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__**Women’s Amazing Bodies:**__ [] =__Week 3:__= =__Week 4__= =__Week 5:__= __**The Fashion Industry and Body Image:**__ =__Week 6:__= [] [] []
 * What is the difference between sex and gender?**
 * The sex of a person is determined by their biological and physiological characteristics whereas gender is determined by social characteristics.**
 * However, determining sex and gender is not necessarily as simple as black or white; it is not always possible to categorise a person as male/female or masculine/feminine. The grey area in sex determination is known as intersex and refers to a person with reproductive anatomy that does not align with the typical male/female form. The terms for gender are transgender or transsexual, which describes a person who identifies more with the opposite gender or lives their life as a member of the opposite gender.**
 * So what defines us as male or female?**
 * Physiologically there are a few main differences between men and women. Women have breasts (that generally have the ability to lactate), a vagina, a uterus, ovaries and the ability to menstruate. Whereas men have a penis, testicles, higher levels of testosterone and generally higher muscle and bone mass.**
 * The differences in social characteristics are a bit more complicated and controversial. Is it as simple as preferring pink or blue? Trucks or dolls? I think not, but there are some characteristics that seem to** **be the norm whether we like it or not. Women tend to be more emotional and caring whereas men tend to be more prone to aggression.**
 * These gender characteristics create differences between how men and women interact with society and are very clear in the workforce. Women tend to take on the majority of the caring roles such as home duties, nursing and childcare, whereas men have taken the lead in managerial and executive positions. These differences have resulted in disparities in income and superannuation and have left women at a disadvantage financially.**
 * Gender pay disparities and women's choices are highlighted in this article by Angela Priestly:**
 * Unfortunately the system in place makes women feel they have to choose between financial stability and raising a family. Children or secure retirement? It makes me wonder if things would be different if men bared the children...**
 * __Women’s bodies in the media:__**
 * Are women’s bodies public or private?**
 * Women’s bodies are always being debated by the media and policy makers. Key issues for women such as birth control and abortion are often taken out of women’s hands and decided on by men. This allows personal and religious beliefs to overshadow the big picture and can result in decisions being made that are not in the best interest of women’s health.**
 * For example in Brazil (where abortions are illegal and there is the largest population of Catholics in the world) there is a huge amount of maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions and the government is still debating this issue on behalf of women. There is an article from the online version of Time magazine showing this here: []**
 * Women’s bodies are also displayed in the media with constant judgement about their physical appearance, resulting in unrealistic ideals of the perfect female. These unrealistic ideals can have huge effects on women’s physical and mental health.**
 * //“//// All too often, society associates being "thin", with "hard-working, beautiful, strong and self-disciplined." On the other hand, being "fat" is associated with being "lazy, ugly, weak and lacking will-power." Because of these harsh critiques, rarely are women completely satisfied with their image. As a result, they often feel great anxiety and pressure to achieve and/or maintain an imaginary appearance.” // [] **
 * From these two examples I think it is evident that women’s bodies are definitely in the public domain and this is having a detrimental effect on women’s health. There needs to be more positive media that allows women to feel good about their bodies and what they can achieve as opposed to negative, oppressive imagery. **
 * On another note:**
 * After the lecture I watched the movie Hysteria (with my feminist lenses on) and was fairly outraged by the ideas of the people of the time and their treatment of women. On a less intellectual level it is a great movie, with many funny moments and a touching love story, that I would suggest anyone who hasn’t seen it to do so and hence won’t ruin the ending. However the main concept that struck me was the treatment of women’s bodies as “other”. Women’s bodies were not understood at all by the male doctors and this resulted in bizarre and extreme measure taken to treat them.**
 * __The Right Time To Have a Child:__**
 * So, when is the right time to have a child?**
 * All women are faced with this dilemma - do I want a child? and when is the right time? Obviously there is no one answer to this question but there are general trends over time. Over the last few decades the age most women had children slowly got older and older and then in recent times has slowly lowered again. All this has done is cause confusion about when it is appropriate for women to actually have children. There is so much judgement about weather a mother is TOO OLD or TOO YOUNG to be having a child and finding that elusive perfect window seems to be impossible. It would be much more beneficial for women and their health if they were supported by society to make the choice of what is best for them. Women should not be pressured to conform to any norms and hence be allowed to have children at whatever time feels right. One of the major contributors to women's psychological health is that they feel in control of their own decision and this definitely includes the act of bearing a child as it is a huge factor in any women's life.**
