[feminist] Reflection: The Business of Being Born

The first startling statistic of childbirth in America is that less than 8% of births are attended by a midwife. In Europe and Japan, midwives attend an average of 70% of births.


Startling stats, part two. The USA has the number one worst maternal death rate and the second worst infant mortality rate in the developed world.


Perhaps this makes more sense when we realize that in other countries midwives deliver babies, not doctors. Obstetricians are always available or on call in case of delivery emergencies. Obstetricians don’t do the majority of baby delivery in any country except the USA.


What’s the big difference?


Capitalism.


Hospitals in the USA are businesses, and businesses are all about increased traffic and turnover. Pregnant women in -- baby out -- minimum recovery time -- goodbye. Any time additions lose money.



In an effort to keep turnover high and profits higher, many women are nearly immediately administered pitocin to induce stronger contractions. This is painful, so women are then offered and encouraged to have an epidural for pain relief. But epidurals slow contractions. Therefore she needs more pitocin to keep up the rate of contractions (and then needs another epidural…) The fluctuation between pitocin-induced contractions and epidural slowing contractions takes oxygen away from the baby, and too often results in “emergency” c-sections.


Since 1996 there has been a 46% increase in c-sections, s that by 2005 one in three births were c-sections. Additionally, it has been documented that c-sections peak at 4pm and 10pm -- when doctors are ready to go home before shift changes. The surgery is relatively simple on the part of the obstetrician, meaning that they’re less likely to be sued than in a traditional birth.


Why the lack of midwives? Answer one is that there is a lack of understanding what women in labor need (in the USA). The biggest reason though is that hospitals don’t like the competition -- therefore many insurance companies don’t like to want to pay midwives. This means midwives have to fight insurance companies for what is owed to them, and many go bankrupt. Midwives average 4 thousand for their services, while a hospital bill is often around thirteen thousand.



Food for thought --


Natural birth releases a huge cocktail of hormones and “love drugs,” helping a new mother to truly bond with her newborn. A c-section bypasses this, and no love hormone cocktail is released into the mother’s body. Does this screw up one in three kids later?


Also, do labor and delivery drugs fuck with infants? In previous studies with formerly used drugs there were side effects later in life for these babies. For now, and this round of drugs, there are no conclusive answers yet.

Links:

IMDB page

official site

official facebook

buy on Amazon

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[cranky] CFF manifesto (in progress)

CFF began as a way for me to post images and articles that spoke to me, without the anger of friend’s parents, or friends, or my parents and relatives, or any other jackasses. It was a way to share the new blog I had started, to contemplate my understanding of the feminist classes I was taking in college. I also needed to reflect on my recent return from Africa, and how feminism related to my trip.

CFF became a place for me to understand that there is more than fat shaming -- there is skinny shaming too, and that I’ve participated in it. Today, I do post mostly about fat shaming, but I make a point of never skinny shaming.


I’ve also reflected a lot on how I’ve felt fat since probably the age of 9 or 10. I hit puberty early (period came at age 10) so I was extra tall and hairy early. I’ve always had wide shoulders, and by 6th grade I was a 36C. I was always bigger than every other girl, and most of the guys. I told myself constantly that I was fat. Middle school (the years of self hate, mean girls, exploring make up, leg shaving, girl on girl hate…) only made my fat feel fatter.

 

[feminist] pink or blue

I'm spending the week with my godchildren just outside of Nashville. My nephew is 3, my niece is 2, and there is a newborn baby boy. (Yes, my best friend is 23 just like me. She's been happily married since she turned 18-- all the kids were very much wanted, and totally unplanned.) Kiddie bowls and silverware and sippy cups come in lots of bright colors, and the kids get to pick out which color they want to eat from out of whatever is clean. Green and orange are at least as popular as blue and pink, but if plates are put out without asking and one is pink my nephew insists on his sister eating from it -- "here sissy, this is your bowl."

How in the world does he already know that pink "is a girl color"?!!

boy pajama drawer

My niece has her own closet, and my nephew has his own that he also shares a corner of with the new baby. The boy closet has a wide array of colors, but no pink or purple. At all. The girl closet is eye-burning pink -- every shade of pink imaginable with splashes of other colors mixed in. Nearly all of their clothes are hand-me-downs or gifts from grandparents.

My friend is afraid to dress either of her boys in pink. "People would look at them funny, and probably make fun of them." And what would their grandma say if she saw them? "boooooy, whachu wearin' that pink shirt for?!" If the newborn went out wearing a pink or purple onesie most people would assume he was a girl, and some would of course tell her what a bad mom she is for having her baby boy in a girl color.

girl pajama drawer

There's already been some social-gender-bending -- everyone except their dad wears toenail polish regularly, (Why not have color everywhere possible?!) but that took some serious grandparent-calming the first few times. Also, while my niece absolutely loves baby dolls, my nephew has some as well and loves trying to help his mom in the kitchen (my niece is in favor of magically-appearing food without the kitchen).

