Red Tent Sisters

Sex and the City: The Movie... A Review

2008-07-03T14:08:00.003-04:00

Although we have lost our official Red Tent Sister blogger, Ellen, to Korea for the year, she has paid us a surprise visit with this recent blog entry on Sex and the City: The Movie. Thank you Ellen!

Sex and the City

A review of the movie and [some of] the boundaries it doesn't push ...

[beware: spoilers below!]

Despite my interest in talking about all things sexual and my friends' assurance that Sex and the City was a TV show I would love, I never became a regular viewer. I saw a few episodes here and there when housemates had the show on and I have a general idea of what the show was about, but that's all. I'm now living in South Korea and opportunities to experience a taste of home are not everyday occurrences. Thus when THE Sex and the City movie came out, I went to see it with a friend.

The movie had the feel of one REALLY long TV episode and I had the feeling that if one had followed the show and was experiencing the re-birth and reunion of the characters whose lives they had followed over several years, one would have enjoyed the movie more than I did. That said, I did enjoy the movie - it just wasn't amazing.

What I want to focus on in this blog post is how the movie script developed in such a way that opportunities opened up for the movie to push some normative social boundaries. Unfortunately the script followed the road more traveled and concluded with a stereotypical fairytale ending for the main character - marriage to her prince charming.

The TV show and movie feature four, now adult girl friends whose friendship is based in New York city. In the movie Charlotte is happily married and after adopting a daughter she becomes pregnant - a life-long dream for her. Her life in the movie pretty much follows the normative path of marriage and children. Since this "path" is a reality for many individuals her presence in the show/movie is useful as she provides one "type" of character for women to relate to. What interested me and what I really want to address today are the the other three characters' relationship woes and how their stories progress.

First of all, Miranda. Near the beginning of the movie her husband has a one night stand with another woman and for most of the movie Miranda finds herself unable to forgive him - perhaps partly because she is unable to forgive herself. She struggles with the feeling that others blame her for the infidelity - that she made it happen because she "let the sex go out of the marriage". Miranda grapples with the fact that the demands of marriage and motherhood and work made a satisfying and regular sex life fall to the bottom of the priority list - and how this change of priorities affected her relationship with her life partner.

In this way the movie does deal with the reality of many women's lives and perhaps also men's lives. At least this is the line of thought that popular literature would have us believe with its frequent commentary on ways to to "keep the flame alive". As a sidenote, I'm not married or a working mother AND I haven't focused my studies in this area so I'm not sure how accurate this representation is. I just know it is a concern that is commonly addressed in pop culture. Also as a sidenote [and getting somewhat off track!] I'm not sure I'm convinced that all this attention should be paid to maintaining a "fabulous" sex life that is the focus of so many pop culture items [I'm thinking in particular here of mainstream magazines].

Getting back to the movie. In the end Miranda and Steve get back together. Although the theme of "reunion because of love despite all the odds" follows a fairytale plot line, the idea of reunion after an affair challenges the idea that couples break up after infidelity. This IS something I read about in a report somewhere at some point :) and I know that a surprisingly high number of couples stay together after infidelity, contrary to the popularized notion that an affair means the end of a relationship.

Moving on. Samantha finds herself unable to stay in a monogamous relationship and breaks up with her common-law partner. In her words she chooses a relationship with herself over a relationship with a guy. This is somewhat boundary challenging as Samantha is a character that, while heading towards her 50th birthday chooses to be single and respectful of her own needs rather than stay in a more normative heterosexual couple. I think the movie could have been even MORE progressive had it introduced the idea of long term "open" relationships and/or the idea of being polyamorous. Why did Samantha have to leave her wonderful relationship just so she could "satisfy" another part of her - the part that likes to have sex with a variety of partners?

Last but definitely not least, is Carrie - the main character. Happily in a long term relationship, her and partner decide to get married for financial security reasons. The marriage becomes a lot bigger than the civil ceremony Mr. Big [her partner] had in mind. Scared by all the pomp and circumstance, he jilts Carrie on their wedding day. They spend most of the rest of the movie separated with Carrie attempting to mend her broken heart. In the final scenes of the movie they are reunited and almost manage to push boundaries - they question why they ever wanted to get married in the first place when they were so happy being life partners without the married label. Unfortunately Mr. Big pops the question, in a romantic way this time, and they end up getting married at the city hall.

Importantly the movie reinforces the idea of getting married for oneself instead of to enjoy "the wedding experience/dream". This is a significant message in today's increasingly materialistic society where many weddings have become consumerist experiences to the extreme. However, I think the movie could have been more "revolutionary" had Carrie and Mr. Big decided that they could have their happily ever after ending without Carrie changing her last name and without the official wedding ceremony.

There are many other "things", such as agism, beauty norms, and classism especially, that could be addressed when reviewing this movie, however, it was the above observations about relationships that really jumped out at me. I'll end this post here, hopefully I've given you something to think about ... and not ruined the movie for you should you decide to see it!

Mary Harrison (Sunday Sister) Attends Hit & Run Cd Release

2008-05-28T14:31:00.003-04:00

On Thursday, May 22 Emma Cook, sister to Red Tent Sisters Amy and Kimberley Sedgwick, released her second CD, Hit and Run, at the Lula Lounge in Toronto. Emma played her poignant and saucy songs to a full house while one notable two-year-old fan danced up a storm. I love Emma’s music and I’m so glad that her CD is available at Red Tent Sisters because I see a lot of similarities in the philosophies behind both the music and the store. Introducing one of her songs, Emma explained that part of the impetus behind her writing is a desire to see and hear strong women in the arts and media who don’t fit snugly into the false and simple stereotypes that society has created for them. In particular, women’s sexual identities are always far more complex and interesting than the simple virgin/whore, good girl/bad girl dichotomy dominating mainstream consciousness. Emma’s song, “Even Your Momma can Wear Stiletto Boots,” refuses to assign categories of female identity. She sings: “We’re torn apart into pieces/ One walks the streets and the other looks after the kids/ Why can’t we occupy the same spaces/ One woman, two different faces.” Emma also performed this song at the grand opening of Red Tent Sisters, which was so appropriate because the store honours all sides of women’s identities. At Red Tent Sisters there is no ‘either/or’ about women’s sexual and reproductive health choices. What makes the store so unique is the opportunity it presents for women to pick up information and products for pregnancy, menstruation, general health, and sexuality all in one space. It captures the kind of holistic approach to identity and body that Emma seeks in her music. I’m excited by the fresh perspectives and attitudes offered by Hit and Run and Red Tent Sisters. Let’s continue to support artistic and business initiatives seeking to affirm women’s human dynamism!