 * Thanks to developments in science though we now have more control over when we have children and who we do it with. The introduction of the pill has done wonders for transferring some power to women. Women can now decide to put off having children in favour of educating themselves and setting themselves up financially before having children.**
 * What is normal?**
 * The fashion industry shows us many images of women and not many of them are realistic or achievable.**
 * These images represent the three different types of model I often see in the media.**
 * The first image represents the plus sized model - I find it very frustrating that the plus sized models are suppose to represent the average woman yet they are always very beautiful and with perfectly proportioned bodies. This "plus sized" model is clearly not representative of the average overweight woman and is setting women up to feel even worse about their body image. The second image represents the fitness models who are supposedly depicting a healthy body image - fitness models are always photographed at the peak of their physical fitness after intense fasting and water loss to ensure they look as muscular as possible. This look is not only very difficult to maintain but the common techniques used to achieve it are very detrimental to the body.** **Lastly, the bottom image represents the runway/high fashion models that are almost always underweight and always very tall. This body type is not achievable for anybody who was not genetically blessed with legs for days and a small frame. The intense dieting to look so thin and the lack of physical exercise to avoid looking to muscular do terrible things to a women's health such as reducing bone mass and causing osteoporosis.**
 * The good news for women though is this is all subjective. The idea of the perfect body changes with time and culture and even individuals - we just need to remember that we are all beautiful in our own way.**
 * __Having a baby:__**
 * Should pregnancy and child birth be viewed as natural or medical?**
 * There are two philosophies of child birth; the medical model and the non-medical model. The non-medical model treats pregnancy and child birth as a natural event that does not need constant monitoring and medication and focuses more on the experience of the mother. The medical model on the other hand looks at pregnancy and child birth as a medical condition that needs to be treated and focuses solely on preserving the life of the mother and producing a live child.**
 * So which is correct?**
 * There is once again no black and white answer to this question - as it is with most of the health issues facing women. In reality most women would fall somewhere in between these views and have a balanced view of the two. However the general consensus is that medical intervention is necessary and a natural birth is problematic.**
 * There are so many misleading news stories on the topic that demonise natural births and pressure women into a hospital delivery:**
 * "Risk of Stillbirth Is 10 Times Higher for Babies Born at Home, Study Finds"
 * "Home-birth warning after baby Joseph's death"
 * "No mother or unborn child deserves the risk of a home birth"
 * That is just a small sample of the headlines you find when you Google "home child birth news" and I think it is very representative of the fear that has been propagated in our society around home births. Women are made to feel that they are putting their child and themselves at risk by attempting to deliver at home instead of in a hospital.**
 * It would definitely be better for women's health if each individual was allowed to choose their preferred option and be supported by society regardless.**

=__Week 7:__= [] =__Week 8:__= __**Families and Domestic Violence "Walking into Doors":**__ =__Week 9:__= =__Week 10:__= =__Week 11:__= =__Week 12:__= =**Week 13:**=
 * __Changing Gender Roles in Families:__**
 * Who brings home the bacon?**
 * Men or women?**
 * Unfortunately, for women, men earn a significantly higher amount of money and tend to dominate the higher positions. On average women earn 17.5% less than men, creating a loss of around 1 million dollars over a lifetime and a substantial reduction in superannuation.**
 * The reduction is superannuation is particularly important for women because they tend to live longer than men. Women are disadvantaged as they have to take time off work and tend to work more on a part time basis (compared to men who tend to work full time from graduation to retirement) to allow time to have and take care of children (Ross, 1994) - The full article on women and superannuation is available here:**
 * Why do women earn less?**
 * It has already been shown that women work less due to commitments to child baring but there are other reasons for the discrepancies in pay. One of the major reasons is that women mostly occupy the lesser valued and lower paid jobs in the community and care sector. Another factor is the discrimination women with children face when it comes to employment. A woman with a child is 100% less likely to be recommended for a job and generally offered a smaller starting salary.**
 * One of the key ideas from the lecture that stuck with me to fix the problem was creating more flexible work ours and conditions for men. If the fathers had more flexible jobs maybe they could replace some of the roles that women usually fill, such as looking after sick children, and allow women to cement their place in the workforce.**
 * What is domestic violence?**
