if I got a wave of good luck and a “see you later.” I had no idea what I was getting in to, what things were to be discussed, and most important—what questions I should ask. Sexual health was always a taboo in my very conservative family and it was never instilled in my sister or I at an early age that we need to be proactive about our health, especially our sexual health.

                This brings me to my second topic. After the talk my boyfriend asked me how it went and I immediately sent him a series of texts about everything I had learned. He was of course pretty overwhelmed by both the quantity and surprising vocab, but I told him that if I had come away from the talk learning anything, it was just how important it is to take an active role in my own health. I think Dr. Howard did best to convey the necessity for a comfortable relationship between doctor and patient and how the patient needs to be just as invested as the doctor should be.

                As far as medical topics are concerned, the information on breast health was probably most pertinent to me. Even though I have a history of breast cancer in my family (both my mother and great-grandmother and great-grandfather) I hadn’t had breast examinations explained to me as thoroughly as Dr. Howard explained it. Not only were there images of what a breast exam should look like, but also what unhealthy breasts look like. When you do a self-examination, you need to scrutinize for abnormalities just as a doctor would. Therefore when Dr. Howard explained what she looks for and what things go through their mind, it gave me insight as to what I should be doing as well.

                The second most important medical topic, I think, was contraceptives and I got a sort of vibe from the audience that was on most of their minds. In taking notes on contraceptives I noticed that while I knew about the different kind offered, I had never really understood how they worked. Dr. Howard did a good job in explaining how oral contraceptive works, why it works, and how it compares with others. I would argue that most people don’t know these things. Understanding the how and why of contraceptives gives sexually active women a better understand, and overall more reassurance about their bodies. I found that the audience as a whole got the most out of this topic.

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As far as editing goes I already know I need to do the following: 

1. Make the writing more assertive

2. Cut out most first person 

3. Use more accurate word choice 

Man, I'm glad I did that extra credit assignment! 

*Black*

Somehow all the thought provoking stuff happens at work, or maybe I'm just so bored that I have no choice but to ponder on the strange things that happen in a dress shop.

So my boss attempts to explain how a silver dress looked better on a black girl than a white girl in her broken English. She's Korean, so I'm waiting for the words to stumble out. She actually did fine, but when she got to the word "black" she whispered it. Why? I am so confused. It's not a bad word. Good God how do you go about having intelligent conversation?  I can picture it: In of A-F-R-I-C-A where there are mostly [black] people, most of them are "fairly below the poverty line".

Granted, most black people are not even from Africa. They are not African Americans. They are American American, just as I am not European since nobody in my family has stepped foot in Europe since it was like, Pangaea. I am not Caucasian either--I'm not from that Germanic region. I'm actually from Italian background. Therefore I am white, making my best friend of darker skin black. I am also a red head and she has black hair, although my other friend is a brunette. I am short, but my boyfriend is tall. I am a smartass and those who are not are boring.

Fact it, these are all descriptive words with no need to create unnecessary uneasiness. Let's save the taboo for sex. Its funnier that way. 

Last night my room mate and I made Oreo Milkshakes and sat down to watch re-runs of old Nickelodeon shows that are slowly coming back to day-time television. 

So sitting down to the TV we clicked on The Rugrats,whilst mocking the 90's outfits and jargon, we noticed that one of the characters had the symbol for female on her shirt. 

We remarked that when young, we had no idea what that symbol even meant. Watching it now, however, we noticed that her character was a single parent of twins. At first we considered it empowering, but then we realized how incredibly insulting it was that none of the other characters seemed to be portrayed as pro-women, and coincidentally all the other characters were married. Why is it that singularity seems to be a requirement for feminism? 

Just something to think about when watching TV. 

4 in 10

Today I read a statistic on the National Women's Law Center blog that stated that 4 in 10 women are the breadwinners of their families. 4 in 10 is 40%, which is nearly 50%, which is almost half. Obvious, yes, but astounding nonetheless.

I found this so interesting because it doesn't just mean that more women are going out into the work place, but that more men are staying home. In my mind I instantly connected this statistic (and the idea that more men are staying home) to the argument about gay marriage and adoption by gay couples. How is a straight stay-at-home-dad any different than a gay stay-at-home-dad?

I also found this statistic encouraging, not only because it's now more socially acceptable and even respectable for a woman to make more than her partner, but that family dynamics are becoming more diverse.

This morning while listening to Morning Edition on NPR (a routine of mine) I listened to a great segment about women's involvement in the new Middle East.

Hillary Clinton argues in the segment that when women aren't at the table when big decisions, like drafting a new constitution in Egypt, are being made then the country is really turning their backs on haf the population. She added that this movement needs to be intertwined in the democratic movements in the Middle East.

This made me instantly consider a topic that was discussed way back in my high school U.S. History class--how do we go about making change? Do we do it in intervals so that the population has time to adjust, or do we go on radical campaigns while the timing is most opportune?

Would it have been such a terribly radical hardship on the American people if women were given the right to vote when black men were? As crazy as it may sound, what if the 13th, 15th, and 19th Amendments were actually written as just one amendment? You know, in a way that would explicitly state that when you are given equal rights under the law (being identified as a person under the law and not just 3/5 of one, or property of one) the right to vote was actually included in that very same law.

As I look at Egypt and the similar budding democracies in the region, and consequently reflect on our own struggle for independence over 200 years ago, I can't help but think that there's something important about radical change that comes with upheavals. Why can't the fight for democracy and fair government include women? I don't think it would throw the overall goal way off base to include all the people this time around.

Today a mother and daughter came to try on dresses at the Bridal and Formal I work at.

This mother was insane-- I'm convinced. She even had the wild, untamed, hair of a stereotypical crazy person. She forced her daughter (who verbally and non-verbally expressed reluctance) to try on eleven, yes eleven, dresses. Do you know what it's like to try on eleven prom dresses? It's almost as painful as getting a cavity drilled. There's zippers and corsets and miles of tulle and straps and buckles and of course the complete embarrassment of a crazy person for a mother shaking her head disapprovingly and snottily commenting on her daughter's lack of enthusiasm at the gym.

First of all, the poor child broke out into hives. Hives! Secondly, what gives anyone the right to comment on body type while trying on factory made all-size-fits-none dresses? People wonder where eating disorders come from.

It really breaks my heart to witness something like this. It's so easy for girls in our society to set their confidence on beauty, so when they fail to meet the impossible single standard of "beauty" (and inevitably they will) they are left with nothing.

When you build your life around one thing and it one day disappears, then you're left with nothing, and too few people have the mindset to move forward.