#Women's Bodies

[newyorkthegoldenage]

In April of 1929, the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau in Greenwich Village was raided by police. They arrested five staff members, confiscated medical records, and tried to bully patients into giving them their names and addresses.

Their tactics backfired. The Bureau and its clinic in Brooklyn received an enormous amount of publicity, and many doctors protested the violation of doctor-patient confidentiality. When the case came to court on April 19, 1929, the judge ruled that the police had exceeded the scope of the search warrant he had issued, and the case was dropped.

Above, Sanger (third from left) and the five arrested staff members after their victory: A.L. Field, Dr. Elizabeth Pissiot, Sanger, Dr. Hanna M. Stone, and Mrs. Marcella Sideri.

Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/Fine Art America

[erebusvincent]

I can't get over how much I love not shaving. This has been a revelation. It was so easy to get rid of makeup and bras, and I never wore skirts or heels, but something always held me back from tossing the razor. I convinced myself that I liked the way smooth legs felt, but I was a lying liar. 100 percent. I love my fluffy legs. They feel great. And they're stylin', to be honest. It's a good look.

If you're a woman or girl, everything about you is perfect and needs no modification. Your female body is a masterpiece. Men, however, should be deeply ashamed. Their bodies are an abomination.

Women's bodies make you consider the possibility of the existence of a divine creator. Men's bodies make you sure there isn't one.

Disco's back. I can't recommend freeing yourself from shaving enough. It's an elite choice. You won't regret it.

[turns-out-its-adhd]

If "8 in 10" experience it early.... is that not the more usual time to expect it?

Is that how statistics work?

[limeade-l3sbian]

<3

[g-a-r-f-i-l-e-d]

So radfems have spoken about it before and I only really realised it after being more a part of the community how there isn't a word for period... "stuff" like how it's all just called blood when it's actually blood, uterine lining, plasma, organ bits etc. And the frustration regarding how women and out bodies aren't given language often times. I decided to just start making a word for period blood that was more accurate to the actual substance to at least start. At the very least if we make and start using words we can obviously get then to light as has been done many times in the past.

The word I came up with is "hysterousia" from the ancient greek words for womb and su stance/essence. Pretty simply to start and idk how I feel about hystera being used what with the connotations of hysteria. But it is a start. If anyone sees this and wants to throw in a suggestion for this specific term of menstrual substance or suggest other terms be made for other aspects of the female body or experience then please add on!

[crazycatsiren]

East Asia be like, short skirts are fine, but for cripe's sakes cover up your chest. Like, bruh, make it make sense.

[allwomenjointhe4bmovement]

Some body positivity content on my YT.

Feel free to check it out

[drowndrawn]

Just found the art of very muscular Moiras created by Jacob Matham in 1587 and I guess that, taking JKR standards for womanhood, even the Moiras are male now.

[emperornorton47]

[newyorkthegoldenage]

A room at 139 West 61st St., apartment 8, where an illegal abortion was performed, June 6, 1958.

Photo: NYC Municipal Archives

[estellaestella]

Thanks to the Me Too movement the world has some better boundaries than in 2006 😬 (The male reporter actually says 'I touched Scarlet's boob' in a sing-song way in the clip.)

[creatrix-codex]

Sex Shouldn't Hurt (not even the first time)

Vaginas are pretty cool. At rest, the walls sit lightly closed, and the depth is pretty short. There is a little natural moisture, but not much. But arouse her, and she begins to open, lengthen, and lubricate.

Pain during sex, like all pain, is an indication that something is wrong. The easiest explanation is that you aren't fully aroused. Arousal isn't instantaneous. It takes time. Bartholin's glands are the primary source of a woman's lubrication, but they're on the outside of the vagina, and the vagina itself makes minimal moisture. And again, the vagina isn't just some open gaping hole ready for penetration at all times.

Fluid alone is not indicative of arousal occurring at all, and it isn't indicative of the level of arousal. It doesn't mean you're "ready". Some women, like me, are just really well hydrated and we, eh.... overproduce. Oftentimes a woman's body will turn on the sprinklers at the first sign that penetration is possible simply because it will help protect her vagina from damage.

I was very fortunate that when I had sex for the first time, I had a more experienced partner. While I thought "spread legs + shove in" was what was supposed to happen, he knew better. Because he was actually willing to wait and prepare me, my first sexual experience was completely painless.

Lack of arousal isn't the only reason for pain during sex. There are a number of medical reasons for dyspareunia - pain during sex. Vagina atrophy (when the muscles lose tone and therefore have more difficulty adjusting) isn't uncommon. It can come from other medical conditions, or just from not having sex in a long time.

