*waves*

Just poking my head up to say I’m still here, just swamped. Lots of personal things going on, busy at work (new area of responsibility, new title, and several systematic review projects while my usual partner in crime is on maternity leave), and responsibilities as a section program planner and official blogger for my annual professional conference in medical librarianship.

Sometime soon I’ll be able to breathe, and will start writing here again.

In the meantime, I still have regular posts for Our Bodies Ourselves every week.

Interesting Things in MeSH 2014

This one is for the medlibs and me, some interesting changes in MeSH for 2014:

• The concept (and term for) TEN has been absorbed into Stevens-Johnson Syndrome – makes some sense given the “spectrum of disease” aspect.


• Drug Toxicity has been replaced by Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions, which is much more tedious to type from memory.


• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has been replaced by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.


• Arachnidism has been changed to the much easier to remember Spider Bites. Tick Bites is new, too.


• Hearing Impaired Persons has been changed to the more person-first Persons with Hearing Impairments.


• Delusional Parasitosis has been added, but it’s been kept separate from (though in the same section as) Morgellons Disease.

Other selected new terms:

• Human Trafficking


• Slaves


• Slavery


• Prisoners of War


• Organ Trafficking


• Workplace Violence


• Social Determinants of Health


• Patient Harm


• Preexisting Condition Coverage


• Dandruff and Dander


• Autografts


• Hand Sanitizers, and Hand Transplantation


• For nursing, we get Cardiovascular Nursing; Critical Care Nursing; Family Nurse Practitioners; Home Health Nursing; Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing; Nephrology Nursing; Nurses, Community Health; Nurses, International; Nurses, Public Health; Parish Nursing; Pediatric Nurse Practitioners; Rural Nursing


• Visual Analog Scale


• Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms


• Medical Marijuana


• And finally, Mobile Applications. :)

Filed under: Uncategorized

Sunday News Round-Up, Announcements Edition

A few things that have caught my eye recently:

• Rape Victims As Criminals: Illegal Abortion after Rape in Ecuador – I haven’t read this report yet, but wanted to pass it along for exploration of how restrictive anti-abortion laws make criminals out of rape victims.


• A reminder about the disproportionate violence experienced by transgender people. Islan Nettles, a 21-year-old black transgender woman, was beaten to death. Someone on Facebook this week mentioned they hope the vitriol directed at Chelsea Manning online was not representative of what people would say in person to a transgender individual; unfortunately I think it very much is.


• Also a good time to remind folks of GLAAD’s Media Guide (particularly sections for reporters and writers covering transgender people and topics), and their guide to Reporting ON Private Chelsea Manning with Consistent Respect for Gender Identity. I’ve had some really positive responses in the past from reporters when writing them about problematic language in their stories, often with a brief explanation of the specific problem in their recent and then linking to a guide like this for more info.


• In which Allie of Hyperbole and a Half is brutally honest about her experience of depression, and probably does it better in a few comic panels than a million textbooks could.


• Feminish on tumblr gets it exactly right on girls, pink, and ultimately how providing extremely limited choices to consumers reinforces extremely narrow and entirely culture-dependent, non-inherent definitions of what children can be and like in a gender-essentialist BS way. Again in two comic panels.


• Racism linked to asthma risk for black women – I haven’t read the study yet; the summary here proposes a link about the stresses of experiencing racism and likelihood of developing asthma. I’d like to know if they managed to control somehow for exposure to shitty living environments, poor occupational health protection, and exposure to human-generated air pollution, but that wouldn’t change the headline – that stuff is still racist and classist.


• I don’t want to wade into the cesspool of Hugo Schwyzer, except that the Twitter hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewomen is an important read. Feminism doesn’t support all women equally, and this tag shows just a little bit of the how.


• Pics from DC related to the anniversary of the March on Washington. Also here.


• Relatedly, I enjoyed this Sound Opinions segment on music of the Civil Rights movement because they played some songs I really love, but noticed they didn’t really take it forward to talk about music *today.* It’s like civil rights music just stopped in the 1960s, but civil rights problems sure didn’t, so….?