Hit and Run, Emma Cook, 2008

Learn more about Emma and her music at www.emmacookmusic.com or www.myspace.com/grrremma

DivaCup to the Rescue

2008-03-27T19:49:00.000-04:00

I’ve been using the DivaCup for over 3 years now and I certainly don’t need to be convinced of its many virtues. However, my recent trip to Costa Rica gave me one more reason to love my reusable cup.

I arrived in San Jose on day two of my period. Having recently gone off the pill, my flow was particularly heavy. Unfortunately, there were no bathrooms except for the public washroom in the bus terminal which charged 250 colonnes (about 50 cents). Having arrived with $50 US bills (the banks in Toronto didn’t take into account that these would be rather useless in a third world country where the average meal is less than $4), I was out of luck. I was going to see if I get some change from the ticket booth operator, but our bus arrived before I got the chance. The bus didn’t have a washroom, which would have been fine except the trip was about 4 hours and we didn’t stop once! We finally got onto the ferry, which thankfully had a toilet (that you didn’t have to pay for!) I was grateful that I wasn’t wearing a tampon, since I would have had to worry about toxic shock. Not to mention you aren’t allowed to flush anything (including toilet paper) in Costa Rica because their septic system can’t handle it. While I’m not concerned with hiding my menses, I’m not sure anything else needed to be added to the overflowing garbage bin (don’t get me started on the smell . . .)

Considering I spent the entire week in my bathing suit, I was grateful I didn’t have to wear a pad, nor did I have to scrounge up change to use the bathroom every couple of hours. While I could have done without the cramps on my travels, the Divacup made my period a minor inconvenience, rather than a disaster.

The HPV Vaccine

2008-03-13T17:22:00.000-04:00

Our Sunday Sister, Mary Harrison, compiled the following information about the HPV vaccine for Red Tent Sisters.

* There are over 100 strains of HPV, 35 of which affect reproductive/genital organs. Some of these 35 are high-risk, which means that, if persistent, they can cause cervical cancer in women. Some are low-risk, which means they are less frequently associated with cancer, but can cause genital warts (which can be treated much like warts on other parts of the body). With a healthy immune system and low risk factors, most women’s bodies fight the infection and eliminate it within 9 to 13 months of contraction.

* Most women with HPV do not contract cervical cancer. Most fatal incidents of cervical cancer affect poor women, women with compromised immune systems, and women who face structural inequities and oppression such as racism, colonialism, and violence in their lives. About 0.002% of the female population – around 400 women – dies of cervical cancer in Canada per year. Death rates are higher in parts of the world where Pap screening is unavailable and where poverty and poor nutrition are prevalent issues.

* Gardasil is the first HPV vaccine approved for use in North America. It prevents infection from strains 6 and 11, which can cause genital warts, and from strains 16 and 18, which can cause cervical cancer. These strains are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine does not protect against other types of HPV which account for the final 30% of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine is a preventative measure; it does not cure cancer or warts associated with HPV.

* The vaccine costs about $405 per woman/girl and is a three-injection process. [The vaccine is injected in a girl’s/woman’s arm at two months and six months after the initial injection. It is covered by private health plans, which, of course, is only helpful for women/girls with access to a private health plan.]

* There is some discussion of covering the vaccine through the Canadian health plan, and some suggest that there is not enough evidence that this vaccine is effective/necessary enough to justify the cost to the system. The women’s health network suggests that providing budgetary funding to ensure that all women receive regular Pap tests would be a much better use of funds. This is because cervical cancer is considered 90% preventable with screening and treatment through Pap smears. Also, the vaccine does not eliminate the need for Pap tests because it doesn’t prevent all strains of HPV and does not cure HPV if a woman is already infected at the time of injection.

* The HPV vaccine does not replace the need for safer sex techniques; a woman’s chances of contracting cervical cancer increase with multiple sex partners and earlier initiation of sex. Women who have sex with women are sometimes considered to be not at risk for HPV, but this is a false assumption.

* In Canada, the vaccine is recommended for girls 9-26, particularly for those who have not yet had skin to skin sexual contact, i.e., have not yet had the possibility of being exposed to HPV. [However, women who have had sexual contact can still opt for the vaccine]. There are fewer studies of the effects of the vaccine on the younger age category, so there is some concern about the effects on younger girls. There are also concerns that the long-term effects are not yet clear enough, particularly for young girls.

The above information, except for the square brackets […] which contain my own input, was collected and then paraphrased from the following source: The Canadian Women’s Health Network. “Gardasil: What you need to know about the HPV vaccine. Pap tests still the best tool in preventing cervical cancer.” by Women and Health Protection and the Canadian Women's Health Network, with assistance from Judy Norsigian, Alicia Priest, and Robin Barnett. http://www.cwhn.ca/resources/cwhn/hpv.html

A side of the debate that I’m particularly interested in is the ‘moral panic’ side. Some people are suggesting that providing the vaccine for girls as young as 9 in Canada (and the US recommends routine vaccination for girls at ages 11 and 12) would encourage promiscuity and give girls this age ‘permission’ to have sex at an early age and with multiple partners. However, Gardasil and health care providers recommending it don’t make a claim that the vaccine replaces safer-sex practices, and, to my knowledge, there is no evidence that vaccination is associated with girls’ decisions to become sexually active, to have multiple sex partners, or to discontinue use of safer-sex practices.

At a grad student conference that I attended last spring, a colleague raised the question that since the vaccine addresses HPV, which can cause, but is not the same as, cervical cancer, why is there not a similar initiative to provide routine vaccinations to boys as well, since boys can/do spread HPV? Certainly boys will not contract cervical cancer as a result of HPV, but is there a kind of policing/controlling of female bodies going on when boys are not held equally responsible for the spread of the virus? This follows a tradition of placing the burden of responsibility for birth control and safer-sex practices on women and girls, as well as a social attitude that women/girls can’t demand the same kind of conscientiousness about safe sex from their male partners that they are supposed/expected to have themselves.

