I will go on about a recent read, though. Ami McKay’s The Virgin Cure was a holiday gift (thanks L) and I’ve just finished it. If you read McKay’s first novel, The Birth House, you know her writing is poetic and dances with difficult subjects. The Virgin Cure carries on.

The Virgin Cure tells the story of girls and women in 19th century New York, where restrictions were many and opportunities few. Moth, a twelve year old cast out into the streets, joins “the training” to become a whore (the word of the day). A caring female (!) doctor worries that Moth will be used for “the virgin cure” – a man’s attempt to rid himself of syphilis, which in those days was incurable.  

It is beautifully written, though its topic is hard to read. It reminded me of the recent “virgin cure” mythology that having sex with a virgin will cure HIV. This one is also untrue, but like the days of the syphilis cure, used nonetheless. Even babies have been raped in the attempt to find a cure. There is no cure for HIV, although there’s treatment that can make it almost medically bearable- the social stigma is a different thing.

Thanks goodness for women like Betty Makoni in Zimbabwe who founded the Girl Child Network to help survivors of sexual abuse who have been targeted for the virgin cure. I’m grateful she’s there for the after effect, but wish to all the power we humans have that this wouldn’t have to be the case.

Education about how HIV is transmitted, prevented and treated should be available to anyone and everyone. Providing our children and our adult selves solid comprehensive sexual health information is as necessary as teaching morals. I choose morals as that accompaniment specifically, as I’ve heard it claimed that teaching sex education goes against morals. I say that teaching someone how their body works and how disease/ illness can affect it is part of a larger conversation about how we care for ourselves and each other in the world, of which morals are a part.

But even with education, there are the gender imbalances. *Deep sigh.*

One lament per post.

A great read, reminder and reason for thorough sex education and standing up for kids’ rights, I do recommend The Virgin Cure. And resolve to continue in sex education and sexual health rights.

Janet

Loved this “Best of re:Cycling Blog” list  from the The Society for Menstrual Cycle research.  DO read the “Menopause isn’t for Dummies” post- good old Roseanne is at it for those of us in perimenopause.  

Best science crud of the year: Celebrities deliver “health” information. Thanks to colleague Robyn Sussel over at Signals for this one. 

Florida’s Sun Sentinel sums up the “Top Ten Sexual Health Events of 2011” Coverage on teens, boomer sexuality, sex education and living longer with HIV.
 
Happy New Year to all!

- Janet

Photo: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Several pieces in particular caught my attention in the past week. One was from the Jamaican Women’s Media Watch (WMW). They’ve launched a training manual for gender aware media. In the piece covering the release, training Coordinator Hilary Nicholson said,

“What used to be considered pornography or even soft porn, now reaches school children on their cell phones and it has become so everyday that we don’t even see it as soft porn, it’s just considered sexy.”

“Sexy” is used for selling everything. If you have your wits about you when watching a fifteen second commercial, it can be laughable how sexy women are used to sell the most unsexy things. I try to have my wits about me when watching TV with the kids, but honestly, I don’t always. After a long work day, picking up the kids, making dinner, returning phone calls, and all the stuff that goes into planning for the next day, my wits have often walked.

But I will be discussing these ones – Virginia over at Beauty Schooled posted an article on iVillage last week about bikini waxes being peddled to twelve year-olds. Twelve! I was thankful that Lissa Rankin and others retweeted my outrage when I first shared the post- the more energy for this issue, the better. Telling twelve year olds to reject their natural bodies before they’re even done developing follows the nasty hate-your-body theme. And you probably heard about retail chain H&M admitting they combine digital bodies and real heads to “create” their models. Un-real women. Again, not in a good way.

I am thankful for the many people talking about this stuff so we can support each other and our kids and  challenge these advertising norms. Helping my kids have analysis is important; helping change things is vital.

 - Janet

As the details of the murders at L’Ecole Polytechnique came out, the city reeled. It was a horrible time. Twenty-two years ago- a lifetime ago that those women will never know. They’d be middle aged like me now.

