“Women in large swaths of the U.S. are dying younger than they were a generation ago, reversing nearly a century of progress in public health… In 737 U.S. counties… life expectancies for women declined between 1997 and 2007. For life expectancy to decline in a developed nation is rare. Setbacks on this scale have not been seen in the U.S. since the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, according to demographers.”
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2011
See also: link
2011.7.04.Mon.1200 | Tags: numbers health
Can you explain what happens during these non-consensual pelvic exams?
“They are usually ‘bi-digital’ exams. This means students insert two fingers as deeply as they can into the vagina with one hand and use the other hand to feel around the outside of the abdomen for the ovaries. What they’re trying to do is trap the ovaries between their two fingers and their hand and feel for the internal organs from the inside…”
h/t The Disgruntled Grad Student
2010.10.15.Fri.1200 | Tags: health education
"I worked in porn for 10 years with breaks in between. My work name was Nessa and I did about 27 movies. My last shoot was November 2006. It was a very abusive, frightening and unsanitary experience for me. They reuse dirty sex toys all the time on porn sets. Most of the time, the companies don’t want to purchase a new sex toy. Which start at $10. That’s how cheap they are. I always saw girls that had sore vaginas. We would want to take a bigger break to try to regain our composure after enduring painful scenes, but the directors, camera men, etc., would stress that they ‘needed to get out of there as soon as possible.’ And the company wouldn’t want them to have to pay their employees extra time. So, most the time, there wasn’t time for a shower to take after shoots. Not to mention doing shoots on couches that they used for other shoots. I doubt they paid to clean it after each time it got used.
“In the worst scene and moment of my life, I was raped and verbally and mentally abused while making a video with Max Hardcore. It was the most horrible and degrading experience I ever had. I was in complete shock and horror. After that scene was shot, I got tested at AIM (Adult Industry Medical Clinic). I was horrified to find out that I was positive with Chlamydia/Gonorrhea in the throat. We didn’t have vaginal or anal sex because my HIV test wasn’t ready yet. So he insisted on an oral scene and right after that scene I tested positive for the two STD’s. I called Dr. Sharon Mitchell to let her know. She asked Max to come in and test. I’m sure she told him which girl, and what the diseases were, even before he came in. Of course he would take Zithromax before he got retested as Sharon wouldn’t want to lose one of her biggest clients. They care about money. That’s it. Sharon Mitchell called me after he tested and called me a liar. ‘He didn’t give it to you. His test came back negative,’ she said in a rude, ambivalent manner. This is the clinic that claims to keep us safe. It’s a joke."
— Nessa (real name: Marcy) former porn actress
(via horrorble)
See also: 1, 2, 3.
Reblogged from thedaughtersofeve 2010.8.22.Sun.1200 | Tags: health