There are so many sides to the debate: the issue of long-term effects/insufficient studies (although the vaccine has been approved); the cost of the vaccine and whether it should be paid for by the Canadian health plan when there is perhaps insufficient evidence that the vaccine is more effective in the prevention of cervical cancer – which effects few Canadian women fatally – than regular Pap screening is. This issue is inflamed by the fact that the vaccine does not replace Pap screening, and that, as it is, not all women even have access to regular Pap tests. However, I also find the suggestion a little questionable that, essentially, not enough women are dying to justify the allocation of federal funds (although certainly I understand the point that there are few health funds already, and that putting them toward Gardasil might not be the best way to spend what little we have). Further, while privately distributed, the cost of the vaccine is prohibitive for poor women who are more likely to die from cervical cancer. There are also the social and ‘moral’ concerns about female sexuality: from the Right that vaccination would increase sexual promiscuity among girls, and from the Left that vaccination represents more control of women’s/girl’s bodies. And certainly the debate is larger than these already tangled issues; the HPV vaccine is currently a contentious and complex debate. The decision to be vaccinated (or not) is a personal one to be made by individual girls/women in consultation with a trusted health-care provider.

Ellen's First Work In South Korea

2008-03-13T17:20:00.000-04:00

During my first week in South Korea I attended an orientation session on "how to teach conversational English and how to adapt to Korean culture". During one class the facilitator was showing us how to use a word search engine ... enter a word and words that are most often used with the first word will appear. For example, enter smile and whimsical, wry, happy etc. comes up. After some group work the facilitator said "I looked up woman and it's not the greatest corresponding words but look up here on the screen and you can see what came up", and he rattled off a few words. Turns out that menstruating was one of the words ... not surprising since a large part of the female population, especially those people commonly referred to as women, are menstruators. An outgoing, very loud young woman a few rows behind me said "ewww gross". EXCUSE ME??!! Not as loud as her but loud enough that others around me could hear I said "all women do it, why is it gross?!" Still in shock and still shaking my head I sarcastically said to my pair of female table mates "I'm menstruating - does that make me gross? Should i go to my room and stay there?" Saying that makes obvious how ridiculous the first woman's comment was. The funny/interesting/unfortunate thing is that probably more people had a reaction like hers rather than a reaction like mine. Sheesh. Cheers, E.

A MOTHER WHO DOESN’T WANT TO MOTHER -- GASP!

2008-02-23T13:35:00.000-05:00

I’m writing this blog entry on a flight between Toronto and Seoul and it’s in response to something I just read. My friend bought me some trashy magazines featuring the latest exploits of Hollywood stars for something to peruse when my brain went mush from too much sitting and not enough sleep ... a point in time somewhere between the 8th and 12th hour of the flight! Magazines like Star and In Touch are not my usual reading material - among other things I think these magazines are incredibly invasive of people’s lives - but I was very touched that my friend would send me off with a care package and so on route I decided to crack the covers of the magazines. Here’s my commentary about Britney Spears, motherhood and the social web we weave - the web that we make and that also makes us.

When I was walking through the airport terminal a magazine’s cover story caught my eye; supposedly Britney Spears doesn’t want her boys back. Low and behold Britney was also the cover story for the In Touch magazine my friend bought me. Word on the street is that Britney doesn’t want to have custody of her boys right now and has said that once she is well she doesn’t plan on fighting Kevin [her ex-husband and father of her boys] for custody. The magazine pretty much takes these statements and paints a demonizing image of her - HOW COULD SHE NOT WANT HER BOYS BACK??!!!!

The point of this blog is not to focus more attention on Britney Spears. I think she deserves a break from being trashed, evaluated, scrutinized etc. The reason I brought up Britney was because I wanted to use her story to illuminate a social phenomenon. Overall, in the current North American socio-political context it is expected that women want to become mothers; that they are unhappy and unfilled if they can’t or choose not to become mothers; that anyone who is a mother instinctually feels drawn to be a “good” mother; and that xy and z are what make a “good” mother. Women who don’t live up to the “good” mother standard or who don’t want to be mothers, or who are happy being the secondary rather than the primary caregiver of their child[ren] tend to be thought of as “off”, unwell, not normal or in Britney’s case, sick.

Britney may very well be sick but isn’t that all the more reason to be congratulating her for knowing her boundaries and that she is unable to be the primary caregiver for her boys instead of demonizing her for - heaven forbid - not wanting her boys back ... Which in the current social context is taken as meaning “I don’t care what happens to my boys” instead of “I am prepared to be the secondary caregiver. Or I am happy/happier being the secondary caregiver”.

I think “the Britney” situation points out just how much we still associate womanhood with mothering and mothering with selfless unending devotion. The fact that Britney supposedly doesn’t want her boys back is an easy way for the magazines to grab people’s attention. This is the case because news of any woman - any mother - not being fully committed to being a mother is newsworthy. Britney’s supposed “confession” has the power to shock us and it is in examining why her statement shocks us that we can learn more about the society we live in and assumptions about motherhood.

Cheers - e.

HONESTY OR SELF-CENSORSHIP: THE DILEMMA & THE DECISION

2008-02-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

I am about to embark on a rather large trip … next week I am going to be flying to South Korea to begin a year long teaching contract. Luckily I have a few friends over there already. Recently I was talking on the phone with one of my friend’s mom and she was giving me advice on what to pack based on what she’s heard from her daughter. [Bare with me, this is getting around to something relevant to the store!!]

In a bubbly, extrovert’s voice she said “you won’t need to take a wide variety of work clothes, the women tend to wear almost a uniform of black pants or black skirt and a suit jacket, day in and day out.” “That’s great news” I said. “I was getting concerned about my luggage limit … packing for four seasons, and both work and play is challenging! I figure I’ll try to pack my smaller suitcase with clothes and my larger with the other ‘life’ stuff, like toiletries etc.”. In her booming voice she responded “they don’t have the same brands so if you have a favourite brand of shampoo then you might want to take it but ‘Suzy’ has found a bunch decent brands there … ooooh but they supposedly do have some familiar brands for face cleansers and other facial products … “. She paused momentarily and her voice suddenly dropped in volume “you might want to stock up on your favourite brand of tampons or pads because I don’t know what they have over there. They might have similar products but I don’t know and ‘Suzy’ didn’t say …”. Her voice rose again and she continued on with some other comments.

