Sexual Health Fact of the Day #21: STDs can be spread during birth?

rabbleprochoice:

Yes.

If a pregnant person has an STD, they can potentially give it to the fetus or through labor. Some STDs may even induce an abortion or severe anomalies in the fetus.

For example, gonorrhea can cause stillbirth, eye infections, and even ectopic pregnancies or premature birth. Chlamydia can cause pneumonia in a newborn.

There are all sorts of complications that can occur during pregnancy if an STD is present. Luckily, most prenatal care involves a complete STD screen, and if an STD is found it is easily treatable and serious complications can be prevented. 

(Reblogged from rabbleprochoice)

(Source: questionall)

(Reblogged from reagan-was-a-horrible-president)

(Source: acidarmor)

(Reblogged from palpad)

Time to rant

choosechoice:

provoice:

lizayyfigayy:

Okay, so I read today that the day after pill is going to become over the counter. For anyone. Pre-teens can go and em up…w/o parents consent. Why is this what our world is coming to? Just wondering. Like..you can’t give out ibuprofen or Tylenol out at SCHOOLS without parents consent…but we’re giving girls the chance to murder innocent babies so that their parents don’t find out about their mistakes. This is completely disguisting and sickening to me. I’m sorry if you don’t agree but quite frankly, I could care less. these are lives we’re talking about. This is the same exact thing as someone was creating lots of issues for you…so someone handed you a gun and said “go take care of it” …… THE. SAME. EXACT. THING. Please think before you act and don’t take your bad choices out on an innocent life.

Oh darling, pull up a chair and turn on your listening ears. Let’s have a chat, shall we?

The morning-after pill / Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B PREVENTS pregnancy, and is an emergency CONTRACEPTION. Contraception helps prevent unwanted pregnancies, while an abortion terminates an already existing pregnancy. There is a difference.

Now recently, emergency contraception became available over the counter to women* as young as fifteen (fifteen means a teenager, not a pre-teen). Let’s discuss the reasons on why not having to obtain parental consent for Plan B is a good thing:

  • The teen’s parents good kick them out of the house if they’re pregnant/possibly pregnant/having premarital sex.
  • The teen is being raped by a family member.
  • The teen was raped and is afraid to tell their parents.

Remember: Plan B is NOT the abortion pill. Plan B does NOT terminate a pregnancy. Plan B PREVENTS a pregnancy.

If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them!

^^^^

(Reblogged from choosechoice)

maymay:

“Repeat Rape: How do they get away with it?”, Part 1 of 2. (link to Part 2)

Sources:

  1. College Men: Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists,Lisak and Miller, 2002 [PDF, 12 pages]
  2. Navy Men: Lisak and Miller’s results were essentially duplicated in an even larger study (2,925 men): Reports of Rape Reperpetration by Newly Enlisted Male Navy Personnel, McWhorter, 2009 [PDF, 16 pages]

By dark-side-of-the-room, who writes:

These infogifs are provided RIGHTS-FREE for noncommercial purposes. Repost them anywhere. In fact, repost them EVERYWHERE. No need to credit. Link to the L&M study if possible.

Knowledge is a seed; sow it.

(Reblogged from stfusexists)
choosechoice: beutifulmagazine: Fight the oppression of women! So true

choosechoice:

beutifulmagazine:

Fight the oppression of women!

So true

(Reblogged from choosechoice)

signifierofmalepower:

My picks from #safetytipsforladies on Twitter.

Truth hurts…

(Reblogged from choosechoice)

Sexual Health Fact of the Day: The ovary and the egg.

rabbleprochoice:

You are born with all the “eggs” you’ll ever produce in your life. At birth, all of these are primary oocytes (oh-uh-sights), they are not mature “eggs”.

Primary oocytes are “frozen” in a stage of the first phase of meiosis (prophase I) and they stay this way. Primary oocytes eventually become secondary oocytes as the ovarian follicle matures. Primary oocytes become secondary oocytes once they complete the first phase of meiosis. Going through the first phase creates a secondary oocyte and a polar body (a very small cell that gets degraded or reabsorbed by the body). These are expelled from the ovarian follicle upon ovulation.

The secondary oocyte that has been ovulated is “frozen” in metaphase II until fertilization. 

