Readings Exam 3 Flashcards
1
Q
What is a Theory of Women’s Smoking? And How do Societies Benefit?
by: Lorraine Greaves
A
- smoking may help women control and cope with internal and external realities
- helps women meditate, a break from reality –> this benefits the social order surrounding women
- smoking can be used to absorb inequalities or resist it
- womens smoking is approves of in some cultures - weight loss, fashion, movies —- and industries benefit
- smoking can erase women’s emotion or challenges – so men want them to smoke (bad)
- smoking is bad for the woman herself, but not for the patriarchal family (but alcohol and hard drugs are)
- society may be willing to give up women’s health concerns in order to “benefit” (patriarchal) society
2
Q
The Picture of Health: How Textbook Photos Construct Health
by: Mariamne Whatley
A
- textbook photos are often selected by generic publisher’s images rather than by the authors
- many people strive for the image of health, not actualy health itself (ex: tanning is bad for you but it makes you look better)
- healthy images in textboks: white, young, nondisabled, slim, outdoor rural athletic activities (for leisre, not at work), suggest middle class (expensive activities), heterosexual interactions, often exposed skin (volleyball, biking)
- tries to create a desirable lifestyle that we think if we achieve, we’ll be happy (like advertising)
- should include in “healthy” pictures: older people, minorities, people with disabilities, and people in urban settings or work environments, heavier people (more healthy than anorexic people)
- should show a range of possible healthy activities
3
Q
Fatphobia
by: Nancy Worcester
A
- we learn at a young age not to like fat people, so we have anxiety about gaining weight ourselves (or hate ourselves if we are overweight)
- women biologically put on more fat than men, and in different areas
- women are marketed to way more about dieting than men
- a woman’s body appearance will affect her social life, acceptance at college, and her employment way more than it would effect a man
- obesity is more common in working class women than middle class – but the same is not true for men (men there is no/little relationship) —–> maybe women’s body image DETERMINES her socio-economic status
- many women think of intolerance and fear of fat as an individual problem rather than a societal problem
4
Q
Mental Health Issues Related to Dieting
by: Nancy Worcester
A
- Women feel guilty is they are not slimming — dislike their fat and fat becomes a symbol of an unfulfilled goal—–> wont learn to like their bodies the way they are
- Dieting makes a person more aware of food — a dieter cannot respond to internal cues for hunger because dieting already creates a constant state of hunger (makes people unable to listen to their own body signals)
- women also struggle more with dieting because their domestic responsibilities are directly related to food
- dieting itself can cause anxiety, depression and apathy - Dieting often fails (90-98% in the long term) —> people need to be encouraged to diet but then they also need practical and emotional support through the process
- media shows dieting as something everyone should be able to do – so then people feel like they fail at an easy task - Dieting may be “successful” –> women may not like how they are treated once they are slim –> also cigargettes slim people down, so its harder for women to quit them
- Suicide is less common in the obese (advantage)
5
Q
Extreme Makeover: Feminist Edition (How the pitch for cosmetic surgery co-opts feminism)
by: Jennifer Cognard-Black
A
- huge increase in cosmetic surgeries in the US
- marketing alongside other beauty treatments
- the “choice” of having surgey or not – self-determination – women want each other to be informed consumers about surgery
- but what about the choice to not consider cosmetic surgeries at all
- 90% of cosmetic surgey customers are women
- “looks are the new feminism” - really?
6
Q
The Pressures of Perfectionism
by: Katherine Beagle
A
- a feminist still wants breast implants
- was planning to finance the procedure with a loan, but then found out many implants require multiple procedures
- many women said silicone breast implants reuined their lives, others say they love them
- FDA says silicone implants “reasonably safe” – but when they break (they all do) they can get lodged in the body
- when saline implants break, the saline just gets absorbed by the body (which is safe unless they are nonsterile or have been contaminated)
7
Q
Making ‘A way outta No way
by: Becky Thompson
A
- people with eating disorders are often thought of as white, middle-class young girls who are self-absorbed and implicated in their own troubles
- this ignores women of color, working-class and lesbians
- eating disorders are often a response to abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, poverty, stress and other injustices — eating disorders were a controlled and sane response to insane circumstances
- prison policy gives rise to the development of eating problems
- many eating disorders are lifelong issues
- feminists think the patriarchal society contributes to many eating problems for women
- black women aren’t always judged based on thier shape (while white women are) bc they’re more curvey – leads to idea that eating disorders don’t affect blacks– and leads to misdiagnosis of eating disorders in women of color and made some blacks afraid to seek help
- some women are not body concious and dont see themselves as having bodies at all – “leaving her body”
- food = the drug of choice for many women
- healing strategies – self-help, community, religious groups, and other resources
8
Q
The Cultural Warping of Childbirth
by: Doris Haire
A
- The US leads all developed countries in teh rate of infant deaths due to birth injury and respiratory distress
- midwives are important to improving our obstetrical care
- our differences (to other countries ) lie in: our frequent use of prenatal and obstetrical medication; our pathologically oriented management of pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartem; and the predominance of artificial feeding
- The following practices (of the US) do not contribute to the reduction of infant mortality:
1. Withholding information on the disadvantages of obstetrical medication
2. Requiring all women to give birth in the hospital
3. Elective induction of labor (when there is no clear medical indication) - labor does not need to be induced until pregnancy has been gestating for 41 weeks
4. Separating the mother from familial support during labor and birth – in other countries, mothers are encouraged to walk around and talk to family
5. Confining a normal laboring woman to a bed – women in other countries are encouraged to walk around as they like until the membranes have ruptured
6. Shaving the birth area – shaving does not reduce the incidence of infection (it may actually increase it)
7. Professional dependence on technology and pharmacological methods of pain relief – many other countries rely on emotional support from others and the midwife rather than drugs
8. Routine electronic fetal monitoring - could have negative effects
9. Chemical stimulation of labor–drugs used to speed up contractions, which could have negative effects
10. Delaying birth until the physician arrives
11. Requiring mother to assume the lthotomy position for birth (back flat with knees drawn up) – makes it harder to push – should be in semi-sitting position
12. Routine use of regional or general anesthesia for a delivery
13. Routine use of forceps for delivery – use of forceps is very high in US, and oly 5% in most other countries
14. Routine Episiotemy – intact perineum is better
15. Early Clamping or “Milking” of the umbilical cord
16. Delaying the fist breatfeeding
17. Offering water and formula to the breast-fed newborn infant – may be harmful
18. Restricting newborn infants to a four-hour feeing schedule and withholding nighttimes feedings
19. Preventing early father-child contact – father less likely to give child infections than the hospital itself
20. Restricting intermittant rooming-in to specific room requirements
21. Restricting sibling visitation – visits can be good for the mother and children – just explain to them about not bringing in illnesses
9
Q
Routine Midwifery Care: Why not here?
