The Guardian newspaper ran an article in November about the alarming rise in labiaplasty. I had read that anecdotally, requests for cosmetic surgery to correct ‘problems’ with one’s vulva have increased exponentially in tandem with the pornification of our culture – the British figures would appear to support that assertion.
A study published in the British Journal of [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘birth’
November 30, 2009
An unkind cut
October 27, 2009
Pretty pushy (reply turned post)
One of the things I’ve learned from blogging is that the interest a post generates is unpredictable. I have a pretty low traffic flow here, but there are a few search terms that keep getting me hits. (Salma Hayek’s breasts, anyone?) And there’s one post of mine – barely even a blip to begin with [...]
June 16, 2009
A more personal kind of linkage
Almost six weeks ago something terrible happened to a friend. Her baby daughter died.
Even though I haven’t known this friend for very long, the nature of her loss was such that it had me reeling for days. I wept about it. My husband and I talked late into the nights about what had happened, and had to [...]
April 30, 2009
Body and soul
I recall pregnancy as a time of great fascination with my bodily functions. And I don’t just mean in the crude pee-in-a-cup-for-the-doctor and tell-the-midwife-what-your-discharge looks like kind of way. What I mean is that pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding have been transformative experiences for me because they have altered and enhanced my understanding of and yes, [...]
March 5, 2009
You can take your Pretty Pusher and shove it
Now it’s not enough that women give birth. We’ve got to look good doing it too.
If you can’t escape the Body Police when you’re bringing a person into the world through your vagina, when the hell can you? At your own funeral maybe?
I choose to laugh, lest I cry. No one likes the ugly [...]
March 2, 2009
Feminist mothers
It’s a curious fact that many women find motherhood is one experience which galvanises their feminist spirit. Whilst completing what might seem to be decidedly non-feminist actions in their daily lives, a lot of mothers are thinking. A lot.
Women my age were raised by parents who wanted us to have education and paid work. We were [...]
January 27, 2009
Hello Little Bean
I was going to save this story for a post on Bean’s birthday but this post by blue milk got me thinking. Positive birth stories really do carry power, and not just for helping the currently pregnant overcome anxiety. We are bombarded with images of medicalised birth and the idea of birth-as-trauma is practically part of [...]
