Our Bodies Ourselves Today

Meet the Team: Hey, my name is Iliana (she/her) and I am so excited to be joining the Our Bodies Ourselves Today team! I’m a freshman at Suffolk University and am from Texas. I have a special interest in reproductive health and education. In my spare time, I love to explore, bake, and try new things! #OBOSToday #OBOSTodayTeam #OurBodiesOurselves #ReproductiveHealth

There is no one way to experience breast cancer. Each breast cancer journey is unique. The poet, activist, and philosopher Audre Lorde reflected on her experience with breast cancer as a Black feminist lesbian in “The Cancer Journals” (1980):    “Each woman responds to the crisis that breast cancer brings to her life out of a whole pattern, which is the design of who she is and how her life has been lived. The weave of her every day existence is the training ground for how she handles crisis. Some women obscure their painful feelings surrounding mastectomy with a blanket of business-as-usual, thus keeping those feelings forever under cover, but expressed elsewhere. For some women, in a valiant effort not to be seen as merely victims, this means an insistence that no such feelings exist and that nothing much has occurred. For some women it means the warrior's painstaking examination of yet another weapon, unwanted but useful. I am a post-mastectomy woman who believes our feelings need voice in order to be recognized, respected, and of use…   For months now I have been wanting to write a piece of meaning words on cancer as it affects my life and my consciousness as a woman, a black lesbian feminist mother lover poet all I am. But even more, or the same, I want to illuminate the implications of breast cancer for me, and the threats to self-revelation that are so quickly aligned against any woman who seeks to explore those questions, those answers. Even in the face of our own deaths and dignity, we are not to be allowed to define our needs nor our feelings nor our lives.”   #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #BreastCancer #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth #CancerJournals #AudreLorde

While training at a neonatal intensive care unit in Ghana, student midwife Ruby Jackson noticed that the visual symptoms of jaundice looked different in a Black baby because of the infant’s skin color. This made her realize the need to increase representations of Black and brown people in medical schools and training programs, including midwifery programs.  For her dissertation, Jackson created an app, Melanatal, to do just that. Melanatal App will aid midwifery professionals in understanding and recognizing how medical conditions, such as preeclampsia and placental abruption, present differently in Black and brown people. These conditions are often missed because of insufficient medical training, racism, and bias. The app will provide pregnant and birthing people with knowledge that will help them to advocate for their health. Read more about Jackson and her groundbreaking app in Nursing Times: https://lnkd.in/e4jqgrFP #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #Midwifery #Pregnancy #Birth

What is your #Halloween costume? Dressing up for Halloween can be creative and empowering. Yet women may feel pressured to dress a certain way, and women in careers, like nursing and waitressing, are sexually objectified. These issues show how patriarchy has fueled the sexualization of this holiday. Maren Tergesen reflects on the social costs of Halloween Costumes in a piece for the AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre: “When sexy becomes a protocol that  women can’t dodge, Halloween functions to continue the cycle of sexualization and sexual  objectification of women… While the sexy cop or sexy nurse costumes are  fun, they act to undermine and delegitimize women in those professions by casting women as sexual objects instead of competent workers, dedicated professionals, and leaders in their fields.” https://lnkd.in/g-5Y5FQv #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #Costumes #Feminism Post by Sarah Pillone

Our attractions and identities are powerful and intimate parts of who we are. More and more, people understand that #GenderIdentity and sexual orientation are aspects of life that don’t fit neatly into boxes.   #Sexuality is a state of being, a way of experiencing and giving. When we are aroused by sexual stimulation, from whatever source—fantasies, a certain image or scent, an environment, a partner’s words or touch—it’s common to go through a series of physical, mental, and emotional changes. These changes are often referred to as “sexual response.” Although there are some commonalities in how women experience arousal, there are also wide variations. Our responses vary not only from person to person but also at different times in our lives and from one sexual experience to the next. There is no one right pattern of sexual response. Learning about our own sexual response cycle can be empowering. Sexuality can be vanilla or kinky, within monogamous or polyamorous relationships, and include singlehood and celibacy.   Two simple categories of woman and man are not enough to contain how we see ourselves and how others perceive us in terms of #gender. Moving beyond the concept of two fixed gender identities is a new challenge for some of us, and a very personal story for others. Some of us grapple with and analyze our gender; others take it for granted, especially if our gender expression fits society’s conventions based on the #sex we were assigned at birth.   #SexualOrientation is also a spectrum. Women and gender expansive people alike can identify as straight, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or any number of other sexual orientations. Our sexualities are a key part of who we are, including when we do not have or do not want sexual feelings. Some who transition find that their sexual orientation changes during the process. Sex, gender, and sexual orientation thus interact dynamically. https://lnkd.in/ef6wbcXE #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves

