Jessica Stites
Ms./Feminist Majority Foundation
433 S. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
phone: 310. 556.2500
fax: 310. 556.2509
e-mail: jstites@msmagazine.com
Good Luck!
Young feminists dishing out commentary on politics, news, media, pop culture, and more!
Give Me A Break from Stand for Marriage Maine on Vimeo.
A portion of the segment was dedicated to instructional footage of a woman, partially nude, doing a self-breast exam. The segment was done “tastefully, very clinically… everything is instructional” according to reporter Gail Pennybacker. However, the news report was not without criticism.
Critics of the news report claim that it is “exploiting women to exploit the audience.” Give me a break! I’m with reporter Julie Parker on this one: ““There’s nothing sexy about this, it’s a self-breast exam.” Other critics find that this was more-or-less an attempt to boost ratings at the beginning of “Sweeps” month, a period when news channels air their most eye catching reports in order to increase ratings and, thus, attract more advertisements. WJLA’s General Manager Bill Lord responded to these comments by saying that “Yes, this is an attention-getting story, but it's also an important story.” (Washington Post)
Important indeed. Surprisingly enough, most women don’t know how to do a self breast exam. In order to effectively educate women, WJLA decided to “bare all.” General Manager Bill Lord said that after consulting with medical experts, WJLA decided that news reports on breast-cancer detection “haven't offered enough detail” to be an effective educational tool.
Health Insurance doesn’t cover routine mammograms until the age of 40 and so for those in their 20s and 30s, self-exams are absolutely vital; breast cancer knows no age. Those who are criticizing WJLA for his report need to take a step back and think about what the message of this report is. This was not a distasteful attempt to increase ratings, it was purely an attempt to educate and inform. I’m proud of ABC 7 for airing this report and realizing how important it is to be educated and truly understand Breast Cancer and how we can prevent it. Furthermore, ABC 7 plans to air the remaining segments of the report; Lord says that “"The public benefits of this will outweigh any criticism."
If you're like most women and do not know how to do a self-breast exam, click here to watch the segment and get educated! Warning, this video contains adult content. View discretion is advised.
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It is a recent amendment to the health care reform bill passed by Senate Finance Committee that would reinstate $50 million/year to abstinence-only programs. GAHH!
I don't need to tell you that abstinence-only programs don't work. They do not lower the rates of unintended pregnancies or the spread of STIs including HIV. But I should tell you that this federal funding would also go to fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
Let's not forget that this week is “Don’t Get Tricked, Get Treated” national week of action to expose “fake clinics.” I have a great action idea for you and everyone you know!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 28th is National Sex Ed Call-In Day. Please call your US Senators and let them know that reinstating $50 million to failed abstinence-only programs is unacceptable.
1. Call 1-800-423-5983 where you will be connected to the Capitol Switchboard
2. Tell them what state you are in and that you would like to speak to one of your Senators
3. Ask to speak to the lead aide on health and tell them why you think your senator needs to support comprehensive sex education and reject the Hatch Amendment that would reinstate $50 millions to abstinence-only education
4. Once you call one Senator, call the switchboard back and ask to be connected to your other State Senator.
5. When you are tabling and holding events this week for "Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated," have everyone you talk to take a second and do the same!
We have been making great progress at finally putting an end to abstinence-only education, and we must not let the Hatch Amendment undue our hard work!
On Wednesday October 28th, call your Senators at 1-888-423-5983 and urge them to put a stop to the harmful Hatch Amendment and abstinence-only-before- marriage programs!
For more ideas on how to take action during "Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated," check out our action series
"But if you want to vaccinate gay men against HPV—because women can't do it for us—you have to vaccinate gay men well before we become sexually active, same as girls. Age 11, remember? And since we don't know at age 11 which boys are going to be gay when they grow up, you have to vaccinate all boys against HPV in order to protect the ones who are going to be gay when they grow up. It seems like a no-brainer and a win-win: vaccinating all boys against HPV will protect the gays ones—gay men are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer as adults—and help protect girls and women from the deadlier strains of HPV. It would also offer some protection to girls whose parents denied them the vaccine for... religious reasons. That's a win-win-win."More broadly, any man that doesn't have sex exclusively with HPV-vaccinated women is at risk. It's ridiculous that the CDC didn't let this fact influence their decision.