To our health ...

Read this: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/11/women.health/index.html

"Improve women’s health, improve the world" - the article says.

It’s not a new idea, but it’s a wonder that it still hasn’t caught on in so many countries around the world.

And truthfully, it hasn’t really caught on in the United States either - not when  you’ve got people in congress trying to pass a health care bill that includes something as stupid as the Stupak Amendment which would prevent women who purchase a public option form of insurance from having abortion coverage, should they need it, “because tax payers shouldn’t have to pay for abortion” the pundits argue.

Well, if the public option doesn’t cover abortions, tax payers will be paying for those children who are born into homes where a mother can’t afford the child, or the child ends up in foster care, or in juvenile detention because the woman was not at a point in her life where she could best care for that child - so what happens then?

Also, in the Savage Love Podcast last week Dan Savage read a study that was conducted about states that do and don’t allow abortions. And in the states that don’t the mortality rate among women is terrible. So by not supporting abortions or making them illegal or hard to come by we are putting women’s lives at risk. This isn’t news either, and yet, people constantly ignore this bit of FACT and bring religion into the mix - where it absolutely does not belong.

Women in this country and elsewhere are also not informed enough that they need to begin getting yearly gynecological checkups beginning at age 18 whether they’re having sex or not.

I’ve heard parents argue this is a bad thing because it will encourage sexual behavior - but honestly, as soon a girl learns what a pain in the ass it is to go to the gyno, the risks of various STDs, childbirth, etc., she’s more likely to sex seriously, like an adult, than like some flighty airhead who thinks she won’t get pregnant the first time her  boyfriend and her have sex even though they didn’t use a condom,  because they don’t teach that in abstinence only education.

Scientists gratefully came up with the Gardisil vaccine to prevent HPV, a cancer causing STD in women, and people cried out against it, again arguing if their daughter got this vaccine, it would increase their chances of becoming sexually active at a young age - horseshit. And now, thankfully, it’s being proposed men get the vaccine as well, since often, they’re the carrier of HPV.

Many women my age, in their mid 20s and probably early 30s, don’t have health insurance unless it’s through an employer, because it’s OUTRAGEOUS. We are of the “reproductive age” therefore pay a higher premium because we “could” get pregnant. That right there is enough to keep a woman out of the doctor’s office until she can afford it - which is ridiculous.

Then there’s the media’s unhealthy portrayal of women. Yo-yo dieting is probably the most prevalent type of diet in the United States - women spend much of their adolescent and young adult life trying to fit beauty stereotypes of a size 2, athletic or unnaturally thin body and it’s terrible for the body - terrible for your bones, your organs, your skin, etc. I’m guilty of it, those of you reading this are probably guilty of it too, but it’s not entirely our fault, because until we’re older, there’s not a lot of folks telling us about healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, exercising for your body and for fun, etc. Fortunately, if you pick up those healthy habits early enough you can reverse any damage done in your youth.

But it’s hard.

Life sucks sometimes and in an economy where women are doing most of the work now, we work longer hours, spend less time sleeping, drink more, exercise less ... we run around like crazy people and then people wonder why our health isn’t as good as it should be.

If we’re lucky enough we can squeeze in a good workout every day of the week, but then you’ve got to eat right througout the day to make that workout count, and for women on the run, sometimes it’s hard - it took me a long time to figure things out - and let’s not forget to mention everything costs so much - groceries, prescriptions, gym memberships, everything we need to keep ourselves up and running is expensive and when many of us are working jobs that pay little to nothing and we make just enough to get by, that’s all we’re doing ... trying to get by.

I’m glad the World Health Organization is looking out for women’s health, but we women also need to start looking out for women’s health and ensuring that we have the care and the support we need to stay healthy, produce healthy children and promote a healthy lifestyle so we can all live long, healthy lives.

It’s time for things to change, that’s for sure, and the only people who can make that change happen is us.

So let’s get to it.