More than one in four women experience insomnia.   What is insomnia? Insomnia is defined as: –  The inability to go to sleep –  Waking up too early –  Not feeling rested after a night of sleep at least three nights a week for at least three months Chronic, or long-term, insomnia interferes with everyday tasks like going to work and school.  What are risk factors for insomnia? –  Older age  –  High levels of stress –  Depression or other mental health conditions –  An irregular sleep schedule  –  Travel across time zones –  Sleep apnea, asthma, fibromyalgia, and certain other medical conditions   What are the symptoms of insomnia? The most common symptom is difficulty sleeping. People with insomnia may: –  Lie awake at night, unable to go to sleep –  Wake up in the night and struggle to go back to sleep –  Not feel rested when it’s time to wake up – Feel tired or have low energy through the day –  Feel anxious, depressed, or irritable –  Have difficulty concentrating or remembering things   How does insomnia affect women’s health? Lack of sleep can increase our risk of: – Accidents – Falls – Health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure   How is insomnia treated? We usually recover on our own from insomnia caused by short-term changes, like jet lag. For chronic insomnia, we can try home treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy, and prescription medication. We should be aware that insomnia could be related to another health problem that may need treatment too. https://lnkd.in/eD8HmRjS    #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #MentalHealth #Insomnia

Hi all! My name is Eliza Iacobucci (she/her), and I am a sophomore studying Criminal Justice and Women’s and Gender Studies at Suffolk University. Being a part of many on-campus organizations, such as WSFR and Greek Life has offered avenues to immerse myself in Boston. Some of my favorite things are rock climbing and baking. I am so proud to volunteer at OBOS in a community of women for the benefit of others. I challenge myself and others to seek justice in our daily lives. I am primarily interested in how the criminal legal system impacts the lives of girls and women, and how I can alleviate the daily stressors these individuals face. #OBOSToday #OBOSTodayTeam #OurBodiesOurselves #CriminalLegalSystem

How did you learn about asexuality? In this story, MB discusses how she learned about asexuality:   “I think the first time I learned about the asexuality spectrum was this documentary, maybe on Netflix, about asexuality. I think I saw it in high school. I'm currently 21, so it was probably like four or five years ago.   What I liked about that documentary was that it showed really different examples of people who all identified as asexual: Some people who had romantic partners, who were married and living together; some people who were like aromantic, kind of just didn't want a partner; some people in between; people who had been very sexual in their lives or like experimented with their sexuality a lot in their lives and came to the conclusion much later on. It showed a real diversity of experiences which is really cool.   I think I started to learn more about it then. Honestly, I didn't hear very much about it. I think it's become way more popular in media and social media in the recent year or two. And then I think a lot of what I've learned about different kinds of asexuality, like demisexuality or gray asexual, I've learned that type of thing honestly just through Google searches. I think Healthline might be the website. There's a website that kind of has all those. But it's something that you don't really learn about unless you kind of do some active searching, if you're trying to figure things out rather than knowing all these terms on your own.”   https://lnkd.in/gavJpHsv #AceWeek #Asexual #Ace #Asexuality #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves 

Check out this new resource! This "TIME Magazine" article by Christine Yu discusses the shame and stigma around menstruation in sports. Menstruation has often been used as a justification to keep women and menstruating people out of sports. Even today, there seems to be no space for discussing menstruation in the male-dominated world of athletic competition. This can hamper women's participation in sports. Yu urges us to change the narrative around menstruation. We must develop more research on how the menstrual cycle affects menstruating people, and we need to provide education for athletes, coaches, parents, and healthcare providers. https://lnkd.in/ezSHF4Dz #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #OBOSTNewResource #Menstruation #Period #Sports

Menopause and perimenopause (the time leading up to menopause) are powerful biological processes. This transition from our potentially reproductive years to our non-reproductive years happens universally to all women and people identified female at birth (AFABs) who live long enough to experience it.    What do the different menopause-related terms mean?   Pre-menopause is the time in our lives when our menstrual cycles are regular, and we are ovulating.    Perimenopause is the winding down of our menstrual cycles. In this phase, hormonal patterns are less predictable and can lead to a wide range of changing symptoms. For most of us, perimenopause begins sometime between our late thirties and our early fifties.   Menopause is our final menstrual period. It’s an odd, look-back definition, because we reach menopause only after twelve months with no periods. Some of us reach menopause early and abruptly, owing to chemotherapy or radiation therapy, surgical removal of the ovaries, or other health conditions.    Postmenopause refers to the time after menopause.   The Menopausal Transition includes both the perimenopause and menopause.  The menopause transition brings about many changes. Most of us will experience fluctuations in the flow of our cycles and in the length of our cycles. Some of us will also have new symptoms related to sleep, mood, memory, fatigue, vaginal changes, musculoskeletal changes, changes in libido, and yes, night sweats and/or hot flashes. While most of us will experience some signs or symptoms, some of us won’t experience any.   For many of us, menopause and perimenopause are closely linked to cultural ideas and ideals about womanhood, femininity, and aging. Understanding what is happening in our bodies, knowing what to expect (and when), having access to the latest research, and hearing the stories and insights of other women and AFABs can help make this transitional stage of our lives easier to navigate. https://lnkd.in/emK6hJm6 #OBOSToday #OurBodiesOurselves #Menopause #Perimenopause