Women's Voices For Change

Osteoporosis Prevention

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

The greatest bone loss occurs is in the first 5 years after menopause. This is what every woman in her 40s should do to optimize lifelong bone health.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “In the Walnut Grove,”
“Pow Wow June,” and “View,”
by Kim Shuck

By Susan Cohen

Kim Shuck’s relationship to the reader seems essential to this voice, even more than her relationship to language. It’s as if she’s speaking directly into our ears, sitting next to us on a bench and resuming an intense conversation we’ve been having on and off for years.

Emotional Health

Learn to Tune in to Your Own Signals

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Learning to respect and appreciate yourself in an appropriate, measured, and compassionate way is an essential foundation of our ability to give to others.

Books

In Pieces — Sally Field’s Long Road
to Becoming Whole

By Alexandra MacAaron

"In Pieces" is eloquent, entertaining, and courageous. Although there are plenty of show business anecdotes, some tender and some quite funny, the real story is about a woman who had to rebuild herself after surviving a terribly damaging childhood.

Menopause

Early Menopause and Depressive Mood Disorder

By Dr. Patricia Yarberry Allen and Megan Riddle, Ph.D., M.S

Women who experience menopause at a young age, as studies show, seem to be at a slightly increased risk of developing depression.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “A Woman Walks into a Bar,”
by Sian Killingsworth

By Rebecca Foust

One strength of today’s poem, though, is that it works even for readers not familiar with that infamous case involving a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious young woman behind a dumpster. Even before #metoo, sexual assaults like this are common enough, unfortunately, that readers will get the gist.

Emotional Health

When the Past Interferes with the Present

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

We fear old, buried feelings and fear their power. In this way, they are vampire-like in that the best way to defeat them is to expose them to the light.

Film & Television

Kusama: Infinity — A Tale of Perseverance
(and Polka Dots)

By Alexandra MacAaron

Yayoi Kusama waited most of her life for the recognition, fame, and fortune that she sought when she first came to New York in 1958. Today, at age 89, she is the top-selling female artist in the world.

Menopause

Menopause is Never Old News

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

A frank discussion about making the right choices in the menopausal transition and the belief that management of symptoms is certainly possible are great life lessons that mothers can give their daughters.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Goodbye, New York,”
by Deborah Garrison

By Rebecca Foust

This quotations expresses what I love about “Goodbye, New York” and Garrison’s other poems that use everyday language to make art.

Books · Emotional Health

Two New Explosive Books Go Inside the Opioid Crisis

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Harsh as the portraits presented by these two books are, they leave us with a much deeper understanding of the ills that are sickening our nation.

Film & Television

PBS Brings Books to Life in September

By Alexandra MacAaron

As so many programs demonstrate, PBS has always had success in adapting literature for television.

Menopause

Lichen Planus and Menopause:
Diagnostic and Treatment Differences

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

I am writing because I feel that my symptoms were never taken seriously by my primary care health care provider. Because I was in “menopause,” I think my symptoms were attributed to hormonal change and not evaluated properly.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Good Bones,” by Maggie Smith

By Rebecca Foust

This brief lyric poem captures a moment familiar to most parents experiencing dismay at the state of the world and the need to grapple with that in the context of having children they want to protect.

Emotional Health

Aging Can Teach Us To Leave Negativity Behind

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

As we age we are more likely to recognize the signs of a lost cause and move on.

Film & Television

Glenn Close is Riveting (and Oscar-Worthy)
as ‘The Wife’

By Alexandra MacAaron

"The Wife" insists that the old saying "Behind every great man there's a great woman" ignores a more disturbing variation of the story. In this case, it would be more apt to say, "Behind every great man there's a far greater woman who has given up who she was and what she did to ensure his greatness."

Politics

Rebellious Women: A Labor Day Toast

By Deborah Harkins

The bravery of our foremothers is too often unsung. On this, our national day off, won for us in 1894, we toast the heroines who took to the ramparts to help end the era of starvation wages and 60-hour workweeks.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “As Imperceptibly as Grief,”
by Emily Dickinson

By Rebecca Foust

I’ve been wanting to feature a poem by Emily Dickinson for some time, and this one seems perfect for this time of year.

Health

Yes, Illness is a Feminist Issue

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

When women complain of pain and/or illness we are less likely to be taken seriously than when men do. Consequently, many illnesses have been slow to gain medical attention, especially those whose victims are mostly women.

Film & Television

‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’
Coming of Age in Conversion Camp

By Alexandra MacAaron

The film is a powerful protest against any dogma (in this case, fundamental Christian) that is quick to brand people and their behavior as either righteous or sinful.

Emotional Health

Anxiety In America’s New Political Climate

By Dr. Patricia Yarberry Allen and Megan Riddle, Ph.D., M.S

The American Psychological Association found that more than half of all Americans cited the political climate as a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Me Too—The Fall of Man,”
by Cynthia Neely

By Susan Cohen

Cynthia Neely’s “Me Too—The Fall of Man” gives me the opportunity to consider multiple ways poets use imagination as craft.

Emotional Health

The Future is Female

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

By speaking out against sexual exploitation, women are not just fighting sexual oppression, they are fighting against male domination itself.

Film & Television

New Historical Dramas, Old Familiar Faces

By Alexandra MacAaron

Two delightful new imports from England are available to view at home on-demand. The film "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" on Netflix and the three-part miniseries "A Very English Scandal" on Amazon.