Body Talk
Your body, your choice? A place to debate and discuss the complexities and controversies surrounding women's' health issues, reproductive rights, and bodily autonomy.
Merry Christmas to Me, I Got an IUD
I have been a big fan on IUDs (intrauterine devices) for quite some time, but I never made a real effort to get one. I mentioned it to by OB/GYN in Chicago about a year ago, but they were having trouble with my insurance. I was already on the pill, and it was working quite well—in the sense that I hadn’t gotten pregnant. So I dropped the idea of an IUD and stuck with the birth control I already had.
By Grace Mikus8 years ago in Viva
Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder
Why are some people considered “more attractive than others”? There has been a significant amount of research done on the effect that advertising in the fashion and beauty industry has on women. By creating advertisements with unrealistic images of beauty, it has resulted in anxiety, low self-esteem, and low self-confidence in many women. Most of these negative emotions come from unhappiness among body and appearance when they do not look like the girls in the magazines. Who sets these beauty standards and how far will we go to become “beautiful” in society’s eyes?
By Lily Papenfus8 years ago in Viva
Female Genital Mutilation Is a Woman's Health Issue
Female Genital Mutilation, or FGM for short, dates back about 2000 years. It is a practice that involves removing all or most of the clitoris, the labia minora, or both. This is an international practice that has received pushback from mostly feminist groups in the early 1990s, which led to an official FGM ban called the Female Genital Mutilation Act in 1996 stating the following: “Whoever knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minor or clitoris of another person who has not attained the age of eighteen years shall be fined under this title or imprisoned...” (Chase). This act made it illegal to continue the practice of FGM in the United States; however, the act is still prominent in other countries, especially in the horn of Africa. Although the practice is unlawful, including twenty-six states that have added specific laws that prohibit FGM, it is discreetly practiced among intersex infants and internationally.
By Zuleika Bravo8 years ago in Viva
The Reflection I See
Each time a loved one tells me I am beautiful, I struggle to understand what they see in me that is beautiful. The worst part is, I can't figure out if they're just saying that because they feel sorry for me, or because I LITERALLY see a different reflection staring back at me in the mirror. Not being able to distinguish between reality and delusion when it comes to your body is soul-crushing. Is what I'm seeing real? Is that really my face? Is that really my body? If that's what I really look like, how could anyone truthfully say I am beautiful?
By Olivia Edwards8 years ago in Viva
Beauty Pageants: Inspiring or Degrading?
Imagine a six-year-old girl. Perhaps she’s your daughter, or your niece, or even just a stranger. She sits in a chair for hours, getting layers and layers of makeup put on, completely changing how she looks, and even gets a spray tan, changing the color of her skin. She wears fake eyelashes and bleaches her teeth. This little girl is completely changed to look like a mini-adult, for people to judge whether or not she fits a mold they themselves created of how a child should look, looking nothing like herself.
By Shannon Butler8 years ago in Viva
I’m Not Perfect, According to the Media...
Every step you take determines who you are. Society tries to pressure us to fit inside the social “norm” and aspire to be more like what we see in the news. I know, I know, it seems as if everybody nowadays makes the statement about the one body size that is shown in the media. However, I’m here to show the other side of the story. People always talk about the hourglass figure that is displayed in the media and how larger people need to be shown too, but rarely does someone discuss the other extreme on the spectrum, the skinny.
By Lily Penshaw8 years ago in Viva
You Can Say "Period."
Some days I feel like the world has made great leaps in breaking "female" taboos. BodyForm has released an ad with blood in it instead of the strange blue fluid we've all grown used to, women talk more openly about their periods, about reproductive issues, and the stigma behind getting a sexual health check seems to be reducing.
By Lizzie Ellis8 years ago in Viva
Just Be YOU
When I looked in the mirror yesterday, all I saw was a 19-year-old girl with an endless amount of flaws. My hair didn’t fall the way I thought it should. I have acne spots. I looked down at my finger nails, angry that I didn’t have enough self-control to not bite them. I looked at my face—too round, too many freckles. My eyes, not blue enough. Eyebrows, they didn’t look the way the model’s did.
By Katie Hollis8 years ago in Viva