• Incite! with an infographic on childbirth in Palestine – another topic on which I’m woefully underinformed.


• My current overarching institution – Vanderbilt – is dealing with a football player rape case. I have some thoughts about the role of the Coach’s attitudes toward women and how that likely affects his ability to provide any leadership to the team on these matters, but I’m not quite ready to share them yet.


• Also from the larger workplace, an initiative to allow women having c-sections to see more of their babies’ births and have earlier skin-to-skin contact – “Initiative makes cesarean births a family affair.”


• Some recent posts over on Our Bodies Our Blog look at how anti-abortion stigma can contribute to abortion complications, breast cancer, mastectomy, and breast implant safety concerns, and barriers that prevent women from accessing timely abortion.


• You must have seen the Camp Gyno ad for Hello Flo by now. Watch for the Dora appearance – “Menstruation demonstration!” I don’t really get Hello Flo’s product line – it’s not something I would go for – but I love this ad for not having blue water and for actually including young, active girls.


• I haven’t really watched Breaking Bad yet, but was intrigued by this op-ed by the actor who plays Skyler: “My character, to judge from the popularity of Web sites and Facebook pages devoted to hating her, has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women.”

The Announcements:
I’m going to take a bit of an official hiatus here for a bit. As you can see, I haven’t been posting regularly. There are a number of things going on in my work and personal life, and it’s making it hard to enjoy the process of writing a topical blog here. I want to get back to talking in depth about things when I feel like it, and not feeling like making posts here is something I *have* to do.

So officially, I’m giving myself to the end of the calendar year. That doesn’t mean I’ll never post here during that time. I just needed a change in perspective to give me the room I need to just write when I feel like it, when I enjoy it, when I think the information I’m presenting is important. It’s about realigning the way I’m managing my time and priorities, and getting rid of guilt about things I’m not doing.

I’ll still be blogging regularly for Our Bodies Ourselves, which I really enjoy. If when you think of OBOS you think of a book from the 1970s, you should really check us out – we’re continuing to build on that legacy of informing women about important health issues, but using newer, faster media alongside updated and topical editions of the landmark book.

I’m also serving as Lead Blogger for the Medical Library Association’s 2014 annual meeting. If you’re attending MLA and interested in applying to be a correspondent for the blog, the call has just gone out – applications are due by the end of September.

Random junk when I feel like it linking but not commenting is on tumblr, although in general the hiatus stands.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Access, Rights, & Choice, Adolescent Health, Advertising/Marketing, Birth, Events & Observances, Global Issues, Health Research, Libraryland, Menstruation, Miscellaneous, News Round-Ups, Shameless Self-Promotion, Women's Health

North Carolina to Be First to Compensate Forced Sterilization Victims

North Carolina is one of *many* states that for decades forcibly sterilized people it considered “undesirable,” without their consent and sometimes even without their knowledge.

It sounds like a horrifying practice that must have been a long time ago, but there are people still alive who were violated in this way.

Now, North Carolina is set to become the first state to compensate victims, setting aside $10 million to pay off about 1,500 people estimated to still be alive (the practice supposedly stopped in 1974). They estimate something like 7,600 people were forcibly sterilized on that state.

They sure didn’t hurry, though. Most states seem to be simply avoiding this gross violation of human rights and dignity until everyone they victimized dies off and can’t complain. And hey, the state effectively limited their having m/any children who could take up their cause afterward.

Dear More Than Half the States Remaining – step up. Do it now.

Sunday News Round-Up, Stay in the Air Conditioning Edition

Some of my recent posts over at Our Bodies Our Blog, the blog of Our Bodies Ourselves. There are links to lots of stories of interest on OBOS’s on Twitter and Facebook accounts as well.:

• Women Make Movies: New Releases Include Films on Virginity, Women in Prison and Body Image


• State by State: Laws Restricting Abortion and Family Planning as of Mid-2013


• CIR Prison Investigation Opens Another Chapter on Sterilization of Women in U.S.