A friend of mine won’t speak the name of their murderer. “Why give him any more air time?” she asks. The focus should be on the women, not on perpetuating his name in Canadian history. It’s a tough piece of our history, for sure.

Sadly, violence against women occurs every minute of every day around the world. Girls and women are controlled via culture, society, finances, fists and weapons. They’re controlled by lack of sexual health education and sexual health services.  They’re abused through physical and sexual violence in all kinds of socially sanctioned relationships. Many girls and women in the world live their lives in fear.  

Twenty-two years ago in Montreal, women like me were afraid too. What had happened was way too close. I handed in a paper- late and lousy. My professor remarked that it wasn’t up to my usual style. I admitted that I’d been having a hard time since the shootings. He was flabbergasted, then immediately apologetic, saying I should have asked for more time. It hadn’t occurred to me, because the message to women is that we must always get on with things. Get along.  

Violence against women shouldn’t be bearable. We shouldn’t have to get along. It should be something the world fights against, for ourselves, our daughters, our sons.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the women from Montreal. Take a minute to remember. Then, please, talk to someone about making change. If you’re in Vancouver, join Women Against Violence Against Women at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Look locally wherever you are, because people are trying to make change.Together we have to make a difference.

- Janet

Twenty years ago some visionary women set out to support women with HIV in Vancouver, BC. They were women with HIV and women from various backgrounds- nursing, social work, and education. They knew something needed to be done for women specifically, and their first meeting in the common room of a housing co-op led to the nationally recognized organization that Positive Women’s Network is today. Positive Women’s Network (aka PWN) not only provides support to women with HIV, they also develop education, prevention and health promotion info- like You Should Know. One of the big themes talked about back then was the stigma that women face, especially as members of intricate family units that centre around them.

Stigma still exists everywhere for women with HIV. A Canadian study of women revealed that stigma figures highly in their day to day lives, as do sexism and racism.  Women the world over report this. There is stigma in having HIV, and stigma in “bringing it into the family” whether this was the actual case or not. Women who discover their HIV status during pregnancy often bear the brunt of blame, as they receive the diagnosis their husbands haven’t sought.  

But women challenge stigma, and challenge the destruction that HIV brings. The Grandmothers to Grandmothers movement is a great example. Many grandmothers in African countries have to step back into parenting their orphaned grandchildren when adult children die of AIDS. Grandmothers here in Canada work to raise awareness of the need for this work and funds to support it through the Stephen Lewis Foundation. (Yes, that IS a plug to donate!)

Peer support is also an essential part of confronting HIV as it weaves through medical, political, socioeconomic, geographical, and intimately personal pieces of life. (Yes, that sentence is a challenge. – but so is living with HIV). Members at Positive Women’s Network say “PWN is a confidential and safe space created for women…it feels like a family, feels like going home.”

As one woman puts it, “Women heal women.”

But women can’t do this work alone. Women and men need to work together to change the shape of what it’s like to live with HIV. Many courageous and strong people do just that. As the Positive Women’s Network community contemplates the beginning our twenty-first year in “Challenging HIV. Changing Women’s Lives” we ask everyone to “Do something” on World AIDS Day. Learn about HIV; talk safer sex with those you care about, young and old. Share the humility that this could happen to any one of us – risk factors for HIV transmission are based on human vulnerabilities. Make sure you and your loved ones know how to prevent HIV and where to go for support should it be needed. Don’t deny- do something.

- Janet

 Photo: MorgueFile

Another edit of this post is on Positive Women’s Network

That’s the message behind a new campaign that was launched recently in Vancouver, a part of a larger project called Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/ AIDS. Its acronym is STOP, and the goal is to eliminate new HIV infection.  

Part of halting new infections is identifying current infections. The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that about a quarter of Canadians who have HIV don’t know it. In the U.S., the estimate is that about one fifth of HIV+ folks don’t know.  