Vaginismus is a condition that causes your vagina to tense up automatically. It can be caused by generalized fear and anxiety, trauma such as sexual assault, STIs, chronic conditions like endometriosis, yeast infections, fear of pregnancy, or nerve damage. It can also be an early indicator of menopause.

If you experience severe or recurring pain during sex, it's more likely to be medical. Please speak to a competent medical provider as soon as possible because there are options to alleviate it, and it's probably a sign of something more major going on.

If you experience pain or discomfort during sex due to a lack of arousal, please speak to a competent sexual partner as soon as possible because you deserve enjoyable sex. I'm being glib, but keep in mind that most sexual partners you have don't want to hurt you and don't want to be bad at sex. Say something. If they think you're into it, why would they change? You can give them the opportunity to improve. It can even be mutually enjoyable to coach your partner in what you like.

[lesbiansandco]

trying on clothes (as an afab)

Maybe this is just some internal shit but there's a pattern I've noticed when it comes to trying on clothes

I'd say 95% of the time when I've tried on clothes and they don't fit, it's because the piece is too small

And even though I'm getting bigger and growing out of some of my old clothes, when I'm looking at clothes in a store or thrift shop I always start looking at the smaller clothes even though I KNOW they won't fit me unless they're stretchy (mostly happens with tops, but I've tried to squeeze into so. many. small jeans)

I'm not insecure about my body and its size at all and I never really have been, but I'm wondering if there's something ingrained in me from years of influences and biases on women's bodies that make me go for smaller clothes first even though they're not likely to fit

Does anyone else feel this way or have thoughts on this?

[hjellacott]

Why sometimes it is important to have FEMALE gynaecologists

When we talk about wanting female gynaecologists or obstetricians, we often talk about hypothetic things, so I thought I'd share my real, recent experience. I'm a grown up adult and yet I'd never gone to the gynaecologist before until recently. It all started last year, when my periods got odd. I won't go into details, but you know when your instinct urges you to get checked because you know in your gut that something is off? And you know it sounds insane if you say it out loud, and people don't believe you, but you know. So I contacted a GP, managed to convince him to take me seriously, and I got a referral for a gynaecologist. A year later, I was finally called for my appointment.

When I got my paper with my appointment, I was surprised to learn that the examination I was booked for was far more and more invasive / intense than I had thought it would be, so I got very anxious, because I've heard from friends who had terrible experiences at the gyn and I was worried sick. Will it hurt? Will they be too harsh? Will I bleed? Will I be really uncomfortable? Then I had worse concerns: will I have a dishonourable doctor/nurse who takes advantage of me? So I decided the best way to ease my concerns was to ensure that no males were in the room. A woman wouldn't rape me, a woman wouldn't touch me without knowledge of what it feels like, a woman would be able to be empathetic with me, put herself in my shoes, and try and help me. A woman wouldn't get turned on. A woman will also have had, at some point, her first intense examination and will understand my worries and anxiety. Men? They'll lack empathy, they'll be too brusque, they might sexually abuse me, they might hurt me simply because they don't know how delicate you need to be, or mansplain, or discard my concerns, or all of the above.

It was important for my doctor to be a woman.

Unfortunately, we live in the day and age where if you call your doctor, hospital or surgery in the NHS to try and ensure your doctor is a woman, sometimes you'll be met with the wrong person who will think you're transphobic and be really rude and disrespectful and refuse to help. It took me 2 days on the phone, calling a variety of hospitals, hospital departments and NHS numbers, until I was able to find a sweet lady who was happy to ensure my doctor was female and to my surprise, she didn't even ask me to explain why it was important to me.

In the end, my appointment went just fine. I had a young, understanding, caring, gentle and lovely female doctor who was also POC, so she actually gave me a lot of insight. I arrived saying "I'm so sorry but I've never done this before and i'm so anxious" and the whole time she was listening to me, comforting me, calming me, explaining me exactly what she was doing bit by bit, being patient, empathetic... She actually told me I'd done well coming and gotten checked and explained how important it was, even if it didn't seem like a big deal or even if I wasn't sexually active at the time. Unfortunately I was right and the doctor found evidence of a more serious health problem, so I'll be getting more tests and things, but I was so happy with the doctor I got. When she told me what I might have, which is something that runs in my family, I told her I didn't know anything about that problem, so she sat and patiently and kindly told me all she knew about it, explained it's a problem many women live with and that in ethnicities such as hers or mine, it could be even more common, but she gave me the magical line "us women have had to deal with things like this since always and we always pull through, so don't worry, there's a lot we can do" and I left not feeling worried at all, rather, empowered, calmer and confident.

So don't fucking undermine the importance of being able to choose exactly the doctor you want.

[claar-bookdragonwitch]