Slide 1The Body & How We Describe ItThe Beauty IdealSlide 4Reproductive HealthReproductive JusticeOther Important Topics CoveredSlide 8Women’s Bodies, Women’s HealthChapter 5 OverviewThe Body & How We Describe ItThe body is very malleable and resilient. Women’s bodies undergo many changes through puberty, menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, and agingDescribing the variability in the human body, biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling proposes that there should be five sexes.One can find levels of masculinity and femininity at every possible permutationThe question “who is a woman?” is not one that can be answered simplyHealth is a complex mix of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-beingThe Beauty IdealFemale bodies and disabled bodies are viewed as “deviant and inferior”Hierarchical thinking also separates body and mind•Superior – The mind (associated with maleness)•Inferior - Organic, bodily processes (associated with femaleness)Dominant U.S. culture often reduces women to bodies; women’s value is in relation to sex and child-bearingWomen’s bodies are sexualized and commodifiedA key part of liberation movements for women, LGBTQQI people, people of color and people with disabilities has been the reclaiming of our bodies as strong and beautifulThin, lean, tall, young, white and heterosexual, with flawless skin and well-groomed hairSimilar to "structures that privilege whiteness, cultural and social structures privilege the thin…body”Beauty Ideals Can Make You SickThe impossible beauty standards lead to extreme dieting, eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia), extreme exercising, and overall poor health and nutritionWhen women’s bodies are objectified as commodities, women view their bodies as disconnected parts that are all in need of improvementIdeal beauty standards are ableist, ageist, heterosexist, and racistMainstream culture equate beauty and powerResisting Stereotypes & Size AcceptanceBeauty standards are cultural constructs and vary from group to group Large women of all racial/ethnic groups challenge the weight-loss industry stereotypes and mainstream assumptions that they are sloppy, irresponsible, undisciplined, depressed, etc. The health of an individual is not determined by their sizeReproductive HealthThe deeply personal experience of being pregnant is also a political issueControlling women’s bodies through fertility is not a new phenomenon (see: “Killing the black body”).Women would like to have control of their reproductive health The pill was the first chemical contraceptive to be taken every dayThere are many birth control methods Some of those methods have been connected to eugenics (selective breeding)•Depo-Provera•Norplant•Quinacrine (sterilizing agent)Reproductive JusticeAttitudes towards abortion have varied greatly over time throughout different societies In the U.S. up until the mid-19th century, women were allowed to seek abortion in the early part of the pregnancy. By 1900, the only legal ground for an abortion was to save the life of the mother1973, Roe v. Wade made abortion legal based on constitutional “right to privacy” under due process clause in the 14th AmendmentEver since this legislation was enacted, it has been contested (1977 Hyde Amendment that withdrew state funding for poor women)Reproductive justice relates to broader issues of social and economic justiceThis offers a way of thinking about wellness for individuals, communities, and for the wider society in terms of the eradication of oppression and injusticeOther Important Topics Covered Reproductive Health cont.•Controlling fertility•Birth Control•Abortion•Sterilization•Sexually Transmitted InfectionsMedicalization of Reproductive Life•Childbirth•Reproductive Technologies•MenopauseWomen and Illness•Health Disparities: Race, Class, and Gender•Mental and Emotional HealthHealth and Aging•Limits of the U.S. Medical IndustryHealth as WellnessA More Holistic Health System•Self-Education and Preventative Care•Complementary and Alternative Therapies•Feminist Health Projects2010: 7.6 million children died before their 5th birthday (mainly from malnutrition, malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, and HIV/AIDSMost of these conditions can be prevented or cured with improvements including: better sanitation, clean water supply, better housing, adequate food supply, general hygiene, childhood vaccinations, bed nets and other malaria prevention treatments, oral rehydration therapy, and antibioticsPoor nutrition and being underweight puts children under five at great risk for illness. Poverty is a determinant to being underweight.The World’s Deadliest Disease is