 * It is defined as "a chronic syndrome characterised not only by episodes of physical violence, but also by emotional and psychological abuse that perpetrators use to maintain control over their partners". Defining what each individual views as domestic violence is difficult, some people might only think about the physical violence, but clearly the effects of psychological control are very detrimental to women's health. Women tend to report that the emotional violence is much more damaging that the physical violence, and it causes most of the long term effects.**
 * So, why do women stay in abusive relationships?**
 * The main reasons are love, hope, dependence, fear and learned helplessness.**
 * Domestic violence is often followed by a honeymoon period where the abusive partner shows remorse and promises never to hurt them again, women often stay with their partner with the hope that they will change, and refuse to leave the one they "love". Dependence is a common reason women stay in abusive relationships, because the partner who is perceived to hold the power is generally the abuser. This creates a situation where the woman feels helpless, she cannot leave her partner or she will be left without money and a place to live. Fear is probably the biggest factor though, most of the serous physical violence women experience occurs after they seek help or leave their partners so they stay for fear of further aggravating them. This creates a cycle where physical violence results in a remorseful phase and the women decides to stay, or feels forced to stay, and then more often than not the tension builds again and the cycle continues, see diagram below:**
 * It is very important for women's health that women are empowered and feel in control of their bodies and their lives. The oppression women feel feeds domestic violence and perpetuates the problem. Women are often too scared to leave their partners or press charges, and quite often refuse to admit they were even victims of abuse at all.**
 * __Health of Indigenous Women:__**
 * Am I black enough for you?** **The story of Anita Heiss:**
 * Anita Heiss (pictured above) is an Australian woman who identifies as indigenous, being a member of the Wiradjuri nation. Heiss is an author, MC and active member of the community with roles in organisations facilitating sporting, academic and indigenous excellence. In 2009 Andrew Bolt wrote an article for the Herald Sun titled "It's so hip to be black" in which he accuses many fair skinned indigenous people of "choosing" to be aboriginal. Bolt covers their heritage (including Heiss) and shows that they are all only part Aboriginal with the majority of their ancestry coming from various European countries. What Bolt fails to mention is that the accepted requirements for being identified as Aboriginal include; having Aboriginal heritage, identifying one's self as aboriginal and being accepted by the indigenous community. Only a person that meets all these requirements can be classified as aboriginal and Heiss clearly fits the bill. The reason for Bolts' article is not only to say that these people have chosen to be aboriginal because it's "hip" but also because it advantages them in some way. Bolt covers all the achievements of Heiss and insinuates that she would not have the career she has without her Aboriginal identity.**
 * Heiss responded with an entry on her blog describing how upset she was with the article, understandably seeing as it discredited her and attacked her personally, saying she was offended, insulted and humiliated. Heiss reiterates that she has always lived as an aboriginal woman and is a proud member of the indigenous community.**
 * The newspaper and Andrew Bolt were taken to court and a decision was made that the article was to be removed from the newspaper and an apology put in its place, they were also ruled to have been in direct violation of the Racial Discrimination Act.**
 * In my personal opinion this was a fair reaction and the newspaper should never have published it in the first place. The content was very offensive to indigenous people who are very connected to their culture. It is important that this kind of opinion is not perpetuated because it is very detrimental to the health of indigenous people.**
 * How does this affect their health and well-being you might ask?**
 * Indigenous people view health very differently than it is viewed in western societies. They see health as a holistic experience encompassing all areas of their lives including the land they live on not just themselves. Health is also directly linked to their sense of being indigenous, including the social, emotional and cultural aspects of what that means to them. So clearly attacking an indigenous persons' connection and belonging to their culture will hugely effect their health.**
 * __Healthy Aging of Women:__**
 * Women generally live longer than men but they are living most of that extended life with disability and disease. The major issues facing elderly women include breast cancer, menopause, osteoporosis and heart disease. The risk of breast cancer greatly increases with age (70% of cases in women over 50), family history and the event of a previous breast cancer. It is important that older women are aware of their risk and get regular mammograms to help with early detection. Breast cancer can also result in early menopause when chemotherapy is required. Menopause is a huge change in any woman's life and an understanding of what to expect is crucial for a smooth transition. Unfortunately most women are not informed about symptoms until they are experiencing them and are left feeling anxious about what is normal. After menopause women often experience bone loss resulting in osteoporosis. After menopause it is essential that women take up preventative measures to slow the loss of bone mass, these include; regular exercise, getting enough calcium in your diet and reducing intake of alcohol, coffee and cigarettes. The biggest issue however is cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for the deaths of 11,000 women per year in Australia. One of the most concerning aspects of cardiovascular disease is the perception that it is a mans disease. Women tend not to worry too much about heart conditions as they are under the impression that breast cancer is more of a problem, which hinders early detection because women aren't looking for the symptoms. Health professionals can also hinder early detection by not being informed of the physical and psychosocial differences between the genders.**