Being fertilized causes the egg to immediately finish meiosis and produce a second, useless polar body, and a zygote. This final completion of meiosis happens very quickly and mistakes happen. This mechanism is partly the reason why so many pregnancies (approximately 50% of all pregnancies, known and unknown) end with spontaneous abortion, because the mistakes made in such a quick split are incompatible with life.

Prior to birth, a fetus has approximately 10 million oogonia (oh-uh-goh-nee-yuh; the precursors to primary oocytes).

At birth, a baby has about 2 million primary oocytes frozen in prophase I.

These oocytes sit in the ovaries until puberty. At puberty there are about 400,000 primary oocytes ready to be ovulated (the first year of periods is usually anovulatory, meaning ovulation does not occur).

From 14-menopause (about 45ish) there are 480 primary oocytes.

The reason so many primary oocytes are lost is because when FSH stimulates them to grow, it goes to both ovaries and more than one follicle begins maturing. Eventually when ovulation occurs (from only one ovary), all of the follicles in the process of maturing stop and degenerate, never to be used again.

Facts are important!

(Reblogged from rabbleprochoice)

My Thoughts on This Whole Danny Brown Oral Sex Thing | NOISEY

This was not something Danny facilitated. It was an actual sexual assault, and nobody cares about that but me because people can’t accept the fact that a white girl raped a black dude onstage in front…

Males can be sexually assaulted, by women. It’s not a novel idea because, as Kitty pointed out already, it’s in a 50 year old book. And she’s right, no matter how uncomfortable it made Danny Brown and his friends feel, that girl won’t be prosecuted… Because thanks to society, if Danny did it he would lose respectability with a large part of his fan base. And that’s fucked up.

(Reblogged from stfueverything)

Liberal Logic

choosechoice:

britneylogan:

Oh, you backwoods paranoid hillbilly, you. Seriously, what’s the harm in expanding background checks for you to buy a gun? It just adds just a LITTLE bit of time to the process. It’s really only a minor inconvenience and you’re throwing a hissy fit over that whole “second amendment” thing. You can wait just a bit until you get permission from the government to buy a gun. It’s for the safety of the children, after all.

What?! Republicans want to institute a 24-hour waiting period for a girl to have an abortion? They’re violating our rights! I should be able to go to a clinic, and get it done with no hassle, no paperwork, no waiting periods, and no red tape! And if a girl is a minor, she shouldn’t even be required to get her parents’ permission (much less the government’s) because that’s an infringement on her autonomy, you fascist!

Pro gun and pro choice here. But I’m all for expanding background checks. Why?

Because right now, at least in my state, a convicted felon can go to a gun show and pick up a handgun, no waiting period, no background check. They can’t do it at a store, but they can at a gun show. And that’s not okay. 

As for the waiting period, there are many places where the closest clinic is 4-5 hours away- one state only has one clinic at all. When someone works, or they’re low-income, or they need someone to drive them, two trips are almost impossible to make without missing work, or not being able to afford the gas, or having someone say “no, I can’t do that”. There’s no point to the waiting period for the abortion except to make more women* give birth against their will. 

And most of the time the waiting period is more than 24 hours because they aren’t even able to get it the next day, they have to go through tests like the ultrasound (sometimes transvaginal) and things like detecting the baby’s heartbeat that can make it daayyss longer. It’s not a minor inconvenience like it is with background checks, which are mostly already in place, so what’s the big fucking whoop to implementing them everywhere, and also can literally take as little as 10 minutes.And if not, why don’t you peruse the store and pick out your bullets?

It comes down to:
“Damn!! I had to wait 10 extra minutes for my gun! That’s bullshit! Might as well look around while I wait.”
And
“Fuck, I have to drive another 100 miles tomorrow, that’s another $40+ in gas, plus I have to take off work again. Shit, I hope I don’t get fired. And on top of all that, probably have to come back the day after too. This is bullshit. Yes, I know what a baby’s heartbeat sounds like, and what the ultrasound looks like too, I’ve had three kids already, I already know I can’t afford another one!”

(Reblogged from choosechoice)
  • Woman: I'm smart
  • Patriarchy: Well you're probably ugly then
  • Woman: I'm creative
  • Patriarchy: You mean unattractive right?
  • Woman: I have all these incredible accomplishments
  • Patriarchy: Yeah but look how ugly you looked doing them
  • Woman: I have value
  • Patriarchy: Not if you're ugly lol
  • Woman: I'm conventionally-attractive & posted selfies on my blog
  • Patriarchy: I'm so sick of these empty-headed chicks only caring about their looks. Just because you are attractive and get attention from men doesn't mean you are special or deserve respect. Why don't you read a book or do something productive with your life you dumb slut
(Reblogged from stfuconservatives)
“

Seriously, if we believe a 14 year old is too immature to know how to take a pill, do we really think she’s adult enough to handle an unwanted pregnancy?