• Keeping Up With Anti-Abortion Attacks in the States


• Ask the FDA to Approve *All* Emergency Contraception Pills for OTC Access

And some guest blogger posts at OBOS:

• Lessons Learned: Why Midwives Should Matter to Everyone


• Egg Donation is Made to Look Easy, but Questions and Health Risks Remain


• Emergency Contraception Can Be Free, But it Takes Planning – And a Prescription

Also of interest:

• Forced Sterilizations and the Future of the Women’s Movement – Salamishah Tillet at The Nation. “the victims of forced sterilization as integral to the future of the women’s movement as the fight over choice” – because when *to* have a child, and having control over that yourself, *is* a matter of choice.


• In the New York Times: American Way of Birth, Costliest in the World. Honestly, when you figure that the majority of women who have abortions are *already* mothers, healthcare costs are something anti-abortion “pro-life” folks should really look at.


• Tampons as a feminist issue, via GenderFocus. And not just in a “confiscated by the government from women trying to exercise their civic duty” sort of way. Honestly, tampons lack sufficient mass to be good thrown weapons, Texas.


• Found via Racialicious, to read up on later: Harvard and Slavery: Seeking a Forgotten History


• At Shakesville, Calling all Pro-Choice Men. “Make as much noise, MAKE MORE NOISE, than anti-choice men!” Do it. Now.


• The Nerdy Feminist talks intersectionalism in feminist/pro-choice communities, from the vantage point of the Texas rallies.


• Because positive stereotypes are bullshit, too. Like when anyone responds to my mixed heritage with statements like, “mutts are the smartest dogs.” Dueling Stereotypes: Bad Asian Drivers, Good At Everything.

A reminder: I’m playing around with a tumblr companion to this blog. I’ll link things there that don’t quite fit here or that I don’t have time to really write up separately, like quick news things, or this cool resource from the Wisconsin Historical Society – an online collection of photos and documents from Freedom Summer. I’m still messing around with the template – I don’t like how the current one deals with link posts.

On a medical librarian note, I volunteered to moderate last Thursday’s #medlibs chat on Twitter. Here’s the archive! Contact @eagledawg if you’d like to volunteer for a specific week.

And a final reminder, to the medical librarians among the audience. I’ve started investigating and applying to positions at the assistant/associate director level in medical libraries. If you know of something I should keep an eye out for, I’d really appreciate hearing about it!

Unrelated to anything, but cool: Animal Rescue: Caring for Animals During Emergencies

And, to end things on a bit of silliness: True Blood Sims is one of my favorite tumblrs, and makes me giggle on a regular basis. If you’re a fan of True Blood *or* the Southern Vampire Mysteries books (or if you have a love/hate relationship with either…), you will like it.

While you’re at it, Birthing Beautiful Ideas is blogging a Pie a Week. Dean Winchester fans, take note.

Filed under: Abortion, Access, Rights, & Choice, Birth, Contraception, Drugs, Ethics, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts, Menstruation, Midwifery, Miscellaneous, News Round-Ups, Pregnancy, Women's Health  

#medlibs Chat Tonight on Staff Training and Professional Development

I’m moderating the weekly #medlibs chat tonight on Twitter. Our topic this week is staff training and professional development.

I’ve posted some potential questions for discussion here. I’ll use these as prompts as needed, but discussion will be informal and participants can feel free to raise other related issues on the theme.

See you at 8:00 pm Central time, tag your posts #medlibs.

Update: Here’s the transcript. There are some excellent reminders in there from participants about low cost learning resources. Thanks to everyone who participated!

 

Ohio Urgently Needs Your Support, Too!

Ohio pro-choice forces urgently need support.

From Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio:

TOMORROW IN OHIO – The last votes that your lawmakers will cast on the state budget before it is sent to Gov. Kasich. It includes defunding. It includes transfer agreement bans that could close many abortion providers in Ohio. It includes the forced ultrasound amendment they added yesterday. Stand with Ohio women!