by: Leah Hyder
A
- Midwifery in the US faces more barriers than other countries
- In Europe, 80% of births involve a midwife
- Midwifery is also prevalent in devloping countries
- Barriers to midwife care in US:
1. Physician opposition (some people think babies are safer with a doctor, but many are safer with midwives)
2. Regulatory barriers - laws vary from state to state
3. Economic woes - paid much less than physicians
4. Access to liability insurance – don’t have malpractice insurance, don’t practice
5. Dearth of education programs –few training programs that fill up quickly
6. Barriers to US subpopulations - minorities used midwives more - Various groups are working toward change in the US for midwives
10
Q
Overview of Maternity Care in the US
by: Carolyn Keefe
A
- The US has the highest per-capita spending on healthcare in the world
- the routine use of unneccesary medical interventions puts mothers and babies at risk and are also expensive – they are mostly used for the legal protection of doctors
- we still have a high infant mortality rate (and its higher for minorities) and maternal mortality rate
- high cesarean birth rate, induction rate, and postpatem depression rate
- obstetric surgical procedures are among the most common surgical procedures performed in the US – and they are primarily performed on healthy women–often not medically neccessary
- midwives are the safest birth option
11
Q
Ideals vs. realities in US Births
by: Citizens for Midwifery
A
- WHO and Mother-friendly childbirth initiative reccommend certain things for childbirth
- reccommned:
- midwives—-US = only 7%
- out of hospital/ where mother prefers births —US= 99% in hospitals
- no electronic fetal monitoring—US= about 85%
- 10% or less induction of labor—-US=21%
- little or no episiotemies—–US=23%
- 10-15% cesarian rates—-US=29%
- breastfeeding—US=67%
12
Q
How do Socioeconomic Factors Affect Disparities in Maternal Mortality?
by: Deborah Maine
A
- maternal mortality is most strongly influenced by women’s access to medical care for complications of pregnancy
- maternal deaths are still very common in the developing world –> not due to poor conditions, but to complications that don’t recieve proper treatment
- and black women in US have higher rates than white women – maybe due to poorer quality of care for minorities
- MM mainly impacted by the technology used to treat obstetric complications (antibiotics, blood banks, safer surgical techniques)
- Main differences between developing countries and developed are: deaths from unsafe abortions, obstructed labor (when cesarean sections arent avilable), and embolism
- poor countries need to change laws and regulations and training their doctors more effectively
13
Q
Who Has Abortions?
by: Abortion Access Project
A
- 50% of women have experienced unintended pregnancies
- 35% will have an abortion by age 45
- over 60% of abortions are by women with one or more children
- teens obtain 19% of aboritons
- abortions: 41% are white, 32% black, 20% hispanic, 6% asian, 1% native american
- represent every religious affiliation
14
Q
Shortage of Abortion Providers
by: Abortion Access Project
A
- 34% of women live in countries which lack facilities that provide even one abortion a year
- 25% of patients travel 50-100 miles to obtain abortion services
- almost every state that allows health care professionals to refuse to provide abortion, contraception or sterilization (for moral or religious beliefs)
- 74% of family practice cheif residents recieve no training in first-trimester abortion
- 44 states have “physician only” clauses in their abortion laws
15
Q
The Side Effects, Risks, and Complications of Medical Abortion
by: Caroline de Costa
A
- medical abortion = involves the expulsion from the uterus of the products of contraception (the embryo or fetus, the placenta and the membranes) – the same process as natural miscarraige
- involves bleeding and some lower abdominal pain (due to contractions from misoprostol) – similar to menstrual cramps
- bleeding can be similar to a heavy period
- sometimes women need surgeries
- misoprostol may cause diorheea, nausea and vomiting-and sometimes dizziness, headache or fever
- in about 1% of women it doesn’t work – if pregnancy continues to term, there could be fetal abnormalities
- doctors must make sure the pregnancy is not eptopic
- be careful providing medical abortions to women with a history of heart disease especially heavy smokers
- infections can sometimes occur
- most side effects are due to misoprostol – but methotrexate has a risk of causing birth abnormalities is abortion doesn’t wrk and pregnancy carries to term
