Your Beautiful Cervix

Warning: The images contained at the links below are graphic, Not Safe For Work and not for the faint of heart. Click with caution!

A doula and student midwife decided to take photographs of her cervix for a full menstrual cycle and posted them all on her blog My Beautiful Cervix. The results document the changes in cervical blood/fluids and cervix appearance. Quite simply, it's fascinating and empowering to women everywhere who are wondering what exactly is going on down there.

Men have the anatomical benefit of being able to just look down if they want to examine their genitals. Women, on the other hand, need mirrors and even medical instruments to get a really full view. Further, women are also more likely to be taught to be ashamed by their bodies and to not touch their genitals, often leaving them in the dark about what's happening with their own bodies. Sure, our vaginal fluids may seem a little gross, but when you realize all the things they're telling us (for women not on hormonal contraception), they're also pretty cool! Even more importantly, understanding the normal appearance of our genitals is vital to good sexual health and being able to recognize when there's a problem -- and since "normal" appearance is different for everyone, that's why you ought to be familiar with your own body.

Lastly, always remember to get regular pap smears. You can ask the doctor performing the exam to explain exactly what is going on, step-by-step. If you ask, they'll also often provide hand mirror (or bring your own!) so that you can see for yourself what your cervix and the rest of your vagina looks like. The results will be more private than posting photos on a blog, and even more informative!

The School to Prison Pipeline and What It Means for Repro Justice

Yesterday, we co-sponsored Human Rights Day in Rochester to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The evening event included a potluck dinner, reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a panel discussion on the "School to Prison Pipeline." The topic was coincidentally timely given the local buzz about a school safety issue at East High in Rochester and Superintendent Brizard's in-school suspension policy. The local chapter of the NYCLU (New York Civil Liberties Union) was one of the lead organizations planning Human Rights Day; they invited a NYCLU attorney that works on the School to Prison Pipeline to speak on the panel. This morning, I had an opportunity to have breakfast with her and learn more about the School to Prison Pipeline. According to the NYCLU website:

The School to Prison Pipeline is a nationwide system of local, state and federal education and public safety policies that pushes students out of school and into the criminal justice system. This system disproportionately targets youth of color and youth with disabilities. Inequities in areas such as school discipline, policing practices, high-stakes testing and the prison industry contribute to the pipeline.

So you may be scratching your head trying to figure out how this relates to the work of Planned Parenthood. The work of the NYCLU addresses many civil liberties issues, including access to reproductive health care, comprehensive sex education, and privacy rights. It's easy to connect those issues with the advocacy work of Planned Parenthood. However, the NYCLU also addresses advocacy issues like immigrants' rights, LGBT rights, police accountability and criminal justice reform, protecting protest, and national security. From a reproductive justice framework, all civil liberties issues intersect in some way with sexual and reproductive health and rights.

In the example of the School to Prison Pipeline, Planned Parenthood does have a vested interest in helping youth succeed in school and become empowered citizens. The solutions that the School to Prison Pipeline suggests to decrease drop-out rates and address violence in schools are similar to the initiatives that help teens prevent unintended pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI's).

Some things that the School to Prison Pipeline suggests as possible solutions are peer mediation, conflict resolution, after school programs, truancy intervention, guidance counseling, mentoring, character education, teacher training on classroom management, and parental and community involvement initiatives. These programs would not only keep teens off the street, but would help them succeed in school and, if combined with comprehensive sexuality education, will also help teens prevent unintended pregnancy and STI's.

In fact, Planned Parenthood's teen programs in Syracuse and Rochester focus on engaging teens in peer education, community outreach, leadership development, and operating after school programs that provide a safe and supportive environment for teens. The School to Prison Pipeline also disproportionately affects teens of color and urban populations, demographic groups that we also know are disproportionately affected by unintended teen pregnancy and lack of access to reproductive health care. By working together with organizations like the NYCLU, we can achieve the PPRSR mission of helping people "lead a healthy and fulfilling life."

An Extemely Overdue Recap...Sex, Activism, and Shelby Knox!

So this recap is long overdue, as the event I'm about to share with you happened on September 27th. Yes, I know, it is clear that I am just trying to fill space and time, as Cara, our usual blogger goddess, is taking a break for a bit. But stay with me here! I did mean to post about this way back then. The event I'm referring to is the Stronger. Together. Conference, a regional conference we hosted to bring advocates from across Western, Central, and South Central NYS together to learn and share organizing skills and gear up for a really exciting fall! It was actually the same weekend that Cara went out in the field in South Dakota. So she was "boots on the ground" there and we were back home rallying our own troops for reproductive justice. The conference was co-sponsored with PP, PP-Southern Finger Lakes, PP-Mohawk Hudson, PP-Western NY, and Family Planning Advocates of NYS. Talk about community organizing!

Eighty people showed up for a jam-packed schedule including workshops with titles like “Lobbying your Legislators 101,” “The Personal is Political,” and “Religion, Morality & Reproductive Choice.” Guest presenters included the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Empire State Pride Agenda, Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, Family Planning Advocates of NYS, and speakers from all co-sponsoring Planned Parenthood affiliates.

One of the favorites from the first breakout session was “Talk Back,” an interactive messaging training that taught how to respond to tough questions in conversation with family, friends, colleagues, and peers. “Rallies, Protests, Rights, and Responsibilities” in the second breakout gave useful advice when attending or organizing a public visibility event about legalities and rights of advocates in public space. The third breakout was my favorite--the "Reproductive Justice for All" workshops. The three sessions offered adddressed the histroy of religion and choice, the connection between LGBT rights and reproductive rights, and the social implications of advanced reprogenetic technologies.

The highlight of the day for me, anyway, was our keynote speaker, Shelby Knox. You probably know Shelby from the documentary about her advocacy work in high school for comprehensive sex ed and LGBT rights, The Education of Shelby Knox. Shelby is older now and just as outspoken, smart, and cool. She travels the country as a nationally-known youth organizer and educatory, feminist activist, and blogger. Shelby spoke enthusiastically about the reproductive justice movement, her personal journey in becoming a feminist and an activist, and the vital role young adults have in building the reproductive justice movement.

As we now know, the Stronger. Together. Conference kicked off a very busy and extremely emotional fall for community organizers and advocates of reproductive justice. Many of the us took the skills we learned and used them to organize on college campuses and in our communities. Plans are already on the table to hold a similar event next year. If you weren't there this year, I really hope you'll join us in 2009.