HIV can go undetected for many years because it doesn’t produce obvious symptoms, even though it is damaging the immune system. But because a person can have HIV for many years before being aware of it, they might transmit HIV unknowingly. You can’t tell from looking at someone whether or not they have HIV. If they don’t know, neither will you. This is where It’s Different Now comes in.

The campaign encourages people to get tested because HIV healthcare and management has changed dramatically – for testing, treatment and life. The test itself is being offered on a more routine basis. It’s not a judgment call about that slippery “lifestyle” concept, it’s framed as health screening that everyone should get.

For folks who do test positive, treatment may be suggested if their health warrants it. HIV treatment can have a huge impact on your health and that of your sex partner(s). HIV treatment reduces the amount of virus circulating in the blood (known as viral load) and slows the reproduction of HIV, giving the immune system a chance to recover. When viral load is under control, the likelihood of passing on HIV is reduced considerably, as I blogged about recently. Hence “treatment as prevention.”  

And treatment, if it’s needed, is simpler than ever before. For some people it can be as minimal as one pill a day, with few side effects. Life with HIV won’t mean you go on as before- of course it’s an adjustment. But you don’t have to worry as much about dying a premature death. With access to treatment,* many of the people diagnosed with HIV these days will live close to a normal lifespan.

Should you test positive, there’s more than medical support out there. Positive Women’s Network offers support for women with HIV in BC, and there are other organizations that do so elsewhere.  

If you haven’t been tested for HIV, check out the It’s Different Now website for information on why, how and when you can get tested. “We don’t think you’re special” reads the promo. In other words, just do the healthy thing.

Janet

*The worldwide challenge with treatment as prevention is that providing treatment is beyond the means of many countries and individuals. Individual advocates and organizations are working to address this, including the William J. Clinton Foundation. 

 December 1 is World AIDS Day. This year the UNAIDS theme is “Getting to Zero.” See the many intepretations.

I was angry, appalled and disheartened to read about the bras being sold for four year-olds. Seriously, what is up with that? I am so frustrated with the ongoing onslaught on little girls and boys by association. One is formed to be viewed and the other as the viewer. 

Oh sure, some may argue that kids looove dress up, and these tiny bras are just another part in the play. I don’t agree. Dress up in my mind involves things that are obviously a costume. The ads for these bras look like a uniform- one that is directed at children who are way too young to consider such a thing.  

Our girls and boys deserve to be children who are not sexualized by adults. They deserve to be grounded in their bodies, keen to messages of hunger, fullness, energy, fatigue. To have support in being comfortable and confident as their own sexuality emerges. And supported to express it as is age appropriate.

Yes, kids will explore their bodies sexually at four- it’s a normal part of development. But that doesn’t mean adults should sexualize girls in an adult way by slapping a bra on her to emphasize what will become sexual objects later in life (breasts solely as sex objects is another rant again).  

I have a daughter and a son, so I think about how these kinds of images and products affect them both. And I have to speak up, speak out.

- Janet

With thanks to Elena at The Illusionists for bringing this to my attention. She’s working on a film about the the pursuit of beauty and the body as a commodity.

 photo: Morguefile

I had fun, but obviously I’m missing one of Halloween’s points. Because the point is sex.

My brief Google search under “Halloween costumes” shows sexualized costumes for everyone from five to ninety five. I don’t like the sexy little numbers for five year olds, because I don’t think it’s “cute” to dress a girl up to look like a sexy woman. We get enough of that in everyday life, thanks.   

But should we wish, those of us who are older can choose what we want in terms of playing with our sexuality on All Hallows Eve.

The sexy current of Halloween allows some playing with boundaries, expectations and fantasies. Blogger Soojin Chang points out it would be great if we could feel good about acting sexy all the time, not just at Halloween. I’m totally behind that.

Dan Savage compares Halloween to Gay Pride, saying it’s THE time for heteros to let loose. He has a point- when else is it condoned for folks to let their hair down (and out)? Halloween is the go-to night for garish, ghoulish and grandiose; whether it’s erotica or horror you’re after. Or both, if you like.