 * The main message that needs to be delivered to women is the importance of prevention to ensure health in old age. A healthy lifestyle is key with regular exercise, a healthy diet and vigilance with screening procedures.**
 * __Women's Health in Same Sex Relationships:__**
 * In different periods throughout history the medical profession pretended lesbians didn't exist and ignored their existence or labelled them as insane and treated them as having a condition that needed fixing. Lesbianism was often considered a phase that would change with the introduction of a man and a "practical life, however homosexuality was viewed as an intellectual activity that was of a higher quality than that they had with women for procreation. Again, women were treated as "other" as men were monopolising the medical system and scientific literature published at the time.**
 * What is it like to be a lesbian now?**
 * Lesbians have more rights and are no longer viewed as having a medical condition, yet they are still facing discrimination and it is affecting their health. The main health concerns are stigmatisation, certain types of cancer, depression and anxiety, and drug and alcohol use. Stigmatisation affects many aspects of the health of lesbians including lack of access to sensitive health care providers, causing fear of discrimination if they admit their sexual preferences, and access to health insurance. Less lesbian women have health insurance than heterosexual women because many providers do not recognise their relationships as being valid. If homosexuals were allowed to marry legally health insurance agencies would be forced to recognise their relationships and this problem would be greatly reduced.**
 * Lesbian women are more prone to certain types of cancers; these include the hormone related cancers such as breast cancer and endometrial cancer, and lung cancer. The hormone related cancers are more predominant in lesbians because some of the preventative behaviours are lessened in lesbian women such as pregnancy, breastfeeding and taking oral contraceptives. Lung cancer is more common in lesbian women than heterosexual women because they tend to smoke more. The culture of smoking combined with higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety in lesbian women are responsible for this phenomenon.** **The combination of the effects of stigma, discrimination, unfair treatment from the legal system, the lack of health insurance and the pressure of hiding a part of themselves from society are huge contributors to the increase in depression and anxiety and in turn drug and alcohol use.**
 * Clearly to increase the health of lesbian women there needs to be a holistic approach starting with the acceptance of their relationships as legal and legitimate and then developing health promotion around all of the conditions that effect them more due to their sexuality.**
 * __Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Women Across the Ages:__**
 * Women have suffered so much oppression, from our patriarchal society, that there is no surprise that mental health and substance abuse have been predominant throughout history. Women have been misunderstood and mistreated in so many ways. Firstly, the absolute confusion how women's reproductive organs worked and what on earth menstruation was! Menstrual blood was seen as evil and women were often exiled during their periods to live, wash and sleep separately from the rest of society. Then there's the invention of the condition known as Hysteria which was used to explain all sorts of conditions women (mostly the upper class women) suffered from. Hysteria was the diagnosis for all things from moodiness, being too outspoken to being overly lustful or needy. In general though the women were just bored out of their minds, lonely and had not experienced any real sexual intimacy from their prudish husbands.**
 * How was Hysteria treated?**
 * Either with bed rest, intimate massage or a hysterectomy in extreme cases. This is how the vibrator was invented!**
 * How did this effect substance abuse?**
 * In the 1950's women were treated with valium if they presented with any of the symptoms previously diagnosed as hysteria. This produced a huge dependence on the drug and a culture of self-medication. Over the years other illicit drugs and alcoholism followed, to numb the depression, and help women be the "perfect wife and mother" that society demanded of them. In large doses and over long periods alcohol can be just as dangerous as illicit drugs. Alcohol is a depressant and with long term use can lower serotonin and norepinephrine levels (happy hormones) and increase the risk of depression.**
 * Clearly, the cycle of depression and self medication has not worked for women in history and it is important for women's health that medical professionals find a way to end the cycle and improve women's mental health. As usual a holistic approach would be necessary to ensure all aspect of every woman's health is addressed.**
 * This will be the week that I pass on, thanks! ***