To contribute your suggestions and see the recommendations of others, go to this page at Goodreads – you’ll have to join the site (it’s free, and I use it) in order to share your books or rate books on the list.

I know Ms. is often criticized for reflecting the concerns of only certain types of feminists – this is one chance to participate and draw attention to feminist books that reflect broader experiences. As a librarian, I’d love to hear people’s suggestions as well.

Filed under: Libraryland

(1) it has to have at least two women in it, who
(2) who talk to each other, about
(3) something besides a man.

This video provides a great introduction to the concept:

For your reference, http://bechdeltest.com/ lists movies with their status on the test (such as, “There are two or more women in this movie, but they only talk to each other about a man.”) Users can add to, comment on, or disagree with the status currently associated with a given film.

The comic strip that popularized the rule and a bit of backstory can be found at http://alisonbechdel.blogspot.com/2005/08/rule.html [hey, that post is from 2005, so I'm only *five* years behind there!]

Filed under: Miscellaneous

Zen Habits has 20 ways to eliminate stress that I should really pay more attention to.

Via Siobhan at Bringing Health Information to the Community, I learned about DeafMD, which provides health information in video form using American Sign Language. It includes videos on numerous diseases, understanding laboratory and imaging tests, and a searchable database of doctors they consider deaf-friendly (submitted by readers; no criteria for deaf-friendliness described).

Pam’s House Blend has the video and transcript of Dan Choi’s appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show. I have to admit, I teared up a little watching this segment. Pam has been covering Choi’s case pretty extensively, including his appearance at Netroots Nation.

Maddow has also been covering the Shirley Sherrod case extensively – not health-related, but important. There are plenty of good commentaries out there about the media, politics, and race aspects of this story, but I would also point out that it’s an important example for those of us in information work as a media literacy teaching tool. In other words, although video may seem to get us as close as possible to the truth of what a person has said or done, it’s still possible that a video snippet is not providing the whole story or the truth of the context. Smart teachers of information and media literacy will use this case as a perfect and unfortunate tool for illustrating this point.

The New York Times has a piece asking Should Patients Read the Doctor’s Notes? I say yes, regardless of physicians’ apparent fears of being sued, of being bothered with questions about their notes, of having to actually think about how patients might react to these notes *about their own bodies and medical care.* Aside from which, it’s the law that they’re able to. I’ve accessed and reviewed my own medical records fairly regularly compared to most people, I guess, and as a result have read the notes from my own partial thyroidectomy, found out the results of an allergy test the provider never bothered to get back to me about, and pondered the weirdness of a note that “patient refused breast exam” from a provider who never offered me one (and I can’t think of any reason why they would have). It’s both weird and awesome and I recommend it to everyone.

Via Culture Conductor via Derrick, I learned about Genderfork, “a supportive community for the expression of identities across the gender spectrum.” Somehow I got from there to this list awesome list of recommended reading to explore; there are book posts on the site itself, too.

Relatedly, Lee Wind at I’m Here I’m Queer What the Hell Do I Read? has a post on where one should buy their books and the effect that choice has, including a plug for local libraries and their interlibrary loan services.

While we’re on libraries, my OBOS co-blogger Christine also posts for the MacArthur Foundation’s Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning (which has some really cool info). One of her recent posts has a nice libraries focus, PLAYBACK: Why Libraries? Why Books? And Why Study at Harold B. Lee?

Over at OBOS, we’ve had posts this past week on Avastin, DCIS, and early breast cancer detection, ACOG’s new VBAC recommendations (which place an increased emphasis on informed decision-making and patient autonomy), a new microbicide discussed at the recent International AIDS Conference, shackling of incarcerated women during labor, and a book review of “Willing and Unable: Doctors’ Constraints in Abortion Care.”

There’s a new Cochrane review on the efficacy of hormonal contraceptives in overweight or obese women. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.

Robin Marty at RHRC reports from the The View from Under the Bus: The Search for Common Ground on Abortion panel at Netroots Nation.

In horrifying news of the week, Uzbek women accuse state of mass sterilizations. There are no words.

Via Deeply Problematic, Vaseline Issues “Skin-Whitening” App for Facebook. Unilever’s response to CBS News was apparently basically, “but it’s for the Indian market!”

The GAO released a new report, Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests: Misleading Test Results Are Further Complicated by Deceptive Marketing and Other Questionable Practices. The New York Times’s Prescriptions blog also has some notes/coverae on this story.

Locally, I’m hoping to go see the play “41″ – a reflection on the Stonewall riots – at the Darkhorse Theater in Nashville next weekend. Out & About has more.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Advertising/Marketing, Birth, Boobs, Contraception, Events & Observances, HIV/AIDS, Libraryland, Pregnancy, Web Resources

The topic of the book – the reasons why physicians who are not ideologically opposed to providing abortion and are trained to do so are not providing them in the course of their practice – ties in nicely to a recent article in the New York Times, “The New Abortion Providers,” if you read that in this Sunday’s magazine.

As a bit of local interest, the book is published by the larger workplace’s Vanderbilt University Press.

Filed under: Abortion, Access, Rights, & Choice, Reviews

Heather at Scarleteen is inviting people to participate in a new series in which people of two generations discuss their experiences, such as of teen motherhood, being trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, HIV positive, or asexual, abortion, surviving rape and sexual abuse, and other topics listed here. See the post and send her an email if you’re interested in participating.

Amy at Science and Sensibility recommends Trish Greenhalgh’s book, How to a Read a Paper, and I definitely second that recommendation. Great, clear stuff on understanding study design and interpretation.

The New York Times Magazine has a great piece, The New Abortion Providers, on barriers physicians face in providing abortion and integrating it into mainstream medical care. Christine has a post commenting on this at Our Bodies Our Blog, and later this week I will have a review there of a related book on the topic.

Via PZ Myers at Pharyngula, I saw this hilarious (hilarious in that depressing way) take on the model Disney provides for young women, from the Second City Network:

Last week, NPR has a story on the practice of shackling incarcerated women during labor and delivery. It points out that only 10 states have laws against this practice, despite recommendations from professional medical organizations against the practice and the exceeding rarity of escape attempts by very pregnant women.

This terrible excuse for a person – Ron Ramsey – is running for Governor in Tennessee. He actually says (right around 4:43 in the video): “You could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion or is it a nationality, way of life or cult, whatever you want to call it.” Needless to say, I will not be voting for Ramsey. I would encourage others not to vote for him, either.

Ramsey’s remarks are related to a bunch of similarly terrible excuses for people who are protesting the building of a mosque in Murfreesboro, TN.

Renee at Womanist Musings has a post talking about abortion and adoption, that people often try to talk women out of abortion by telling them they will regret it, but that there is very little talk about adoption-related regret – “It’s interesting that in this society — that supposedly respects and honours mothers, that once again their voices are muted to push an ideological position. ” Someone has already recommended the book, The Girls Who Went Away, in the comments. Wake Up Little Susie is another book on a similar theme.

The MedlinePlus consumer health information site from the National Library of Medicine has a new look. Siobhan reviews some of the changes. There is lots and lots of non-English-language health info for patients at this site.

Finally, found via Speak to Power, a Scottish public service ad explaining that nobody “asks for it” (even with their clothing choices) with regard to rape.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Access, Rights, & Choice, Advertising/Marketing, Birth, Body Image & Eating Disorders, Funny, Government, Miscellaneous, News Round-Ups, Pregnancy, Sex & Sex Education, Web Resources, Women’s Health