“His BMI is on the high side of normal. See?” The pediatrician showed me a chart. “This is something we […]
“For Poor or Rich”: Handywomen and Traditional Birth in Ireland
On Achill Island, Ireland, an untrained woman was prosecuted for acting as a midwife in 1932. In her defense, she […]
Women’s Health Care: Not Just for Women Anymore
Mammogram waiting rooms are sometimes different from other medical waiting areas. If you’re going to get an x-ray of your […]
March Madness and the Sterilization of Basketball Fans
I was so surprised the first time I saw a commercial on television advertising sterilization. Yes, that’s right. Once a […]
Women and Alcohol: Let’s Talk About the Real Problem
The CDC’s recent sexist and patronizing warning about women and alcohol managed to outrage huge numbers of people and provoke […]
Sex and Gender in a Petri Dish
The HeLa cell line, infamously derived in 1951 from the tumor of Henrietta Lacks, was cultured and immortalized to provide […]
The History of a Wrist: When Historians Fall Over
In mid-September, I fell over my back door step and landed on my wrist. The pain was so bad it […]
Happy Miscarriages: An Emotional History of Pregnancy Loss
An article published earlier this year in Obstetrics and Gynecology exposed Americans’ misunderstandings about miscarriage. A team of researchers asked […]
Milk Sharing: What History Can Teach Us
Milk sharing has been in the news lately. In 2013, Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH analyzed over 100 samples […]
Toxics in our Living Rooms
The comfortable chair that I just bought and sit in for hours each day is giving me a sore throat […]
