Curing the Female ‘Curse’
Birth control pill manufacturer Wyeth has whipped up a new product, Lybrel, that will not only prevent pregnancies but will apparently eliminate menstrual periods altogether. Does this development constitute a liberating break from biology for women or a subtle message that their bodies need to be somehow 'fixed'?Birth control pill manufacturer Wyeth has whipped up a new product, Lybrel, that will not only prevent pregnancies but will apparently eliminate menstrual periods altogether. Does this development constitute a liberating break from biology for women or a subtle message that their bodies need to be somehow ‘fixed’?
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...New York Times:
And studies have found no extra health risks associated with pills that stop menstruation, although some doctors caution that little research has been conducted on long-term effects.
The topic has, however, inspired an hourlong documentary by Giovanna Chesler, “Period: The End of Menstruation?,” currently screening on college campuses and among feminist groups.
Ms. Chesler, who teaches documentary making at the University of California, San Diego, said she became concerned about efforts to eliminate menstruation when she first heard about the idea several years ago.
“Women are not sick,” she said. “They don’t need to control their periods for 30 or 40 years.”
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Books
A history of the birth-control movement in literature.
Editorial Cartoons
Women
A pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception.
Taxpayer-funded clinics in the Title X program for low-income women are barred from making abortion referrals.
Trading in contraceptive methods for shame- and abstinence-based programs "is wrong, it's bad for public health, and it’s outside the law," a plaintiff says of the federal guidelines.
Educators and health researchers worry that youth pregnancies could climb again with the Trump administration's stance on prevention and sex ed programs.
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