We're planning on watching the kids the rest of the week to see what colors they ask for, but in the mean time I want to reflect on why colors matter.

First, we have to acknowledge that in America baby girls are socially "supposed" to be dressed in pink, and baby boys in blue. We have to acknowledge that the term "sex" refers to biology, and your sexual organs. You are born a girl, a boy, or intersex. Therefore, the term "gender" refers to culture and society-- often phrased "social construction of gender." What does it mean to be a boy, or to be a girl?

my six week old nephew lovin' on his mom's boob :)

Question: What adjectives have you been called recently?

• weak, pretty, timid, demure (dowdy/frumpy, matronly, brazen, coy, slut, whore)

• strong, handsome, burly, macho, stocky, strong (effeminate, queer, weak, timid)

Which line do your adjectives fit into? The top line usually describes girls, while the second line usually describes boys (and the parenthesis are generally insult-words). Comparing boys to girls is often an insult "you throw like a girl," while for a girl to be compared to a boy is usually a complement "strong like your brother." Similarly, it's okay for girls to be dressed in blue, but not okay for boys to wear pink, especially as young children.

Quick homework, go to Toys-R-Us (or some equivalent) online, and search for toys for kids under 5... there is an option to sort for "girl toys" and "boy toys." Here's my results-- "girl toys" got a pink doll in the top 10 results, "boy toys" got a kiddie sports car in the top 10 results. Pink baby doll, sports car, socially constructed gender.

You see your friend's young kid for the first time, what do you say? "Jane, your dress is so pretty!" or "Mark, you're so tall!"-- would you ever tell a boy that he was "pretty"?

Right there, you answered no. There is no escape from social constructions of gender. We are all victims of the society we are born into. But, we must all work to end these stereotypes of gender-- the manly man and the girly girl. Girls can do anything boys can do. Boys can do anything girls can do. We should never limit our children to dolls and pretend kitchens, or trucks and cars. We should never tell a little boy "you can't paint your toenails, that's only for girls" or tell a little girl "you can't play with trucks, that's only for boys." Just like we should never tell girls that they couldn't be things like doctors, astronauts, truck drivers, breadwinners, or the president; and how we should never tell boys that they can't cry, become a dancer, or be stay at home parent. Think before you speak and before you buy, and the next time you see a kid in the "wrong" color give them a compliment.

   

[cranky] "useless dependent"

I am the useless 23 year old dependent. I cannot find a job, and I'm not looking hard enough. Sometimes when the primary breadwinner loses their job, the child steps up and becomes the primary bread winner. Why hasn't that happened?

Why can't I be more dedicated to filing out dozens of online applications, and even more walk-in local applications? Why am I so disheartened by my lack of application response that I don't want to keep filling out applications? I can count on one hand the number of times I've received a response from a potential employer letting me know they're no longer interested and have found their person. I feel like I'm screaming out into a vast wasteland, and my voice has become hoarse. No one wants me to serve their burgers or stock their shelves. No one wants me to be their administrative assistant. Despite over seven years of employee and volunteer management, no one wants me to oversee a single person or task.

Every time I think we've made up, and I just start to get comfortable again with my father, this comes up. I'm not pulling my weight, I'm only getting more depressed. I'm able to pay my car insurance and student loan payments but not my phone or my medical bills and prescriptions.

I do something wrong, and then my sister or mother does something royally mean and evil-hearted to him, and his only outlet for anger is me.

Yes, I have applied for a job today. No, only one job. I've done more job research, but that doesn't really count.

I want to wait tables for drunk sloppy gross men for $2.13 an hour; I want to mop floors and take out trash for $7.25 an hour; I want to pay all of my bills and pay rent. I don't know what to do. I just can't keep doing this.

[cranky] stupid facebook, updated

Facebook banned me from posting for 24 hours because I posted "abusive" photos -- my first two profile pictures from nearly a year and a half ago. So, of course, I'm sharing them here:

 

this is the back of my head. you can also see two of my many "little sisters" in the village I lived in in Ghana. the picture was taken by another of my little sisters (who is a damn good cook, in case you were wondering)

 

 

nudity?! trees don't wear clothes

 

 

Tuesday evening I received a 12 hour ban. (the page is set up so that you have to be 17+ to access or view anything, so shouldn't it be okay to have sex-positive posts and jokes?)

 



[feminist] defining gender binaries as a social construct

As requested, I've pulled out one of my women's studies books to bring you a definition of gender.

First, we have to acknowledge that the term "sex" refers to biology, and your sexual organs. You are born a girl, a boy, or intersex. Therefore, the term "gender" refers to culture and society-- often phrased "social construction of gender." What does it mean to be a man, or to be a woman? What adjectives have you been called recently?

