Posted 1:24 AM by heather
Menstrual Cycles:: What Really Happens in those 28 Days?!Have you ever wondered about the connection between your body's 28 day cycle and the cycle of the moon? Here's the theory. In the days before electricity, women's bodies were influenced by the amount of moonlight we saw. Just as sunlight and moonlight affect plants and animals, our hormones were triggered by levels of moonlight. And, all women cycled together. Today, with artificial light everywhere, day and night, our cycles no longer correspond to the moon. This article is dedicated to exploring menses: fact and fiction, then and now.

The philosophic foundation of the Feminist Women's Health Center is 'Knowledge is Power.' We believe when women have complete, unbiased information, they are empowered to make their own decisions leading to healthy whole lives. An important role of the FWHC is to provide information, resources for additional information, and give an analysis of the information we present. Here we describe a typical 28 day menstrual cycle and we begin to challenge the dominant American cultural assumptions about menses.

Consider for a moment all you've heard about menstruation. Who first told you? What did they call it? How is menstruation viewed by your culture? What taboos have influenced you? How does your partner feel about your period? What impact has advertising had on your knowledge and attitude? What is the motivation of the advertiser? Is your experience different now compared to earlier in your life?

Posted 7:00 PM by heather

Menstruation, Sex, Personal Hygiene and the Quran

Posted 11:36 PM by heather
Birth control:
When it comes to birth control, Olivia Haeberle and Alicia Mokwa stand on opposite ends of an expanding spectrum. Haeberle uses CycleBeads — a string of color-coded plastic beads that help women practice natural family planning. White beads, symbolizing peak fertility days, even glow in the dark.

Mokwa relies on NuvaRing — a nickel-sized plastic ring inserted into the vagina that stays there for three weeks, releasing a low, constant stream of hormones into the body to stave off pregnancy. They reflect two different camps. One group of women is clamoring for chemical-free alternatives to the pill and barrier methods. Yet, another set of women doesn't mind — even likes — hormones and is demanding longer-lasting protection. They desire a contraception they only need to think about once a month, not once a day.

Posted 11:21 PM by heather
Israel News : Jerusalem Post Internet Edition: By ATIRA WINCHESTER
A new luxury mikve in Gush Etzion offers women an unexpected spa experience

From the outside, the four-month-old bridal mikve (ritual bath) in Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion doesn't look like much. It's situated in the settlement's new neighborhood, where recently completed homes sit haphazardly alongside empty plots, cement mixers, and houses in various states of completion. Nothing in the immediate area - not the mikve's plain white door, nor the wind whipping around the hills - puts you in the mood for a plunge. But inside, it's a different story.

The bridal mikve has its own private entrance. When you step through the doors, you immediately realize that this isn't just another basic, functional mikve, like those found in any Israeli town. The room that greets you has more in common with a spa or miniature hotel lobby. Replacing the customary strip lights, clinical white tiles, and plastic furniture are elegant hidden lighting, warm, earth-colored tiles, and rattan furniture. The walls are decorated with mosaics of palm trees, reminiscent of an oasis, and the pedestal-operated sink is carved out of what looks like ancient stone. At the side of the sink are carefully folded cotton hand towels. These are just the first impressions of possibly the most luxurious mikve in the country.

Leah Salter is the woman behind the mikve. Originally trained in Israel Studies and informal education at Bar-Ilan University, Salter took the opportunity to go back to college and study interior design when a two-year Jewish Agency posting in England turned into a 10-year sojourn. In the end, Salter found more than a new career in England. When she finally returned to Israel in 2000, she did so with a husband and four children in tow. Almost immediately after coming back home, she began working on making the idea of the bridal mikve a reality.

"The idea was to attract younger women, some of them from the Gush area, but also from elsewhere, who may have bad feelings about using the mikve, who sometimes feel that it's something dark and horrible and dirty," explains Salter. (Jewish law requires that married women use the mikve one week after the end of their menstrual period; their immersion enables them to resume intimate relations with their husbands, which is prohibited during the menstrual period and for one week afterward.)

"We wanted to make a beautiful mikve, one that would connect women to the mikvaot of ancient times. Excavations have found 10 or 12 mikvaot in this area. In the Second Temple period people used to stop and do tevila [ritual immersion] here on their way to the Temple. That way, when they got to Jerusalem, they would already be ritually pure. I think it's important for a person to feel that they're part of a chain of tradition, so the idea here was to make it sort of ancient looking, as if we had found one of those mikvaot and renovated it. The stone on the walls is Herodian style, like the stone that's found at the Western Wall. We wanted to emphasize that we're simply continuing what our forefathers did."

Despite good intentions and clear plans, the mikve, built with money from the government and private donations from abroad, took a while to complete. The intifada meant that building work slowed down, and funds were harder to come by. Eventually, the doors of both this mikve and the larger, simpler mikve adjacent to it, opened in December 2003, three and a half years after work began.

Anyone who has used the mikve will agree that it was worth the wait.

Posted 11:17 PM by heather
Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea:
'Foxy Lady' Harisu will be the first transgender individual to appear in an advertisement for menstrual pads. From the middle of next month, Harisu will be appearing as a model in television and magazine ads for imported 'UFT' sanitary napkins. She'll get a guaranteed W100 million an ad for three months. The selection of Harisu, a transsexual, as the model for menstrual pads is setting the advertising world on fire.

Up till now, male stars like Go Su and Gam U-seong have appeared in sanitary napkin ads, but never has a transgender individual appeared in an ad for such a feminine product. The Taiwanese firm UFT really tried hard to cast Harisu in its ads. In fact, when the singer first learned what the company wanted her to market, she was quite hesitant to agree to the project.

UFT, however, explained that the sanitary pads are a cutting-edge product that not only gives women that spring-fresh feeling, but also prevents menstrual cramps. Hearing this, the singer eventually accepted the offer. This ad will be Harisu's first in three years.

Her TV ads will be shot early next month, after which they'll hit the screens. Her printed ads should be in magazines late this month. Harisu, who's hit song 'Foxy Lady' has made her quite busy lately, will return to Korea on Friday. She is currently in the United States, where she will perform a concert after being selected as the 'Korean Artist We'd Most Like to See' by the LA Korean Chamber of Commerce.

Posted 6:32 PM by heather
PMS Predicts Problem Menopause, More Hot Flashes, Mood Swings Reported Later in Life for PMS Sufferers By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD on Wednesday, May 05, 2004

May 5, 2004 -- Women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are likely to have a harder time later in life during the transition to menopause, new research shows.

In a study published in the May issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, investigators found that PMS suffers were twice as likely to experience hot flashes and mood swings as they approached "the change" as women who did not have PMS.

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