As she had started talking about menstrual products a response jumped into my mind, “oh I don’t have to worry about buying menstrual products because I use a Keeper”. The sentence ran through my mind and yet for some reason I didn’t say anything. It ran through my mind again, the moment was still there to say something … yet I still didn’t say anything besides “umm hmm”. Most likely she wouldn’t have known what a Keeper was and yet I didn’t make use of the opportunity to teach her about reusable menstrual products. The opportunity was there to let her know how much I love my Keeper and how awesome it’s been that I haven’t had to worry about buying menstrual products for the past 3 ½ years. I didn’t say anything AND THEN … the moment was past. We were onto other topics and I quickly felt a swift kick in my butt … from myself. WHY HADN’T I SAID ANYTHING!? Argh. That question plagued me after I hung up. Slightly neurotic? Perhaps! J But the fact that I hadn’t corrected her bothered me and it took me a while to start to unravel why.

First of all, I’ll explain why it bothered me. It bothered me because I don’t think menstruation should be a taboo topic yet I treated it like one. If she had said “your eyes are orange and your hair is purple” I would have said “ummm actually my eyes are blue and my hair is dark brown.” If she had said “I saw a pair of size 4 pants on sale at Smart Set” I would have said “too bad, I wear a size 10.” Yet when she said “you might want to consider stocking up on tampons and pads” I didn’t say “oh I don’t use those, I use a Keeper”. Recently my oh-so-insightful brother said “Ellen you’re trying to ignore taboos and do away with them but at the same time you’re aware that there are taboos and that by ignoring them, you are breaking them”. I know I am not alone in experiencing this quandary.

In her book, The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation [1999] Karen Houppert [book available at the Red Tent Sisters!] writes:

I’ve become aware of the way I self-censor conversations about my work. When women ask me what I’m up to these days, I tell them I’m working on a book about menstruation and the culture of concealment surrounding it …. When men ask me the same question, I tell them that I’m writing a book. … Sometimes I catch myself – “How can you be writing a book about the hush surrounding menstruation and then perpetuate it?” – and make myself frankly describe the book. But the act requires conscious effort. [pages 240 -241]

Shortly after the phone call I told some friends about it. During our conversation two of my friends recounted recent “incidents” of their own that mirrored mine [interestingly all of our encounters were with individuals who were at least 20 years older than us]. All three of us are intelligent, well-spoken feminist educators who are passionate about issues of sexuality, gender, and women’s health, yet all three of us silenced ourselves through self-censorship. In my case, was I trying to avoid embarrassing my friend’s mom by talking about menstrual products in detail? Was I worried I would be embarrassed? Worried that perhaps she would think I was weird? Was I afraid that I would unleash a torrent of information about how horrid I think disposable menstrual products are, perhaps offending her in the process!!?

While I don’t have any firm answers I think that it has been useful to reflect on why my “lie of omission” occurred and why it bothered/bothers me so much. For example, simply by sharing my story with my friends new conversational terrain was opened up and I found out that I am not alone in self-censoring. Nor am I alone in feeling the regret it inspires and the sense of bewilderment why I/we would not speak up and out about issues important to me/us. Most of the time when I speak the space between thinking and speaking tends to be very small – sometimes this gets me in trouble! Ha ha. However, every once in a while, like in the scenario outlined above, I become conscious that my thoughts have hit a filter and I have to make a split second decision. Do I say what my initial and true response is, or do I alter it to make it more socially acceptable? Altering often takes the shape of omitting key details – details that I share loudly and proudly in other situations. Reflecting on incidents of self-censorship can be useful as it helps prepare me to be more true to myself, my priorities and my passions the next time a split second decision – honesty or censorship? – comes along.

Ok, “alternative-menstrual-products-discussion-opportunity” … where are ya? I’m ready and waiting!! E.

2008-02-01T17:39:00.001-05:00

MEDICALIZATION OF FERTILITY

In a recent edition of a women’s magazine I came across this advertisement. It immediately grabbed my attention because of the birth control pack at the top … here are a few of my thoughts.

My first reaction was that it both creates and responds to the current socio-political context in North America where women’s ability to reproduce has been medicalized. The pill pack represents attempts to medically control fertility and the supplement bottle represents the increasing medicalization of getting and being pregnant.

It is also an example of how intertwined the processes of medicalization and commercialization are; in other words the extent to which “health” has become something we achieve through commodities.

Lastly, the advertisement “works” because of the normalization of the birth control pill. [And let’s not forget that, although the ad features a generic birth control pill package, there are actually many, many types of birth control pills.] If only a few women were on the pill[s] then the advertisement would be a waste – it would be speaking to a very small target audience. Because a lot of females are on the pill[s] the advertisement speaks to a large audience. If women aren’t on the pill[s] themselves they probably know other females who are and as a result the ad is most likely interpreted as addressing the “normal” female population.

Interestingly the advertisement does hint at the fact that women who come off of the pill[s] may need some assistance to be “healthy” pregnant women. However, because the photo on the label features a woman with a baby the ad doesn’t address the fact that some [many?] women have difficulty conceiving or at least have difficulty regulating their menstrual cycles after they have been on the pill[s].

That’s all for now … E.

Birth Control Patches, Pills, and Alternatives

2008-01-22T14:32:00.000-05:00

The Globe & Mail's Article: Red Flag for Birth Control Patch

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080109.wlpatch09/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

My first reaction to reading this article is let’s use the precautionary principle! I have concerns about the long term safety of using any hormonal contraceptive however, I realize that for many young women it is [or at least appears to be] the best option [of a series of bad options]. My concerns are reinforced by the article in which it’s written that “it's well known by the medical community that any hormone-based birth-control method can increase a woman's chances of blood clots, heart attack, stroke and other health problems”. What I learned from the article was that different types of hormonal birth control are cause for differing levels of concern. In fact “the FDA revealed in 2005 that the patch sold in the United States exposes women to 60 per cent more estrogen than birth-control pills do”. There is concern within the environmental cancer movement about the role elevated levels of estrogen plays in various forms of cancer.