• weak, pretty, timid, demure (dowdy/frumpy, matronly, brazen, coy, slut, whore)
• strong, handsome, burly, macho, stocky, strong (effeminate, queer, weak, timid)

Which line do your adjectives fit into? The top line usually describes women, while the second line usually describes men (and the parenthesis are generally insult-words). See any overlap? Comparing men to women is often an insult "you throw like a girl," while for a woman to be compared to a man is usually a complement "strong like your brother."


Quick homework, go to Toys-R-Us (or some equivalent) online, and search for toys for kids under 5... there is an option to sort for "girl toys" and "boy toys." Here's my test-- "girl toys" got this doll in the top 10 results, "boy toys" got this in the top 10 results. Pink baby doll, sports car, socially constructed gender.

You see your friend's young kid for the first time, what do you say? "Jane, your dress is so pretty!" or "Mark, you're so tall!"-- would you ever tell a boy that he was "pretty"?

Right there, you answered no. There is no escape from social constructions of gender. We are all victims of the society we are born into. But, we must all work to end these stereotypes of gender-- the manly man and the girly girl. Girls can do anything boys can do. Boys can do anything girls can do. We should never limit our children to dolls and pretend kitchens, or trucks and cars. We should never tell a little boy "you can't paint your toenails, that's only for girls" or tell a little girl "you can't play with trucks, that's only for boys." Just like we should never tell girls that they couldn't be things like doctors, astronauts, truck drivers, breadwinners, or the president; and how we should never tell boys that they can't cry, become a dancer, or be stay at home parent. Think before you speak and before you buy.

[feminist] video: women "raped too much"

liz trotta: misogynist 

The link will take you to HuffPost's video of a Fox news interview with a well-respected journalist Liz Trotta. She tells her viewers that Feminists are the reason there is so much rape in the military, and that they are also the reason that there are so many useless jobs such as advocates for sexual victims, and counselors. She believes that women can should only expect to encounter more violent sexual attacks as they move closer and closer to attaining equality with men in the military. Except she doesn't use the word equality, of course. She also claims that women "are now being raped too much"-- too much? This leads me to believe that your statement also says that "being raped a little is okay." Did you really mean that? Do you honestly mean that women who choose to serve their country and aim to be the best soldiers they can expect to "be raped a little"? Whats the difference between a little and too much? Clearly your privileged bubble needs to be burst, and soon, before you contaminate any more minds and bring women back in time from all of their accomplishments.

[feminist] Miss Representation Film

I just got back from watching "Miss Representation" which was absolutely incredible. Sometimes it takes being slapped in the face before we realize what we're absorbing into our minds, both consciously and subconsciously. I've attached the Trailer.

"Miss Representation brings together some of America's most influential women in politics, news and entertainment, including Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem to give audiences an inside look at the media's message and depiction of women. The film explores women's under-representation in positions of power by challenging their limited and often disparaging portrayals in the media. Miss Representation takes the stand that the media is portraying women's primary values as their youth, beauty and sexuality - rather than their capacity as leaders."

When was the last time you watched a movie where the star was a woman?
And she wasn't hunting down a man to marry?
Or Laura Croft, taking charge of the world as a badass go-get-um woman wearing not enough clothes?
You're not sure, are you?

[feminist] mass produced bras and my breast reduction surgery

In response to:

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. “Breast Buds and the ‘Training’ Bra.” 1977. Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4^th edition. 249-254.

Before reading this I had no idea that the first bra was created in 1913, “designed simply to flatten,” and that the more current/modern bra came about in the 1930’s (Brumberg 250). The concept of the bra is so new yet so universal now. Mass production and mass media are so influential in society, and the bra is a prime example. With mass production came sizing—A, B, C, D, the infamous DD, and the realm of un-tamed breasts even larger. (As a person who once wore the “more than a DD,” I know firsthand the impossibility of buying a bra in a department store that will be the correct size.) I was still in middle school when I made the transition to “larger than my mother” and up to DD, and had to face the realization that I wasn’t just larger than normal, larger than my peers, but I was freakishly, abnormally larger than society as a whole. For years I wore two minimizer bras at a time in an effort to “tame” my breasts even more, as they continued to grow. I was known as “jugs” for years in high school before I had breast reduction surgery, after which I spent my final year in baggy shirts so that no one would I know that I had “gotten my tits cut off.”  (which to this day people perceive as a “tragedy” despite the fact that it was practically a medical necessity)

The physical pain I had from wearing underwire bras aimed at “taming” my breasts has always led me to wonder why anyone would wear a AAA or AA (or even an A) bra when to me they so obviously don’t need one. But with stores and brands like Victoria’s Secret a AAA girl can wear a bra that makes her look like she has real B-size breasts. (I’ve always wondered how disappointed the boyfriend is once the bra comes off?)