The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals just updated their non-hormonal contraceptive methods quick reference →

fuckyeahfeminists:

I know many people want to learn about non-hormonal options for birth control. This could be a great place to start.

In ARHP’s introduction, they write

Knowledge is power, and it’s important for women and health care providers to be aware of the seven most effective contraceptive methods available in the US: tubal occlusion or ligation, vasectomy (for men), transcervical sterilization (Essure^® micro-inserts), two reversible IUDs (Mirena^® and Paragard^® “Copper-T”) and a reversible implant (Implanon^®). Most of these methods are hormone-free, although Mirena and Implanon do contain hormones. Other non-hormonal methods such as barrier and fertility-based awareness methods (Standard Days^® and many others) also can be effective if they are used correctly and consistently, which often hinges on appropriate counseling and education. In the case of these less-effective methods, the guiding principle is that use of any method is better than use of no method at all, with its attendant 85 percent risk of unintended pregnancy.⁷

"We often talk about the “school-to-prison pipeline” for boys —but for girls, it is a totally different narrative, more readily identified as the “sexual-violence-to prison pipeline.” According to the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention, approximately 600,000 girls are arrested in the U.S. annually. Most of these girls are remanded for non-violent offenses such as truancy, running away, loitering, alcohol and substance use, and violations to prior court orders for non-violent status offenses. Moreover, evidence shows that 73 percent of girls in juvenile detention have previously suffered some form of physical or sexual abuse. This abuse is often the factor that propelled the child into the juvenile justice system, as it is often the abuse that is the root cause of the girls’ running away, becoming truant, substance abuse, etc. Family court judges and detention center staff are rarely provided appropriate trauma training and are generally unaware of the damaging impact of policies such as strip searches, physical restraints, and particularly solitary confinement on survivors of physical and sexual abuse and trauma. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the severe psychiatric consequences of placing individuals, and particularly children in solitary confinement. Prisoners who have experienced solitary confinement have been shown to engage in self-mutilation at much higher rates than the average population. These prisoners are also known to attempt or commit suicide more often than those who were not held in isolation. In fact, studies show that juveniles are 19 times more likely to kill themselves in isolation than in general population and that juveniles in general, have the highest suicide rates of all inmates in jails. Despite all these facts, when girls in the juvenile justice system express evidence of or the desire to self harm, the typical response is to put them in solitary confinement. While these girls are being placed in solitary for their own protection, there is no consideration given to the fact that such practices deepen existing trauma."

Yasmin Vafa, “Invisible Prisoners: Why Are So Many Girls Placed in Solitary Confinement?” (via politicsoflocation)

(Source: thetart, via fuckyeahfeminists)

genderedintelligence:

The Trans Youth Sexual Health booklet was produced by trans people aged 16-24 at Gendered Intelligence, in partnership with Terrence Higgins Trust. The project allowed young trans people to get together as a group and learn about sexual health, and also to discuss how to make sexual health information more relevant to trans people. As a result, a group of young people produced this information booklet, which is aimed at trans youth and their partners.

Check out the full pdf here. Hard copies can be ordered here.

(Source: genderedintelligence, via fuckyeahfeminists)

fuckyeahfeminists:

Why do so many women end up on the pill when it fails them?

Women overestimate the effectiveness of the Pill and condoms — the two most popular methods of birth control in this country — according to a new study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After the study group of 4,100 women was counseled about other methods of birth control, such as IUDs, 71 percent chose to go on that or an implant. The findings suggest that many women choose the Pill because they don’t receive thorough counseling about their other birth control options or the true effectiveness of the Pill — which isn’t as great as pharmaceutical companies tell you it is.

This helps explain why the most popular methods of contraception in this country are the birth control Pill and condoms — if you don’t know all the information about all the methods of contraception available to you, why would you choose the one you know the least about? What many women don’t know about the Pill is that only if you take it exactly according to the manufacturer’s instructions, including at the same time every day, that your chances of getting pregnant are 0.3 percent. But for whatever reason — business or forgetfulness — many women don’t take the Pill exactly according to the instructions, bringing its real failure rate to a rather startling 9 percent, according to Dr. Nancy Stanwood, obstetrician/gynecologist and board member of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. That means that nearly one out of 10 women will get pregnant while taking the Pill over the course of a year.

Read the rest at Buzzfeed

“Strange Sex” Is Sex-Negative | Alyssa @ Not So Secret →

Calling ANYONE’S sexuality “strange” implies that there is a golden norm to which good, healthy & NORMAL people adhere, and that any deviation from that is “strange.”  Further, such shaming language is at the root of the vast majority of the problems people have not only with their own sexuality, but with others. Indeed, it is the kind of language that makes some people think that it is okay to make fun of, bully, and otherwise harm people who’s sexuality is different from their own.

(Source: feministlibrarian)

"If you are ever in a situation where it is obvious your partner is not enjoying the sex you’re having—stop having sex with them. Sex is supposed to be really fucking enjoyable, so if you’re not getting that vibe from whoever you’re having sex with, you gotta sort that shit out."

Katie West (via katesloan)

(Source: therealkatiewest, via slutwalkseattle)

drvy:

“Me love you long time” came into prominence with Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” (from 1987) as a Vietnamese prostitute tries to pick up Matthew Modine’s character with broken English. The phrase was then popularly picked up by 2 Live Crew in the song “Me So Horny.”

“It’s so many different kinds of slurs in one,” comedian Margaret Cho said. “It’s instantly putting you in the position of being a foreigner, an outsider and a sexual stereotype. It’s an all-in-one combo.”

~naturallaw for yahoo questions

The popularization by Mariah Carey’s ‘Love You Long Time,’ Fergie’s ‘London Bridge,’ and Nicki Minaj’s ““Muahhhh me love you long time like I’m asian” demonstrates how this exotification of Asian/A.American women is constantly recycled in the media, perpetuated by celebrities to obtain the hyper-sexualized image needed to make it big, especially if you ain’t got the talent.

I would get started on Nicki’s whole hyper-sexualized, Japanese dolled up shit, but racialious says it best. Well researched: here http://www.racialicious.com/2010/11/01/the-orientalism-of-nicki-minaj/

You can degrade yourself, but no, my sisters and I will NOT love you long time. 

(via fuckyeahfeminists)

"We do it in a kind of self-defense: by calling you a slut, I am implying that I myself am not. We do it out of jealousy, competitiveness and scorn. We do it to exclude: we define ourselves as insiders by declaring others as outsiders. Letty Cottin Pogrebin refers to slut-shaming as “the survival tactic of a second-class human being. Lacking confidence, bereft of self-esteem, we play the only game in town that seems to offer a payoff."

Justine Musk, “The Problem With Slut-Shaming.” (via theskinnyblackgirl)

(via fuckyeahfeminists)