Two sentences in particular jumped out at me when I read the article. First of all, the statement that “Janssen-Ortho issued a statement defending the safety of the patch, adding that all hormone-based contraceptive methods could cause health problems” made me cackle. Defending your product because all the products in your field [can] cause health problems is not the way to get my money! Secondly, a woman who got two blood clots in her lungs because of being on the patch said “‘if I had known [the potential risks], I would have had second thoughts,”’. The question is, would she have? We often know the potential risks of using pharmaceutical products [who hasn’t seen those ad’s with a list of potential side effects as long as the commercial itself, or the sheet from Shoppers Drug Mart about the 50 potential side effects of the drug prescribed] and perhaps like this woman said she would, we have second thoughts. Yet so often we plunge ahead anyway because while we don’t like the option presented to us we don’t see any other viable option.

Regarding the birth control patch or even the pill for that matter, we do have another option. This past Saturday I went to Amy’s introductory session about Fertility Awareness Methods [FAM]. Prior to the session “the Rhythm Method” was the only natural form of contraception I knew about and I really only vaguely knew about it; although I knew enough to know that it was considered to be not that reliable. On Saturday I learned about the difference between natural forms of contraception [including but not limited to retrospective methods like the Rhythm Method] and direct observation methods – of which the Justisse Method is one way to learn. While direct observation methods can be used for contraceptive or conception purposes I am not in the market for either; yet I am fascinated by the body literacy one learns through direct observation methods. Did you know that by becoming more intimate with one’s reproductive system and learning how to read its clues you can learn about food intolerances, vitamin deficiencies and overall health?! Whether you decide to rely on the Justisse approach exclusively or not, it is an amazing tool for learning how to work with your body. And regardless of where you are in your relationship with your reproductive system direct observation of your body [from a perspective of awe and respect] can only improve your health. As for helping myself along to my next stage of awareness I bough Justisse’s recently published [and inexpensive!] manual about coming off the pill – something I did long ago but the effects of which, I believe, are still felt by my body.

By Ellen Macro, Red Tent Sister Blogger

Women's Health Matters Forum ... Reflections on Sex Ed Materials, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Homes and a Healthy Earth

2008-01-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

This past Friday and Saturday the Women’s Health Matters Forum was held at the Toronto Convention Centre. Each year the conference has a different theme and this year’s theme was Linking Environmental Impacts and Women’s Health. The forum had over a hundred exhibitor booths, both retailers and health groups, which showcased a wide variety of health related information and products – although in my opinion the “healthiness” or health-related’ness of some of the products was questionable, especially in light of this year’s theme. Our dear Red Tent Sisters were there with a booth and they are supposedly “on target” for converting a large portion of the female population to Diva Cups and Lunapads! Ha ha J There were two small stages in the same huge room as the exhibitors and there were presentations going on all day in about six other rooms. The presentations were under three headings: health issues, environmental health issues and empowered choices. I went to two seminars on Friday, four on Saturday and spent some time wandering around the exhibit space. As you can probably tell, women’s health and specifically environmental impacts on [women’s] health is something I am uber-interested in and passionate about. Here are my reflections on my forum experience.

I dropped by the Janssen-Ortho [a pharmaceutical company that makes, markets and sells hormonal birth control options] table just to see what type of promotional materials they had. I will admit I went hoping I could find lots to critique!!. A gaggle of girls was swarming the table and were filling out questionnaires in order to be eligible to win a cell phone. The questionnaire was titled “what does balance mean to you”. So my cynical side kicks in and says “this is definitely a marketing tool and they are cashing in on the current buzzword balance – a very important concept which can very easily be co-opted”. They asked: ”What are the top 3 things you have to balance in your life? Do you feel like you have a balanced life? If you could have one more day in the week just for you, what would you do with it? In your mind what empowered female icon/celebrity has achieved balance in their life?”

The women at the booth were also handing out a booklet titled Birth Control Options: What You Need to Know. I’ll concede that to some extent it is a good thing that the company was there as a readily available source of information. However, a slightly deeper consideration of their presence and materials proves to be a bit disenchanting. First of all they are a company that sells pharmaceuticals and they were at the forum to sell their products not simply to be a benign educator. This is made obvious by the fact that their pamphlet focuses on birth control options not safe[r] sex – they’re there to sell products not simply to educate about sexual health. Secondly the image on the front of their pamphlet cover is a face – a white, young, stereotypically feminine, and normatively attractive girl’s face. The girl has thin sculpted eyebrows, is wearing a pink t-shirt [the background is mauve], and has long brown hair. Opening the front cover we find out from the introduction that the booklet is aimed at a heterosexual audience … but this isn’t made obvious. It says that if you are or are thinking about becoming sexually active here’s the information you need about birth control. This means that they are equating being sexually active with heterosexual intercourse. Sexually active does not mean masturbation, same sex activities or oral sex. I think a convincing argument can be made that the booklet is aimed at young women … it’s questionable whether it’s good because it provides information for an audience that needs it or whether it’s bad because it continues the assumption that adolescent girls are and should be considering intercourse, that heterosexuality is what is appropriate, normal and healthy, and that the white, middle-class aesthetic is the definition of beautiful.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada had a very comprehensive handout on choosing a contraceptive that’s right for you. Their pamphlet was a bit better because it had several computer mice at the top, one in a condom, one had a rainbow painted across it, and the others were wearing an umbrella, a bra, a hat, and had piercings. My biggest problem with their handout is that oral contraception was listed first and natural family planning was listed last. The pill is said to be 99.7% effective when used perfectly and with typical use is 92% effective, whereas the symptom-thermal method is listed as 98% effective when used perfectly and the typical failure rate is 25%. I don’t like how pill is talked about only in terms of success rates and the natural method is talked about in terms of failure rate. It seems like it makes an uneven playing field that much more uneven. I guess it is a pretty good handout I didn’t like it because the pill is so normative right now that I feel like women need a lot of “evidence”, reasons and convincing to seriously consider other options – something the handout doesn’t do … but then again, that was not the intention of it.

