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Feminism and Sexual Health |
Scroll down for information about each item in the exhibit. |
Exhibit curated by Laurie Sugatan, '06
Published Fall 2006
A major theme of feminism is a woman's right to her own body,
particularly to make decisions about her own health and wellbeing.
Access to information is integral to a woman's ability to make important
decisions regarding her health. The following documents, which date from
1970-1999, demonstrate how women's organizations have worked to
distribute much-needed information about women's sexual health.
Information that was otherwise unavailable or inadequate became
accessible in resource guides, newsletters and pamphlets written for
(and by) diverse groups of women. Addressing such issues as safe sex,
teenage pregnancy, lesbians and AIDS, advancements in reproductive
technologies, contraceptives, and reproductive health, these
publications have empowered women to make well-informed decisions about
their own bodies.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 484 KB) |
Psychological and Psychosomatic Responses to Oral Contraceptive Use
By Judith M. Bardwick
From Women on Campus: 1970 A Symposium
Published by the University of Michigan Center for Continuing Education of Women, 1970
In her article, Judith M. Bardwick discusses the findings of a study
on women's psychological responses to the pill. The study, started in
1967-68, was based on the impression that the effectiveness or rejection
of the pill by different women was not solely due to dosage levels but
also to individual psychological dynamics, especially passivity,
dependence and denial. Based on the study's findings, Bardwick argues
that despite the pill's new possibilities for sexual freedom, the women
in this study continued to struggle with anxieties and conflicts
regarding their sexual activity.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 496 KB) |
Wages for Housework: From the Government For ALL Women
By the New York Wages for Housework Committee, 1975
In this pamphlet, the New York Wages for Housework Committee decries
forced sterilization by the government. They write, "Even if we give our
'informed consent,' no sterilization is really 'elective' as long as we
don't have money in our hands to support the children we may want." They
define "real choice" as a woman's right to decide whether or not to have
children based on her feelings and beliefs, rather than basing that
decision on economic necessity or governmental coercion.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 2.7 MB) |
What Now?! Under 18 and Pregnant
A discussion of pregnancy and abortion, written for young women by young women
Copyright 1977, Origins, Inc.
What Now?! provides a step-by-step guide for young women
dealing with pregnancy. Starting with information about how to obtain a
pregnancy test, it presents young women's options for dealing with their
pregnancies (abortion, childbirth, adoption) and also provides
information about each stage of pregnancy and childbirth. The guide
includes important vocabulary words involved in pregnancy and
gynecological examinations and information about healthy nutritional
habits for the mother and her unborn child. It also includes helpful
diagrams and quotes from young women about their own experiences The
latter half of the document is dedicated to abortion, its various
methods and many quotes from those who have gone through the experience,
thus enabling young women to make educated decisions for themselves.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 4 MB) |
Reproductive Health in the Workplace
Women's Occupational Health Resource Center Factsheet
Published March 1980, Copyright 1979
The Women's Occupational Health Resource Center published an
important Fact Sheet in March 1980 regarding the health hazards faced by
many women that can jeopardize their reproductive wellbeing. The fact
sheet lists the various chemicals and toxins that can affect the
reproductive capabilities of both male and female workers, as well as
the challenging issues faced by the female workers, most notably the
difficult decision they must make between keeping their jobs or having
children.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 2.9 MB) |
Hysterectomy
Resource Guide 2
National Women's Health Network, 1980
In 1980, the Women's Health Clearinghouse project of the National
Women's Health Network published a series of nine health resource guides
on some of the leading women's health issues of the time. The second
guide in this series concerns the hysterectomy, the surgical removal of
the uterus. The guide provides an overview of the risks and benefits of
the procedure, as well as its history. It also examines the
psychological and sexual effects and explores strategies and resources
for coping with these changes.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 5.4 MB) |
Maternal Health and Childbirth
Resource Guide 4
National Women's Health Network, 1980
The fourth resource guide of the 1980 National Women's Health Network
series offers information regarding Maternal Health and Childbirth.
This publication voices concern over the increasing medicalization of
childbirth practices and highlights the advantages of home and natural
births. It also contains a reprint of "The Pregnant Patient's Bill of
Rights." It is interesting to note the early concerns voiced in the guide about Caesarian
births, which have become increasingly commonplace.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 3.3 MB) |
DES (Diethylstilbestrol)
Resource Guide 6
National Women's Health Network, 1980
The sixth resource guide of the 1980 series published by the National
Women's Health Network concerns DES (diethylstilbestrol), a synthetic
estrogen prescribed to women, usually during pregnancy, from the time of
its discovery in 1938 and even after it was banned by the FDA in 1971.
As this guide details, direct exposure to DES increases the risk of
breast cancer, while exposure in utero may lead to cancer or physical
disabilities. In addition to documenting the effects of DES, this guide
also provides resources and information for mothers and daughters who
have been exposed.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 1.3 MB) |
Breeding Conspiracies: Feminism and the New Reproductive Technologies
By Marge Berer
From Trouble and Strife: A Radical Feminist Magazine
Number 9, Summer 1986
In this article, Marge Berer criticizes three books that present the
dangers of reproductive technologies: Test-tube Women,
Man-made Women and The Mother Machine. Berer argues that
every feminist must examine the advantages and disadvantages, risks and
benefits of each reproductive technology for herself, rather than
relying on others to decipher the science and form opinions for her.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 3.3 MB) |
Making It: A Woman's Guide to Sex in the Age of AIDS
By Cindy Patton and Janis Kelly
Spanish Translation by Papusa Molina
Illustrations by Alison Bechdel
Firebrand Sparks Pamphlet #2, 1987
Making It serves as a guide to safer sex practices for women.
Acknowledging women's diversity, it presents facts and information with
the understanding that a variety of factors, including socioeconomic
status and sexual orientation, may affect how women learn and practice
safe sex. Illustrations portraying situations and dialogues between
friends and partners emphasize and expand the content of the text. The
pamphlet contains both an English and a Spanish version.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 1.6 MB) |
Delaying Childbirth: A Reassuring Study
From the National Women's Health Report Newsletter
Volume 12, Number 2, Spring 1990
This article from the front cover of the Spring 1990 National Women's
Health Report Newsletter reports a recent study's findings that, other
than a low birth weight, the children of women over thirty face no
greater risk than those of women younger than thirty. Noting the
increasing number of women choosing to delay motherhood in order to
"pursue educational and professional goals," the article predicts that
this number will continue to increase.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 132 KB) |
Feminist Perspectives on Reproductive Technologies
By Lori B. Andrews
From A Forum on Reproductive Laws for the 1990s, circa 1990
During the late twentieth century, advances in reproductive
technologies, including in vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood,
raised many issues and questions for feminists. Emphasizing women's
freedom of choice and control over their own bodies and family
structures, this article defines a set of feminist values with which to
approach these issues.
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Click image above to download (PDF, 22.1 MB) |
LAP Notes
Lesbian AIDS Project at GMHC (Newsletter)
Issue Number 7, Summer 1999
LAP Notes documents the important and necessary work of the
Lesbian AIDS Project, which formed in 1992 and continues to provide
education and to fight for research on lesbians and AIDS. This issue,
edited by Amber Hollibaugh, focuses on the need for scientific research.
It includes a roundtable interview with HIV positive lesbians about
their experiences being part of research projects, a "Lesbian Health
Report," and articles about the fight for more research. In addition to
these articles, the newsletter includes tributes to women who have
recently died as well as information about the LAP staff.
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