From a Facebook event page:

Inspired by Texan Women, please wear RED for Ohio and join us to show Ohio’s Legislature & Governor Kasich that we Stand With Ohio Women beginning at 10 AM Thursday with a Press Conference on the High Street/West entrance side. We’ll then pack the Gallery for what could a long day! (wear comfy shoes!). Spread the word – this is a non-partisan event for ALL of us who believe that Ohio’s Budget should not be the “Abortion Budget”. Demand a VETO on abortion amendments! *** if you can not make it in person, please call Gov Kasich 614-466-3555. Tell him to veto all of the attacks on access to reproductive healthcare! See y’all in Columbus! #StandwOHWomen

Go get ‘em, y’all. More love from Nashville.

Filed under: Access, Rights, & Choice, Ethics, Events & Observances, Government  

Thank You Wendy Davis, Leticia Van De Putte, and Everyone Who Turned Out in Texas

There are no words but “thank you.” Your stamina and commitment are admirable and inspiring. Whatever we can do to help prepare for July 1, let’s do it.

Pretend all this cheering is my message to you:

Love, from Nashville.

Filed under: Access, Rights, & Choice, Events & Observances, Government

Sunday News Round-Up, Everything is Miscellaneous Edition

I’m playing around with a tumblr companion to this site, located at http://womenshealthnewstumbles.tumblr.com/. I haven’t fully decided how much effort I can put into it, but I thought I’d copy posts over there, reblog things of interest, and otherwise post quick link items that don’t require much commentary. There may be a few more off-topic sorts of commentary things there as well, like one on my firsthand experience of Paula Deen’s racist waitstaff fantasy.

Recent posts over at Our Bodies Our Blog: WHO Releases Global Report on Health Effects of Violence Against Women; Groundbreaking Study Follows Women Who Underwent Abortions and Those Who Were Turned Away; Single Embryo Transfer Recommended in Most IVF Procedures.

National HIV Testing Day is coming up on June 27th. Find a testing site using the widget here (it doesn’t embed well here).

Transgender Child Care Co-Op – if you’re near Richmond, VA, “TGCC is a Richmond, VA based worker-owned organization of transgender and genderqueer childcare providers. We provide babysitting services to children of all genders, whether they be gender independent, gender questioning, transgender or cisgender.” Yes.

At Feministe, Five things to say to a friend who confides in you that they’ve been sexually assaulted.

The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network has developed a toolkit for elementary educators on diversity, bullying, and teaching kids respect. I don’t know the org and haven’t read through the toolkit, but I thought there might be some teachers in the audience here who would have a more educated opinion.

A reminder that it’s not just “mean” people who perpetuate rape culture.

Pam’s House Blend is closing up shop.

If you follow OutServe, you might want to check this out.

The Komen Foundation has a new leader. It’s a “take us seriously” and “we care about science” pick. Yeah, we’ll see.

Our Bodies Ourselves is looking for a summer intern. It’s unpaid, but there could potentially be a school credit arrangement.

From the FDA, making Plan B One Step emergency contraception available without a prescription to women and girls of all ages.

Op-ed in the New York Times on needing a legal abortion at 23 weeks.

Several good links over at first the egg.

Via the Center for Reproductive Rights: “The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit today to block a new Kansas law encompassing 47 pages of unconstitutional restrictions on women’s access to abortion, all designed to discriminate against reproductive health care providers and their patients.”

Abortion Curbs Advance in Texas – more laws that do nothing to increase women’s safety and are just about reducing access to legal abortion.

And a bit of personal news – I’ve started seriously looking into medical library jobs at the associate/assistant director level. If you know of anything coming open, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Access, Rights, & Choice, Adolescent Health, Birth, Contraception, Drugs, Events & Observances, Global Issues, Government, HIV/AIDS, Libraryland, Miscellaneous, News Round-Ups, Pregnancy