Sidenote: I’m [overly?] critical of oral contraception right now because I don’t need contraception and therefore have the luxury of not having to make a decision about what I would use. That said, I was on the pill as an adolescent and won’t ever go on it again. I realize my current luxury and experience is not the situation of every other woman and so while I have concerns about oral contraceptives I also want to be accepting of the fact that other women have the right to make their own decisions for their bodies. I just don’t like that what is considered to be the “best” birth control option is one that I think/believe/know to be disruptive and unhealthy for women’s bodies.

On Friday I went to a session called Thinking Outside the Scale: Cultivating Healthy Attitudes about Weight, Eating and Body Image. I was really impressed by this presentation put on by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff [he has a blog http://www.bmimedical.blogspot.com/]. He discussed healthy weight, healthy eating, healthy body image and healthy tools and exposed myths all along the way. It wasn’t the typical “so and so exposes 10 diet myths” that you find in a lot of women’s magazines. Instead he focused on the fact that one should aim for their best weight – a weight that is dynamic, individualized, takes into consideration various things like genetics, medical problems, nurture, employment, children, fitness etc AND MOST IMPORTANTLY one’s best weight doesn’t involve forgetting that food can be celebratory and a comfort. His overarching message was that people need to be healthy BUT unless they like the way they’re eating they’re going to go back to their old ways. The key is to eat in the healthiest manner that is realistically possible and that is honestly enjoyed.

I also went to a session called Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic. Liz Armstrong was the speaker and is one of three authors of a book with the same name as the presentation. Basically Armstrong went over how and why cancer has been framed in the popular consciousness as something caused by individual lifestyle issues and why this perspective is problematic. She made a great argument for why we need to focus on preventing cancer by controlling and minimizing/stopping the use of toxins and carcinogens, instead of simply focusing on how to diagnosis and treat cancer. Both of the latter elements are important but they won’t actually solve the problem of cancer … yet they get the lion’s share of the available research money. Not only did Armstrong demonstrate how serious the situation is with regards to cancer, she also made it obvious that there are hundreds of ways to stop cancer before it starts. Here’s a top ten list she presented.

Top Ten Actions to Prevent Cancer

don’t smoke
eat healthy food [preferably local and organic] & take vitamin and mineral supplements [the quality of the food we eat has decreased – some nutritional components are actually missing from produce found in the grocery store]
regular exercise
change your cleaning products [don’t use anything with a scull and crossbones]
avoid plastics [here’s a handy reminder of the plastics that are especially bad … hold up your right hand … plastics #1 #2 are ok – put down your thumb and pointer finger – plastics #4 and #5 are ok – put down your ring finger and pinky - #3 – ha ha – and #6 and #7 are the worst. 5 is the only one you want to use on a regular basis for food and still don’t heat things up in it or put hot food into it]
walk cycle take the train buy a hybrid if you need a car … drive and fly less
avoid unnecessary radiation [raydon, xrays, MRIs, EMR from cell phones ie. use cell phones for short conversations]
choose healthy home furnishings
buy non-toxic stuff and way less of it
speak up and act out … be a multiplier!

Last but not least she reminded us that women have a huge opportunity to be instruments of social change because we make 80% of the world’s consumer purchases.

Another top 10 list came from the last session I went to on Saturday – it was called Towards a Healthier Home. Three people spoke about toxicity in the home – primarily regarding air quality. Did you know that a new vinyl shower curtain can elevate the air toxicity in a home for a month? Or that most of the time air quality inside is more polluted than what’s outside? And just think about everything we’ve been hearing recently about how polluted the air outside is!!. All three presenters spoke about the problems in homes and THEN spoke about the solutions. First Gord Cooke spoke about how homes themselves can be altered to actually improve air quality [in summary, don’t just circulate indoor air, open your windows and get “fresh” air in]. Then Andrea Kantelberg spoke about the things we put in homes to decorate them and how air quality can be improved by changing the ways we decorate walls [ie. paints and wallpapers], the furnishings we buy [ie. fabrics and fillers] and the type of flooring we have. Lastly Lisa Borden spoke about what we do in homes and things we can do differently to improve our health and the health of the earth. I liked her presentation the best because she made it clear that making change doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming or expensive. Check out her website for some great ideas and where to buy non-toxic products www.bordencom.com. Her daughter had massive health problems that doctors couldn’t solve via the “traditional” methods and so she became educated about de-toxifying her home environment … and now sharing this information is her line of work. Borden has a wealth of information and she made it clear that people are welcome to email her with questions about what they should buy and where they can get it … often I find this to be the trickiest part of making changes in my life. Here’s her top 10 list.

10 Steps to a Healthier Home

1. get rid of all dangerous cleaning chemicals

2. avoid all antibacterials, always

3. take your shoes off at your front door

4. be[a]ware of everything that smells - open your windows and don’t purchase products that offgas

5. use klean kanteens, not plastic, aluminum or disposables and drink lots of water

6. choose organic and choose local for good eats

7. light only beeswax candles with cotton wicks

8. spend time at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com and then become an avid label reader

9. buy houseplants, they grow you clean air

10. use soda for cleaning clothes and dryer balls in your dryer

Alright … that’s all for this time. Hope you enjoyed the avalanche of information!! E.

Written by Ellen Macro, Red Tent Sister Blogger

Evra Patch

2008-01-11T15:27:00.000-05:00

I was recently sent a link to a Globe and Mail article about two young Canadian women who have died from using the Evra birth control patch. Since it was first introduced in Canada in 2004, Health Canada has received 93 reports of adverse reactions from taking the medication. According to one study, women on the patch are twice as likely to suffer blood clots as those on the Pill, which has led many to wonder whether the product should be available at all.

Here's the link to the article - let us know what you think!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080109.wlpatch09/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Resident Blogger for Red Tent Sisters - Ellen Macro

2008-01-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

Since the Red Tent Sisters store has sex toys and we just finished the season in which “giving toys to all the girls and boys” is the mantra of the first world consumer culture I thought toys would be an appropriate topic for this blog entry! Additionally, perhaps some lucky adults got new toys over the holidays … for those who didn’t there’s no time like the present for a present!