The truth is that the age restriction is completely arbitrary, tied only to our puritanical comfort levels. And listen, I get it; I think it’s fair to say that most people are uncomfortable with the idea of a 14 year old having sex. But here’s the thing - access to Plan B isn’t about keeping a 14 year old from having sex - by the time she gets to the pharmacy, that ship has sailed - it’s about keeping a 14 year old who has already had sex from getting pregnant. And despite what urban legend (or past embarrassing FDA memos) may tell you, making emergency contraception more available is not more likely to make young teens have sex - it will just make them less likely to end up pregnant.

We can’t let our discomfort with teen sex trump young people’s right to sexual and reproductive health and we can’t continue to let politics trump science. If we care about young women’s health and bodily autonomy and integrity, we’ll drop all age restrictions from emergency contraception. Anything less isn’t just illogical - it’s immoral.

“Hey, FDA: Drop the Plan B Age Restriction,” my latest at The Nation (via jessicavalenti)

No fucking shit. Hey, your call dummies: Do you want
a) a bunch of teenage girls taking morning after pills
or
b) a bunch of pregnant teenage girls?

Because  there is no option c here.

Lightning round, bonus points to whoever can guess how many of those pregnant teenage girls will get the abortions you all dread so much…

and how many will die for not getting them…

or not getting them legally since I’m sure you’ll make that as impossible as you can for them too.

(via freshoutoffucks)

(Reblogged from stfuconservatives)

mommapolitico:

mattrenez:

igotaloveshekeepsmewaiting:

melodiesintheair:

jarpadd:

I suggest all females watch this. 

*i suggest all humans watch this.

THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED WATCHING FOR ALL HUMANS

I’m a 17 year old white guy living in middle class America. I’ve never exactly been a supporter of feminism because that kind of thing has never really affected me personally. I don’t notice it and I don’t care about it. But in nine minutes this video has made what is truly a serious problem extremely apparent. Those “why I need feminism” posts or those slut-shaming or rape culture campaigns never convince me of anything. But this video actually did I think.

tl;dr This video kicks ass, just watch it.

Public schools can get a free copy-worthwhile viewing!

(Source: dave-bowman)

(Reblogged from truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
plannedparenthood: Talk about using condoms with your partner before you have sex. Check out these tips on how to talk to your partner about STD testing. Communication is so important in a relationship. It can help keep you safe. View high resolution

plannedparenthood:

Talk about using condoms with your partner before you have sex. Check out these tips on how to talk to your partner about STD testing.

Communication is so important in a relationship. It can help keep you safe.

(Reblogged from plannedparenthood)
“
A woman’s worst nightmare? That’s pretty easy. Novelist Margaret Atwood writes that when she asked a male friend why men feel threatened by women, he answered, “They are afraid women will laugh at them.” When she asked a group of women why they feel threatened by men, they said, “We’re afraid of being killed.

Mary Dickson

[CW: discussion of rape culture and violence]

This reminds me of an article about online (heterosexual) dating that I read a while ago. It listed men’s and women’s worst fears about meeting someone from online. The highest ranked fear that men had was that their date would be fat, whereas the highest ranked fear that women had was that their date would turn out to be violent and kill them. 

I think that says a lot. 

(via kaitg)

Its interesting also that these fears sit subconsciously until woman are asked to exams their responses to men. We women will operate with this fear in mind, the way we protect ourselves, make sure our friends know where we are when we go on a date, words that we use while interacting with men, all in hopes they will not kill us, but simultaneously love us. 

I think bell hooks made a point about this in her series on love. Something along the lines of how can women hope to love and receive love from men when at the foundation of our relationships there is this strong fear of men. You can’t build true trust when your foundation is crumbling under you. 

The scariest part is, once you recognize this fear, and face it, how do you address it when there is evidence of “good” men abusing, hurting, and killing women everyday?

(via becomingchichi)

I was in my early 20’s when one of my homegirls broke this down for me.  

