The Christmas season is a curious time for a historian of women’s health, abortion, and maternal politics: at its historical […]
It’s Time to Take Nature to Task
In March of this year, one of my respected colleagues and I published a short essay in Pediatrics in which […]
Playwright Alice Eve Cohen Asks Us to Reconsider What We Think We Know about Pregnancy and Motherhood
“What makes a mother real?” asks writer and performer Alice Eve Cohen in her newly-published play, What I Thought I […]
Disproving Self-Indulgence: Congenital Addiction in the Early Twentieth Century
On October 10, 1989, police arrived at the Medical University of South Carolina. They handcuffed Lori Griffin, a black girl […]
What to Expect When You’re an Expecting Superhero: Spider-Woman Shifts Gears
Like the best action, the new comic Spider-Woman: Shifting Gears, Vol 1: Baby Talk starts in media res. Jessica Drew […]
“The Torture Began”: Symphysiotomy and Obstetric Violence in Modern Ireland
“They just took me into the ward and put me on the bed and told me they were going to […]
“She Did It to Herself”: Women’s Health on Television and Film
[Spoiler alert for PBS’s Mercy Street] Like just about every other Civil War historian out there, I’ve been following PBS’s […]
The New Rubella: Zika and What it Means for Abortion Rights
Historians, journalists, and public health officials have begun to call Zika the new rubella (German measles). When a pregnant woman […]
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 […]
Mosquitos and Mothers: The Zika Virus and Real Talk on Birth Control
Mosquitos carrying the Zika virus in Latin America are wreaking havoc in people’s lives into the next generation. It’s only […]
