Women's Voices For Change

August Sun Protection and Skin Care

By Anetta Reszko, M.D., Ph.D.

Now that we’re in August, our sun protection enthusiasm might be declining. Nonetheless, considering that over 70 percent of UV radiation exposure occurs in the summer months, sun protection is as important as ever. Here are important tips on skin care.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday:
“Thank You, Vasili Arkhipov, October 27, 1962,”
by Nora Hutton Shepard

By Rebecca Foust

The poem’s title is, in a way, its redemption. The poet explains that the dreaded nuclear attack did not come during the speaker’s childhood (or yet), and thanks the man she credits with saving the United States from that fate during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Emotional Health

Social Wealth — Our Most Precious Commodity

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Just because you may be “in touch” with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you are connected to them. Above all, let’s remember to build and guard our social wealth as carefully as we would any precious commodity.

Film & Television

‘Orange Is The New Black’, Season 6
— Litchfield, Taken to the Max

By Alexandra MacAaron

As in 'OITNB' seasons past, the inherent problems of the nation's correctional system remain front and center: the controversies surrounding privatization, abuse and brutality, inhuman living conditions, and deplorable rates of recidivism.

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

The Beauty of Friendships Among Women
[From Our Archives]

By Deborah Harkins

Today is International Day of Friendship — a way to honor the invaluable sisterhood in our lives, the community of women who surround us with joy, laughter, friendship, and fellowship.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: Poems by Sandra M. Gilbert

By Rebecca Foust

Readers who enjoy the idea of mixing poetry and math will love this book. And those who don’t will appreciate it anyway for the way its poems engage—no, positively grapple—with what some call a patriarchal form, and in so doing manage to express the depth and complexity of human yearning, love, and loss.

Politics

Women of Color: Running for Office and Breaking New Ground

By Diane Vacca

Though all women face daunting challenges when they run for office, whether against an incumbent or for an open seat, women of color often find the road more arduous. And yet, this year, they are running in record numbers.

Books

Book Review: “How Hard Can It Be?”
by Allison Pearson

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Allison Pearson’s knack for finding the humor as well as the pathos in midlife storms is what makes her writing such a pleasure.

Film & Television

‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’—Seriously Silly and Simply Delightful

By Alexandra MacAaron

Delightful is the perfect way to describe 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.' And, with everything going on in the world today, you could do worse than devoting two hours to being delighted.

Health

Developing A Routine to Prevent Lyme Disease

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Lyme Disease and other tickborne illnesses are on the rise. Unfortunately, however, the diagnosis is often missed or delayed.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Say Grace,” by Emily Jungmin Yoon

By Rebecca Foust

I wrote this poem thinking about the hypocrisy of faith—how so often religious tenets are born out of or centered around survivalism but are then spun around to kill and hate—and the need to question our beliefs (religious or not) and where they come from.

Emotional Health · Film & Television

Three Identical Strangers:
A Documentary Examines the Ethics
of Psychology Experiments

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

"Three Identical Strangers" tells the story of how identical triplet babies were placed by an adoption agency in three different homes in the New York area. The boys and their adoptive parents knew nothing of each other.

Film & Television

“Whitney’: Insights Into Singer’s Too-Short Life
May Be Too Revealing

By Alexandra MacAaron

The "Whitney" documentary is a powerful reminder of Houston's beautiful voice and tragic end.

Health

Tickscaping: Preventing Lyme Disease
with Landscape Design

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Since an estimated three quarters of all Lyme disease cases are acquired from ticks picked up during activities around the home, I learned how to create a safer landscape.

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Here, Too,” by Jennifer Nelson

By Rebecca Foust

“Empire” is such a loaded word today that it is hard not to read it with suspicion and irony in any context, but it strikes me that isolationists and fans of strong government could read “Here, Too”as an anthem to empire and its ability to bulwark against disintegrating change.

Emotional Health

Children and the Trauma of Being Trapped

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Two groups of children found themselves trapped and separated from their parents in recent weeks. Both found themselves imprisoned in scary, possibly life-threatening situations, cut off from their families and unable to communicate with them.

Film & Television

‘Boundaries’: A Multi-Generational Road Trip

By Alexandra MacAaron

The writing is smart and funny, the scenery along the Pacific coast is glorious, and the performances are all topnotch. It was a labor of love for the director, and her close connection to the material is apparent.

Ask Dr. Pat · Health

Heart Disease in Women Is Still Under-Diagnosed

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Once a woman gets diagnosed with heart disease she will do worse and be more likely to die from it than a man. What is the reason for this large discrepancy?

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Arthritis,” by Carol Moldaw

By Rebecca Foust

The connections that occur during writing are always unexpected and often revelatory.

Emotional Health

Celebrating Independence Day in a Divided Nation

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

As we think about American values this week, remember that it starts with the individual, with character.

News

The Declaration of Independence

By Women's Voices For Change

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Film & Television

Leave No Trace: Director Debra Granik Returns with the Summer’s Most Powerful Movie

By Alexandra MacAaron

Will Debra Granik make us wait another eight years for her next narrative film?

Health

July Fourth Heat and Your Health

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

The fireworks may not be seen at all in the sky this Fourth of July as much of the country deals with prolonged and excessive heat due to a “heat dome.”

Poetry

Poetry Sunday: “Wine Country,”
by Kirsten Jones Neff

By Rebecca Foust

As our children leave home for college, my husband and I have begun to dream up the journeys we will take together, just the two of us. But as we dream and plan, I am reminded of the simplicity of true romance, the richness and adventure and fullness that is two people in love, exploring.