I was in a broken relationship, and one of the things was that bugged me at the time was that the girlfriend at the time would freak out whenever I got angry - I never yelled, never throw or hit things, mostly, I just needed some time to cool out.

“Why does she get scared when I’m angry? I’d never hit her!”

“But she doesn’t KNOW that.  She can’t assume that.  Look at how many dudes are out there pulling shit.”

And that stuck with me for a hot minute.  The relationship was broken on so many levels anyway, but that fact still remains, as a man, I can’t fault women for assuming the worst in order to protect themselves, especially how the world’s patriarchy and misogyny rolls.

(via bankuei)

I’ve had continual discussions with Tchy about this, and I don’t expect to stop. It’s fair to say that there’s no one in the world that I trust more, and he has been extremely careful with me, but… the fact remains that he leans quite a bit towards the masculine, and this means that that fear is always there. The news of transmasculine folks abusing/raping people doesn’t help that fear any. :(

I’m learning not to apologize for it. It’s not my fault (nor, really, is it his) that I’m scared of dude-type people. But it’s always there. Which is another reason why I get so pissed off when trans men try to make transmisogyny about them.

(via kiriamaya)

This is an incredible thread of responses. I’ve seen this quote before, but not the dialogue that built up around it. The part about loud=violent hits home particularly hard for me. I am terrified of getting into irl arguments with men, especially when they get loud. It’s always going to sit in the pit of my stomach.

(via mizbingley)

That part resonates for me too, although from a completely different angle. Despite being more terrified of sexual violence than I am of anything other than my own brain, I do not hesitate to yell, confront, get up in the face of, threaten, even hit men twice my size and many times my strength. Faced with a threat of violence from men, I will either imply or state “I dare you to.”

I also, as previously established on this blog, have a death wish.

To me, that encapsulates everything about the violence, especially sexual violence, coded into relationships between men and women in our society: for a woman to assert herself in the face of maleness may require the woman in question (such as me) to be perpetually suicidal.

(via 14kgoldnyc)

Reblogging for commentary. I have been frightened and scared by men being loud with me, even if I don’t think they’ll be violent. Like people have said above, it’s just a latent response in your brain to fear violence from men.

I went out to dinner with someone a couple of weeks ago (LONG story, was supposed to be a group dinner but it ended up just being me & a strange man) and I told him I blogged about feminism and politics, and he went off on me. He told me feelings were bullshit and women just wanted special privileges, and then he said, “Women don’t give men enough credit for not being violent psychopaths. That’s what we are, deep down. We want to rape and pillage, and we don’t, and women don’t give us enough credit for that.” I burst into tears. That shit was terrifying.

(via stfuconservatives)

I too am reblogging this for the amazing commentary. 

When supposed feminist ally men deny this very basic, simple truth - that’s how you know they are an ally to no one.

This all gets taught to women at a very young age, how dangerous the world is when you’re in it being a woman. I’ve been struggling to write about something that happened with my daughter a few weeks ago, how to form the words, but this is possibly the best context.

We were in the wine shop, in line to pay, and she was so excited to get her lollipop (in the time honored tradition of wine stores everywhere). A man two people ahead of us started fighting with the woman behind the counter about how much money he’d given her. As I was moving her behind my body, my daughter froze, and when I say froze, I mean wasn’t moving a muscle except to shake.

It sorted itself out pretty quickly. We paid and left.

Once we got back into the car, she started crying. I asked her what was the matter, and she said, “Mama, I was so scared. When men get angry they shoot people.”

That’s a direct quote. When men get angry, they shoot people.

I asked her, “Baby, why do you think that?” She replied, “on NPR, that’s what happens. When men get really mad they kill people. That guy was really mad, what if he had a gun? What would you do?”

The talk we had afterwards was difficult; no one said parenting was easy. But this is the life we live as women. If my 9 year old understands it, then men of the world, alleged feminist allies, Nice Guys, random douches on the street, and even actual non-dangerous men: so can you.

(via someauthorgirl)

I’ve reblogged this quote before, I think. But reblogging now for the amazing commentary.

I was having a discussion with my father and brother the other day. We were talking about receiving threats of rape or violence via the internet. Their whole argument was “just ignore it and walk away from your computer”. Amazing solution. Can’t believe I never thought of that. It’s so clever because we all know that when you leave your keyboard the threat of violence disappears. 

Urgh. 

(via lavenderlabia)

(Source: alullaby)

(Reblogged from stfusexists)