Talking about things that are normally kept “private” [ie. are silenced by cultural taboos] is important - this includes but is not limited to sexual and reproductive topics. It’s important for women to talk about bodily things that are often only addressed in sex ed classes [if then!] or in mainstream magazines [if then!!] so that they get to know the real variation that exists between women.

Here’s a few questions for you to ponder [unfortunately or fortunately no answers providedJ ]

When was the last time you talked to your friends about your partner and/or who you’re attracted to?

When was the last time you talked with your friends about sex?

When was the last time you talked with your friends about masturbation?

Have you ever talked with your friends about masturbation?

Ever wondered why female masturbation is a lot more taboo than male masturbation?

Have you ever noticed that people are commonly thought to have a “sex life” only if/when they are sexually active with other people?

Is it possible to have a happy sex life of one?

Ellen Macro's Reflections on the Olympic Trials for Wrestling

2007-12-23T14:47:00.000-05:00

This entry is only tangentially related to women’s reproductive and sexual health. Here’s the explanation: I just finished university at the end of the summer. In school my main research interests were menstruation [specifically women’s experiences and menstrual product activism] and freestyle wrestling [especially women’s experiences with weight management for the sport]. Although they seem like disparate topics they can both be captured under the umbrella of women’s health and the politics of women’s bodies – I also participate[d] in both! Ha ha. Been menstruating since I was 13 and I was a wrestler for nine years until I “retired” in January 2007. Anyway, this weekend I attended the Olympic trials for wrestling. At the trials I had three “feminist” moments and I thought I would share them with you.

On the lapel of my black coat I have a black button that says, in white letters, this is what a feminist looks like [I ♥ my button!]. As I stood at the ticket table waiting for my friend to pay for her ticket one of the volunteers working the table [a male] said with a chuckle “that’s a pretty confrontational button”. I kind of smiled at him and in my typical fashion didn’t have a witty comment on the tip of my tongue. Luckily I was there waiting a few minutes longer and I had time to think of and say “it’s only confrontational if you think feminist is a confrontational word”. He didn’t really have anything to say to that. Do you? What would you have said to him? What do you think about my button?

Before the finals started, several awards were presented and speeches were made to honour the award recipients. While praising one award recipient’s commitment to the wrestling community a presenter said “[insert recipient’s name] made men men … and women women”. I appreciate the fact that he included women in the statement since women have been a part of the Canadian wrestling community for almost two decades. However, the juxtaposed statements made it clear to me the extent to which our culture has different connotations for the words men and women. It is clear how wrestling makes men men in the stereotypical sense, but it was so awkward to hear that wrestling, a combative sport, makes women women – the statement does not make sense according to what is normally associated with femininity. What is your response to the statement wrestling makes men, men and women, women?

Last but not least, during the finals past Olympians were seated along the right side of the mat. When there were lulls in the matches the male commentator would ask an Olympian to stand and give details about their career. Christine Nordhagen was the first athlete honoured and the only female sitting on the sideline. She has won six world championship gold medals, won countless other international tournaments and got fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics [the first time women’s wrestling was in the Olympics]. The commentator said all this and then said “probably her greatest accomplishment is sitting there in her lap” … her 18 month old daughter was sitting in her lap. In some ways I can see where the commentator was coming from as I was recently told by one of my friends that she feels that having her son is her greatest accomplishment to date. However, from a perspective informed by feminism, women’s studies and sport sociology I take issue with the fact that while being honoured as an Olympian and World Championship medalist Christine’s baby was mentioned as her greatest accomplishment. I think the affront is most noticeable when you consider if a male athlete would ever be addressed in the same way and if such a comment would have been swallowed as easily and unnoticeably by the crowd. Am I overreacting? {How] Does this scenario illuminate the way society feels about women’s bodies?

That's all for now - your friendly feminist signing off.

Ellen Macro's Response to December's Book Club Title

2007-12-23T14:29:00.001-05:00

I read Kim's most recent posting - I'm gonna have to get that book! I saw it last time I was at the store and considered getting it. I wish I had checked out the book circle titles before tonight b/c I would have loved to have been a part of that discussion group. Menstruation is one of my "academic"/personal topic of interest and women's wrestling is the other. I'm really interested in how women experience the weight management aspect of the sport. Through my participation in the sport and interaction with other women in the sport I have come to realize that the normalized perspective about eating habits [some people have eating disorders and everyone else is "normal"/healthy] is problematic. I believe that eating behaviours exist on a continuum with individuals who have eating disorders on one end and the vast majority of women being along the mid-section of the continuum [ie. having disordered eating]. Kim mentioned wanting another term to describe the problematic relationship women have with food and their bodies. For a variety of eating behaviour terms which are less well known check out this website: http://www.nedic.ca/knowthefacts/definitions.shtml

December Book Club - "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters"

2007-12-19T17:05:00.000-05:00

On December 13, two women braved the bad weather to join me for a discussion on December’s book club title, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E. Martin. We started by discussing the subtitle of the work, “the frightening new normalcy of hating your body.” We all agreed that although eating disorders are not a new phenomenon, what is new is the normalization of eating disorders. It has become standard for women (and girls) to count each calorie she consumes and for food to be associated with guilt and shame. Martin writes, “we live in a time when getting an eating disorder, or having an obsession over weight at the very least, is a rite of passage for girls.” Although only two of us knew anyone with a diagnosed eating disorder, we could all think of friends and/or acquaintances that obsess over their weight. One of the unique aspects of Martin’s work is her attention to those who do not fit the medical definition of anorexic or bulimic but whose relationship to food is nevertheless unhealthy. As a group we discussed whether the definition of “eating disorder” should be broadened to include these women. Our concern was that by doing so, those with more severe eating disorders might not get the intense treatment they needed. However, we agreed that a term should be coined to reflect the widespread obsession with weight that is affecting the lives of so many women in the hopes that it would become viewed as a problem to be addressed, rather than a norm to be accepted.

The first few chapters of Martin’s book touched all of us; I was in tears by page six. Like the author, I have read a number of books on eating disorders but never felt that the authors were able to fully articulate my own experience or that of my friends and family. Discussions on eating disorders often focus on the influence of “the media” but Martin writes that this argument is “too simplified and unconvincing on a personal level.” In contrast, the idea of the “perfect girl, starving daughter” articulated by Martin resonated with all three of us. Rather than seeing body image as an identity unto itself, Martin describes eating disorders as part of a larger phenomenon of women struggling to “do it all.” Not only are we trying to do it all, we want it to look effortless and perfect. Each of us could relate to the desire to achieve in all areas of our life – and the disappointment that inevitably follows.

