Women's Voices For Change

Shoulder Injuries in Women in Mid-Life

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

What causes shoulder injuries? It seems that my friends have been given different diagnoses for their shoulder pain and dysfunction. What can women do to prevent damage to their shoulders?

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “An Old Story,” by Tracy K. Smith

By Rebecca Foust

The main thing that distinguishes today’s poem from most sonnets is the way it invokes science fiction—something that Tracy K. Smith does quite a bit in her work.

Emotional Health

A Blueprint for Change: The Four Rs

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

While we are mostly consistent, circumstances do have a large effect on our behavior, and how we understand a situation can make all the difference.

Film & Television

Great Performances: ‘Julius Caesar,’ A Powerful All-Women Production on PBS

By Alexandra MacAaron

"Great Performances: Julius Caesar" on PBS features an all-female cast and is set in a contemporary women's prison. Immediate and relevant, passionate and bold, but hardly what Shakespeare might have imagined.

Health

Cataracts

By Wayne G. Whitmore, M.D, F.A.C.S.

The most common type of cataract in humans is age-related, which is caused by the oxidation of lens proteins in the crystalline lens.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“Bamboo, the Dance,” by Marilyn Chin

By Susan Cohen

Marilyn Chin, who was born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon, has spent a 30-year career fusing cultures, exploring how her ancestry meets her personal, political, and poetic life.

Health

Understanding Addictions:
Self-Medication and Self-Harm

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Of the many hazards of lack of self-love, among the most serious, is behavior that harms you.

Film & Television

As ‘Gloria Bell,’ Julianne Moore Dances Into Your Heart

By Alexandra MacAaron

As the title implies, "Gloria Bell" is very much Julianne Moore's movie first and foremost. And, she is absolutely fabulous. "When the world blows up," she remarks at one point, "I hope I go down dancing."

Health

Understanding the Symptoms of Dry Eye Disease
and How to Treat It

By Wayne G. Whitmore, M.D, F.A.C.S.

March is national Save Your Vision Month. Dry Eye Disease is often thought to be just an annoyance. Dr. Wayne Whitmore discusses how the chronic loss of healthy tear fluid can cause permanent visual change.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Conservatory,” by Idris Anderson

By Rebecca Foust

. . . That’s an effective strategy, choosing a title that multiplies associations in the reader’s mind even before the poem is read. It makes me curious to see where Anderson will go from here: Will the poem involve any of these things, or instead, play off of my expectations and surprise me?

Emotional Health

When We Cheat for Our Children,
What is the True Cost?

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Do we want to teach our children to get ahead at a cost of potential moral bankruptcy?

Health

Glaucoma Will Affect Over 3 Million Americans by 2020

By Leila Rafla-Demetrious, M.D.

An important cause of blindness for people 60 and over is glaucoma, which has been predicted to impact close to 3.3 million people in the U.S. by next year.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“Elegy with Civil War Shadowbox,”
by Jane Satterfield

By Rebecca Foust

“Elegy with Civil War Shadowbox” is a meditation on the challenges of memorializing war.

Politics

From Firebrands to Quiet Dynamos:
Nine Heroines of the Battle for Women’s Rights

By Women's Voices For Change

In honor of Women’s History Month, we reprise the stories of nine daring, implacable women who challenged—and helped to dismantle—the laws and traditions that constricted American women’s lives for hundreds of years.

Emotional Health

Knowing Your Value: When to Stay, When to Leave

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

If you don’t value yourself, you are vulnerable to staying too long in a bad situation.

Film & Television

Brave Girl Rising and Period. End of Sentence:
Short Stories that are Changing Women’s History

By Alexandra MacAaron

Women all over the world are changing history for themselves, their peers, and future generations in sometimes small and quiet ways. Two of these less glamorous but equally inspiring stories have been made into compelling short films.

Health

Take Care, Daylight Saving Time is Today

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Be careful this week. Scale back commitments. Be more mindful of accident prevention and practice really good sleep hygiene habits.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“For Jane,” by Joan Baranow

By Rebecca Foust

This is a sad poem, readers, but one that offers its own comfort, something we need now more than ever.

Politics

Women’s History Month:
Women of Color Make History

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

As Women’s History Month begins, I am struck by a shift in the conversation about diversity and race.

Film & Television

‘The Invisibles’

By Alexandra MacAaron

'The Invisibles' is a movie filled with compassion and bravery. We are left admiring the wherewithal of four brave young people who defied the odds and lived

Ask Dr. Pat · Health

Eye “Doctors” and Eye Examinations

By Wayne G. Whitmore, M.D, F.A.C.S.

Whether you have your eyes examined by an optometrist or an Eye MD, may depend on your needs, access, what type of eye disease you have, and/or costs.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Dear March – Come in”
by Emily Dickinson

By Rebecca Foust

March is an important harbinger of seasonal change and new life. I hope this sweet poem will blow into your day like a gust of wind, chilly and wet, but also with a promise of spring coming soon.

Emotional Health

Delay of Gratification: Too Much of a Good Thing

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

One of the sneakiest, most pernicious forms of self-deprivation involves timing. You don’t outright deny yourself the idea of self-loving action, but you put it off for later.

Film & Television

Oscars 2019: Less Host, More Diversity

By Alexandra MacAaron

This year's Academy Awards took steps to reinvent itself, recognizing that viewing habits are changing and that Hollywood needs to represent more of America — more women, more blacks, Latinos, Asians, and immigrants — in the films and filmmakers it honors.