Enjoying the many possibilities of your sexuality and enjoyment is a lovely part of life, and shouldn’t be limited to one night. Continue to enjoy your fantasies, and have safer sex – I couldn’t leave that out. Life is short.

- Janet

*Sadly, there is no picture, or I’d post it- we were too busy laughing.

Photo: Morguefile/ Carmen L Vilanova

Learning about our health is a lifelong process, as we’re always growing, shifting, aging, dealing with injuries and illness. And looking after our health can be difficult if we don’t have the information we need to make decisions. Being able to get easy-to-use information, interpret it for your circumstances, and make health decisions knowledgeably is health literacy.

Health literacy starts with a fundamental question- do you have the information you need? And this is where communication is so important. This can be part of a conversation but also applies to written information. Health information that supports health literacy is written so you can understand and use it. This isn’t always the case if you’re handed an information sheet on an illness or medication that is written in medical jargon. If you don’t understand your medical information, ask questions.

For instance,  a friend underwent surgery for vaginal prolapse. Her doc said it was “routine” and not a big deal. She assumed she’d be back at work in a couple of weeks, and at the end of those weeks felt something might be wrong because she was still so sore. When she called to clarify with doctor, he said to expect more like six weeks. “Routine” doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal, but both my friend and the doc missed that piece of communication pre-operatively.

Talking to your doctor or health care provider about what you need to know is essential. Telling your health care provider what he or she needs to know about you is essential too.

When it comes to your sexual health, it may feel awkward to admit you don’t know things, but better to ask for information than not have it at all. Have you talked to your doctor about sexual activity, and have you been tested or screened for STIs as needed? They won’t test or screen you for things they can’t imagine you’ll need, and unfortunately, assumptions can be made. I once interviewed a woman with HIV woman who said she had to insist her doctor test her, and when it came back positive, the doc was more surprised than she was.

If by chance a test does come back positive, do you know how the STI will be treated? Do you understand the directions and duration for treatment? You are your own best advocate.

Health literacy will continue our whole lives, whether we’re looking after ourselves or those in our communities. We can all be intimidated by doctors, so remember that you are the most important piece when getting care- your doctor‘s job is to support you. Asking for clarity is your right as you make your way down the road.

- Janet

I’m hoping that microbicides will be an option soon. Microbicides are chemical barriers that will be able to prevent HIV transmission between sex partners.  They could come in the form of a vaginal gel or suppository. They would block HIV (and potentially other STIs) via a physical or chemical barrier. And they’d be in women’s hands. It hasn’t been easy to develop one, but last week the rocky road to microbicides gained another signpost.

To explain the new development, I’ll backtrack to the CAPRISA trial. CAPRISA was designed to study a vaginal gel containing tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV. The gel protected women by reducing the incidence of HIV transmission by 39%, as well as reducing herpes transmission by 51 %. (As herpes outbreaks can increase the risk of HIV infection, this was great).  

Currently underway is the VOICE trial, and it’s designed to study vaginal gel with tenofovir as well as the use of oral tenofovir as pre-exposure prophylaxis (also known as PrEP) to HIV. Ideally, the oral tenofovir could have the same end as a topical microbicide: preventing HIV infection. There are two arms to the oral tenofovir portion of the study. One uses tenofovir alone and the other is tenofovir and emtricitabine in a combination tablet- Truvada by the brand name.  

But VOICE released a news update that the study has been modified because it was found that the oral tenofovir alone wasn’t preventing HIV transmission any better than the placebo. About 1,000 women in the trial were taking tenofovir alone, and they’ll no longer be part of the study, although they will continue to receive HIV testing and care. The study will continue on the other arms: the oral combination of Truvada, plus the tenofovir gel.

I’m hoping microbicides are within reach; I even dream of one for rectal use- it’s not just MSM who have anal sex. Developing a microbicides for rectal use has its own set of challenges simply because rectum is open to the body, necessitating different types of considerations than the “closed” system of the vagina. Until we have a dependable microbicides, we’ll have to rely on condoms (male and female), dental dams, talking and testing. But we’re getting closer.

- Janet