Nursing Clio

Added on February 13, 2013 Personal Essay

A Valentine’s (B)romance: Masculinity, Emotion, and Friendship

By Sean Cosgrove

The bromance has surged in popular culture in recent years to such an extent that you could be forgiven for thinking this a relatively recent concept. Although Wikipedia dates the term ‘bromance’ (only) to the early 90s, Urban Dictionary’s oldest definition is from 2004. The ‘bromantic comedy’ genre (think I Love You, Man, Superbad, or I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) seems to be the latest incarnation of this trend capturing enormous audience interest. Although the word might be new, however, the concept certainly isn’t.

A march as the background, a board with pro-equality slogans in the center

Added on February 12, 2013 Personal Essay

What I Learned in Third Grade

By Tina M. Kibbe

Originally I envisioned this post as a commentary on labels or stereotypes, and how they serve to sort and categorize individuals. We all do it….give labels to people in an attempt to construct an orderly inventory in our minds. However, while they can sometimes be helpful and provide a common vocabulary, labels can often limit our understanding and obstruct our view of the whole individual. I specifically wanted to address labels in relation to gender as a follow up to Ashley Baggett’s excellent post on masculinity and Adam Turner’s awesome post in which he talks about sorting and categorizing people. In the course of my writing, however, an unexpected turn-of-events occurred. I was asked to temporarily teach a third-grade class. So, I decided to look at gender and labels from a different perspective–from a third-grade point-of-view. It turned out to be an excellent source of material and I thought I would share some things I’ve learned from these plain-talking third-graders.

Added on February 11, 2013 Personal Essay

British Transphobia – Alive and Well: Burchill & Moore

By Helen McBride

Last month, British journalist Suzanne Moore published an article in the New Statesman about female anger. The main point of her article was how, in her opinion, women tend to turn anger in at themselves instead of projecting it outward and targetting the source:
“We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape—that of a Brazilian transsexual.”
While invoking the image of “a Brazilian transsexual” was not her intention (I can only assume), Moore has unleashed a heady storm of controversy. Moore’s seemingly flippant use of the phrase has been seen by the trans community as offensive.

Added on February 10, 2013 Sunday Morning Medicine

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Did Shakespeare have syphilis?
-Poverty in 1960s Appalachia.
-Twitter can help track diseases.
-Identity of famous 19th-century brain discovered.
-FDR didn’t have polio!?

Added on February 5, 2013 Historical essay

Downton Abbey, Maternal Death and the Crisis of Childbirth in Britain

Those of us who watch Downton Abbey regularly should not have been surprised that Sybil died. After all, series one […]

Added on January 30, 2013 Personal Essay

Why I Love Hedwig and the Angry Inch

By Adam Turner

Today I’ll be focusing specifically on the idea that a person, or a part of a person’s body, can be “ambiguous.” I’d like to start by noting that the word itself is fraught. As I mentioned, it can be both empowering and hurtful depending on how it’s used. The first question is: ambiguous to whom? Is this person ambiguous to themselves? Or are they just ambiguous to the person doing the looking? A person who, like many of us, is trying to sort and categorize the people around them into boxes labeled “male” or “female,” “gay” or “straight,” “black” or “white.” But — and this gets at one of the reasons I love Hedwig, with all its issues — ambiguity does not have to be a problem. Taken up dusted off and worn proudly ambiguity can carve out spaces for human difference in a culture and a history too often resistant to divergence from the “norm.”

Added on January 27, 2013 Sunday Morning Medicine

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-The biggest poisoning in history.
-16th century warfare apparently included cats . . .with bombs attached to their backs.
-America’s long and complicated history with guns.
-Is an antibiotic apocalypse imminent?
-We can now encode Shakespeare in DNA (How cool and weird is that?).
-Scientists tell us: Sex with condoms is pleasurable.

Added on January 25, 2013 Personal Essay

Night Nurse Nursing

By Sandra Trudgen Dawson

My first job as a State Registered Nurse in mid-1980s Britain was night shift on an Acute Geriatric ward in Portsmouth. The shifts were long—eleven and a half hours—and it was hard, physical work. All sorts of strange things happen at night. At times it felt as though the ward was bewitched—sometime around midnight. Hospital patients who were perfectly sane during daylight hours became confused, frenzied and belligerent after darkness fell. Nakedness, for some reason and for some patients, became an urgent necessity as did climbing over bed rails or side tables. Zimmer frames (walking frames) and walking aids so benign on dayshift, transformed into fencing weapons at night as patients who had bottled up a lifetime of frustration finally let go. Keeping sparing patients apart can occupy nurses for hours at night. Hiding potential weapons does not always help as water jugs and cups can become flying missiles at night. Patients in Britain, unlike the United States, cannot be physically restrained in any way and so “sitting” with an agitated patient is the only action to prevent falls or the accidental maiming of another patient.

Added on January 22, 2013 Personal Essay

Blog for Choice 2013: Roe at 40 and the Rebranding of Planned Parenthood

By Heather Munro Prescott

Today is NARAL’s annual Blog for Choice day, which falls this year on the 40th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. One this day, NARAL invites bloggers and activists to get people to talk about reproductive rights online. By participating in Blog for Choice day, we join NARAL’s mission to “let readers and the mainstream media know that a woman’s right to choose is a core progressive value that must be protected.” NARAL’s deliberate decision to retain the word “choice” is quite a contrast to Planned Parenthood’s commemoration of Roe’s 40th anniversary. In advance of this event, Planned Parenthood launched a new campaign, Not in Her Shoes which seeks to move beyond labels in the abortion debate:

Added on January 22, 2013 Historical essay

“Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall”: The Enduring Legacy of Leftist Social Movements

By Austin McCoy

Some political observers have pointed out how President Obama’s second inaugural address contained plenty of memorable lines. The President’s affirmation of women’s rights, civil rights, and gay rights, via his Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall allusions, does not just stand out as an impressive use of lyrical alliteration; it represents the acknowledgement of Obama’s electoral coalition. Also, Obama’s nod serves as a ringing validation of the same manifestations of “identity politics” that some critics have chided while lamenting the fate of the U.S. Left after the 1960s. Obama’s adoption of the rhetoric in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution highlights feminists’, civil rights advocates’, and gay rights activists’ efforts to expand democracy by forcing the nation to live by its own creed articulated in the founding documents.

Nursing Clio

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Reproduction History Syllabus

Debating Justice, Politics, and Culture in Black America, From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter

Run Like A Girl

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A Valentine’s (B)romance: Masculinity, Emotion, and Friendship

By Sean Cosgrove

What I Learned in Third Grade

By Tina M. Kibbe

British Transphobia – Alive and Well: Burchill & Moore

By Helen McBride

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

Downton Abbey, Maternal Death and the Crisis of Childbirth in Britain

Why I Love Hedwig and the Angry Inch

By Adam Turner

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

Night Nurse Nursing

By Sandra Trudgen Dawson

Blog for Choice 2013: Roe at 40 and the Rebranding of Planned Parenthood

By Heather Munro Prescott

“Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall”: The Enduring Legacy of Leftist Social Movements

By Austin McCoy

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