While we all know that there is no quick “solution” to this enormous problem, we had hoped for a more optimistic conclusion to Martin’s work. Where do we go from here? What can we do to help future generations develop a healthy attitude towards their bodies? How can we help them understand that they don’t have to be perfect, nor do they have to do it all? One of the themes throughout Martin’s work is competition between women – we look for ways to tear each other down rather than help each other up. This must be the first shift in our thinking, for, as Martin writes “there is no social change in isolation; there is only the power and the poison of the company you keep.”

Holiday "S&S" Party

2007-12-11T12:06:00.000-05:00

This past Friday night a fun time was had by all at the Red Tent Sisters - good food, good tunes and good prices! Wine, cheese and chocolate [mmmmm!] were compliments of “the sisters” J and Kim’s boyfriend was the resident DJ for the evening. Excitingly, from 8 pm to midnight all merchandise was 20% off. I was there from about 10:30 to midnight and there seemed to be a steady stream of customers mixin’ and mingling and buying a wide variety of products. Funny little anecdote, I was planning on buying a Diva Cup at the sale for my friend for Christmas. She ended up coming with me to the store and almost bought her own gift! Luckily I caught her prior to her trip to the cash register but as a result she knows what her gift is … ce la vie! At least I know it’s something she wants! And honestly … who wouldn’t want to find a Diva Cup in their stocking? Ha ha. Cheers.

- Ellen Macro

The Always Africa Campaign

2007-12-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

We recently received the following link regarding an initiative by P & G, makers of Always menstrual pads and Tampax tampons, to provide free menstrual products to young women in Sub-Saharan Africa as a means of reducing female absenteeism.

http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=104574&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1076318&highlight

Ellen Macro, our resident blogger at Red Tent Sisters, shares the following reactions to the article:

I think it’s great that they’re going to be improving the sanitation facilities, providing nutritious feeding programs [using local, sustainable food sources?], and providing health support.
I don’t have a problem with education and hopefully increasing openness about women’s reproductive and sexual health but I do have concerns about mainstream menstrual product companies doing it! First of all I’m not so sure that the job they’ve done in North America has been so stellar that they should be the ones running the education programs in Africa. Secondly, they have a vested interest in maintaining a cultural ethos in which menstruation should be kept invisible. When women need to keep menstruation invisible they need products … P&G to the rescue!

My biggest concern is with the pad distribution initiative.

If only 1/10 girls miss school, what are the other 9/10 doing already?
Not only is P&G going to “help” the 1/10 girls but they are probably going to influence the other girls who already have sustainable methods of “managing” their menses.
P&G is going to make all/most girls reliant on imported products which cost money, drain resources, pollute the environment when produced and create a nightmare for disposal. There is a big enough problem dealing with the environmental and health issues caused by women in the first world using disposable menstrual products without women in the third world also becoming dependent on such products.

I also have a problem with P&G. Why have we made them the ones who are wealthy enough to put such a program in place?

Check out Beinggirl.com – P&G’s website which is so stereotypically feminine and continues to link females with consumption and appearance.
At the bottom of the article is written: “Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands ….” This line almost makes me laugh out loud [a sarcastic cackle!!] because it was P&G that put out the Rely tampon. Here’s a quotation from The Curse – Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo by Karen Houppert (1999):

“Swasy (the author of Soap Opera: The Inside Story of Proter & Gamble) details a management paper trail indicating that Procter & Gamble executives knew that there were problems with Rely years before they put it on the market. According to Swasy, a 1975 internal memo disclosed that components of the tampon were known cancer-causing agents and that the product also altered the populations of the natural microorganisms and bateria found in the vagina. Though the company was receiving gas many as 177 consumer complaints a month about Rely, it simply dismissed them, telling salespeople to do the same. ‘If asked, the salespeople were given canned answers that denied any link between tampons and toxic shock’ Swasy reports. Though Proctor & Gamble is often lauded for voluntarily withdrawing Rely from the market in September of 1980, it seems clear that the company didn’t act until the FDA threatened to act for it. And the FDA didn’t act until women died.”

Mary Harrison, employee extraordinaire at Red Tent Sisters, shares similar concerns:

In general, of course I think that girls everywhere have a right to an education and that femaleness should in no way impact that right. However, in an increasingly privatized, globalized (which P&G seems to embrace, as they remark that they wish to empower American girls to be global citizens), it's a shame that so often it seems that these kinds of initiatives have 'no choice' but to be corporately sponsored, rather than being provided by governments as a basic human right. Although Always and Tampax ARE doing something great for some girls in these countries, is it also exploitative to promote this initiative as a way to sell Always and Tampax in North America? Imagine how this would be different if they went quietly about the business of helping and supporting young women without this press release. Further, to go to the standard international development critique, is P&G empowering girls and young women in these areas to develop sustainable living patterns which will remain in place and continue to be self-governed and functional when Proctor and Gamble eventually remove their corporate support? Or would this removal only cause further problems - i.e., is there a pattern of corporate dependency being set up? Along these lines, the HERO program states that it has sent American teen girls to African countries as ambassadors. Is this project approached with a reciprocal learning/empowering relationship in mind? And finally, P&G states that it employs 140 000 people in 80 countries. Does it provide jobs for people in these areas?

As one of the owners of Red Tent Sisters, I also have to play devil's advocate and share my own thoughts...

I have to challenge the whole question of it being a BAD thing that young women are missing some time from school during their menstruation. Our store is named after the concept of the Red Tent, popularized by Anita Diamant as a place and time where women are given permission AND GIVE THEMSELVES PERMISSION to retreat, rest, share wisdom and be present with their bodily experience of menstruation. Rather than promoting a world where women are expected to be emotionally, hormonally, and physically consistent, like their male counterparts, I would prefer a world in which women's cycles are honoured and respected. While I agree that education is a value and a right, I disagree with a system of education that demands homogeneity in behaviour and stifles the essence of what it is to be female. Just some food for thought...