Writing: Women, Media, Body Image.
Articles about Body Image
An Image to Heal
The Humanist
The idea that we can--and should--accept our natural body types is a relatively new concept. For over a century, newspapers and magazines have been deluging Americans with images of ideal beauty, and only strict emulation of these ideals has been sanctioned as attractive.
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Our Bodies, Our Daughters
Mothering magazine
In this day and age, raising daughters is a big responsibility, and perhaps because I am the mother of sons as well as a psychoterapist for young women, I can both stay objective and feel the heat of this burning point. Burning, because despite the feminist gains of the 20ths century, girls today are in danger of having their wings singed as they navigate their way to womanhood.
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Articles about Breast Cancer
Mastectomy is a Personal Decision
Voice of the People, Chicago Tribune
Is the increased incidnce of breast cancer due to better detection technology, a decreased age of menarche, or a diet too high in fat? We don't really know for sure. What we do know is that breast cancer is treatable if it's caught early, and is often a death sentence if it's not.
How do you guarantee early detection? As I was getting my roots touched up at the salon last week, the woman sitting next to me shared this sobering story: A friend with a strong family history of breast cancer got mammograms every six months. Even with all that diligence, her breast cancer had spread to lymph nodes before it was finally detected. Should this woman have been counseled to have had a preventive mastectomy? Perhaps it would have made her chemotherapy ordeal a lot easier, and her prognosis a lot more positive.
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