Ivy on the walls but not around the lettering

Falling behind?

2009-05-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a while!

I have all of my data entered, but I haven't done much with it yet. The whole time that I was entering it, I kept coming up with ideas for how my survey could've been better. I really want to do some kind of quick, online interviews with people to make up for the places that I screwed up.

Also, I've found a couple of really good articles that I am going to add to my lit review. And I've also found some horrible ones. For example:

From a psychodynamic point of view, the pill might cause a greater change in the woman's ego-functioning than the IUD since it alters the 'natural' hormonal balance and diminishes the importance of the uterus by more or less eliminating menstruation. The IUD, on the contrary, might intensify the focusing on the uterus, because it usually increases the menstrual bleeding. When properly used, the pill is almost 100% safe, whereas the IUD is not that safe. Thus, the pill would be preferred by women who are less traditional in their role orientation, viz. more masculine on the psychological masculinity-femininity scale, and the IUD users might be more oriented toward a traditional female role.

Ah, psychology...

An interesting aspect is that dysmenorrhea has been regarded as a protest against menstruation in women who unconsciously are less adapted to the female role. This would also fit the hypothesis that women who are less traditionally feminine prefer the pill.

I could see this coming out of the 1950s, but this was written in 1984.

This is not a love song

2009-05-08T06:21:00.001-07:00

This is not a public health survey.

I'm entering in my data, and I'm surprised at a couple of things: That students are so inept at following directions and at reading comprehension, and that they seem to think of contraception only in a public health context -- that is, they assume that I'm asking these questions to gauge whether or not they are being "safe" with their sexual relationships, either in terms of preventing pregnancy or preventing HIV.

For instance, one respondent reported that they use the withdrawal method, but felt the need to add that "it's stupid, I know." Another respondent listed their having "30+" sexual partners as "probably too many." And, my personal favorite is the person who wrote "This is the same survey we get every year!"

Because it is so NOT the same survey. You don't get extra points for using condoms in conjunction with the Pill to be safer, nor do you get extra points for abstinence, or, as one guy REALLY wanted me to acknowledge, being married.

I'm not trying to gauge sexual health practices. I'm trying to determine whether or not men and women are on the same page when it comes to contraceptive responsibility.

How I chose my topic, part 1

2009-05-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons why I chose the topic that I did is because I want to examine adversarial sexual beliefs. In a course that I took on domestic violence, we read studies that suggested that men who view women as adversaries rather than allies are more likely to be abusive. Men who rate highly on the Adversarial Sexual Beliefs scale think of male-female relationships as being manipulative and coercive: women are out to trap a man into a relationship, women make excessive demands of men, women take advantage of men, etc. These beliefs can lead to domestic violence if the man, because of his negative view of women, feels that he needs to "lay down the law" in order to keep the woman from gaining the kind of dominance over him that he believes all women are after.

Obviously, domestic violence is an overt expression of adversarial beliefs about male-female relationships. What I am studying is more subtle, but I still feel that the type of gender divide that I am looking at can be described as "adversarial" -- indeed, I believe that reproductive health is an area where this type of male-female relationship comes to a head, particularly because of the biological essentialism that is involved (the idea that women's bodies are FOR reproduction, and that because their bodies are the site of conception, men have very little to do with the process aside from their initial contribution).

It is interesting to me that while the male viewpoint is the dominant one in our society, it doesn't seem that many feminist and other groups promoting equality are actively pushing for a discourse of reproductive health in our society that focuses on male/female cooperation and egalitarianism. Rather, it seems to me that these groups tend to equate a woman's ability to chose from an ostensibly wide array of contraceptive methods as a form of "empowerment," even as this discourse serves the continuation of female otherness. In other words, how many men in our society consider birth control to be solely the providence of women, due both to factors of biology and of female empowerment?

Indeed, women are seen as the ones who must bear the brunt of preventing an unintended pregnancy because it is their bodies that stand to be affected the most. So they are the ones who have to take the Pill, or go to the clinic every three months for an injection, or painfully have an IUD inserted. They are expected to do these things despite side effects; because it is their bodies that are the site of pregnency, they are also the site of prevention. A male pill has been discussed for at least the past 20 years, but it never seems to materialize. Currently, sexually active men who wish to prevent pregnancy only have two options: condoms and permanent sterilization. Condoms are seen as something to be used during casual sex, and perhaps initially in a monogamous relationship - but after a certain time period, it is expected that the woman will take over contraceptive duties, most likely through a hormonal method.

It seems that this kind of biological essentialism, coupled with the sacredness of female "choice" that was born out of the fight for abortion rights, has created a social environment where men are actively excluded from contraceptive decision-making with their female partners. From an early age, we are not taught about our bodies in a way that portrays men and women as allies: for instance, girls and boys are separated into different rooms during health classes, which I believe contributes to an overall sense of separation and female otherness. Continuing on into adulthood, women have special, separate health clinics and services, while it is quite rare to see a "Men's Clinic." It is almost as if we are two different species who just happen to be able to come together to mate. This is how adversarial relationships are fostered, through otherness and secrecy.

I believe that when female contraception is framed as a form of empowerment, as it is currently, this only strengthens the idea that women are some kind of strange and mysterious creatures, others who deviate from the (male) norm. Even though the act of heterosexual sex involves both sexes, the prevention of pregnancy tends to be relegated to the female sphere. It is viewed as "women's work" as much as doing the dishes and vaccuuming the floors used to be (or still is, depending on who you ask!). Like the bread-winner/home-maker model, contraception involves a division of labor that places women in a separate sphere; with such a division, can there really be equality?

More later.

Pre-writing -- Mind and Body

2009-04-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

As part of my thesis-writing process I've decided that I also need to get back into better physical shape. This spring, I'm taking cardio kickboxing at EMU, and a class at the Ypsi yoga studio.

When I e-mailed the yoga instructor, who was recommended to me by my friend K, she wrote back responding that "oh, K is a beautiful light!" And I was like FUCK, she is a "beautiful light!" I always felt like there was some kind of deal about her that I could never put my finger on, and I guess that's it. She burns bright with an inner-goodness that I always took for some kind of weird naivete.

Would anyone ever describe me as a beautiful light? I doubt it. But I can still take a yoga class, balance my energies and whatnot. If K is a beautiful light, I'm some kind of wildfire out of control -- burn so fast it scares me. Alternately, I am a candle flame drowning in wax, struggling not to flicker out. Which, obviously, is why I'm seeking balance.

But, anyway, that is what my spring is looking like: writing, kickboxing, yoga, and walking. I'm pretty excited. This is kind of a vacation week for me... it all starts next Monday.

Off to a good start.

2009-04-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

I got my fingers mashed in a doorjamb at work yesterday so I don't think I'll be doing too much typing today!

srsly.