Our Bodies, Ourselves (222 page)

vitamin D,
529
–30,
556

vitamin E,
514
,
533
,
613

vitamin K,
530

vitamins,
497
,
514

Vitex agnus-castus
(chasteberry),
24

Vogue
,
64

voluntary motherhood,
205

volunteers,
579

Volunteers of America,
568

vomiting,
447
,
485
,
622
,
640
,
756

emergency contraception and,
253

pregnancy and,
309
,
403

von Willebrand disease (VWD),
26
,
611
,
613
–14

vulva,
4
–6,
5
,
37
,
517
,
634
–37

infections and,
186

irritation of,
186
,
222

lubrication and,
177
,
178

orgasm and,
168

pain in,
365
,
634
–36

scent of,
31
,
33

self-care of,
31
,
33

sexual arousal and,
153
,
154

vulvar cancer,
634
,
636
–37

vulvitis,
634
–35

vulvodynia,
33
,
187
–88,
635
–36

W4W BUZZ,
51

Wade, Lisa,
51

waking (basal body) temperature,
27
,
29

walks, walking,
433
,
646
,
734

labor and,
400
,
401

Walt Disney Corporation,
64
,
120
,
121

Washington, D.C.,
346
,
770

Washington State,
340
,
750
,
754

water, drinking,
733
,
779

water immersion,
413

WE ACT for Environmental Justice,
754

websites:

for birth control,
217

body image and,
65

doctor interactive,
567

of FDA,
660
–61,
670

for health information,
559

health insurance and,
654

infertility,
481

for new mothers,
454

rating hospitals and providers,
367

for research on perimenopause and menopause,
543

run by patients,
662
,
664

for sexuality and sexual pleasure,
167

for STIs,
275

for transsexuals,
80

on women's health,
664

weight:

body image and,
64
–70,
116
,
117
–18

change in,
21
,
219

discrimination based on,
67
–68,
70
,
92
,
94

fertility and,
479

gynecological exam and,
42
–43

health vs.,
65
,
67
–69

of males,
116

patch and,
229
,
230

weight-bearing exercise,
523
,
528

weight gain,
66
,
67
,
68
,
550
,
597

birth control and,
229
,
236
,
238

in perimenopause,
510
,
523
,
527

pregnancy and,
384
,
392

weight loss,
67
,
68
,
138
,
304
,
523

PCOS and,
649
,
650

Weitz, Rose,
71

well-being,
70
,
447
–50,
578
,
780
–88

Wellbutrin,
188

Weschler, Toni,
28
,
248

West Harlem Environmental Action,
754

“What to Do If Someone You Care About Has Been Raped,”
707

Whipping Girl
(Serano),
75
,
76

Whipple, Beverly,
155
,
156

White House Council on Women and Girls,
581

White Ribbon Campaign,
694
,
789

white women,
630
,
781

access to health care of,
680

in aging studies,
542
,
543
,
545

cancer of,
593
,
616

disparities in health of,
761
–64,
767

old age and,
549
,
555

in perimenopause and menopause,
509

violence against,
699

Wicca,
151

wide excision (partial mastectomy),
602

widows,
553
,
554
,
577
,
768

Williams, Tonya,
814

Williams, Vanessa,
50

Williamson, Heidi,
814

Wilson, Jamia,
819

Wilson, Robert,
536
n

Wilson's disease,
240

Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program,
470

witch hazel pads,
433

withdrawal (pulling out; coitus interruptus),
246
–47,
255

woman and family-centered medical home (WFCMH),
658

Womansage,
577

Women, Action & the Media (WAM!),
818

Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network,
777

Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones
(Seaman),
536

Women and Their Bodies,
12
–13

Women for Empowerment Development and Gender Reform (WEDGR),
526
–27,
797
–98,
797

women of color,
60
,
66
,
281
,
542
,
555
,
813
–15

access to health care of,
680

cervical cancer in,
617

disparities in health of,
761
–63

environmental toxins and,
746

multiple identities of,
91
,
92

pregnancy of,
764

violence against,
693
–96

see also specific groups

Women's Funding Network,
822

Women's Health and the Environment,
753

Women's Health Initiative (WHI),
80
,
87
,
515
,
518
,
522
,
523

HT study of,
531
,
535
–40,
542
,
545
,
595
,
596
,
668

Women's Health Initiative in Bulgaria (WHIBG),
492
–93

Women's Health Matters,
664

Women's Health Promotion Center,
718

Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER),
568

Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS),
596

Women's Media Center (WMC),
775
,
811
–12,
818
,
819

Women's Refugee Commission,
790

Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC),
824
,
824

Women's Sexualities
(Ellison),
565

Women's Voices for the Earth,
753

Women Watch,
780

Woolf, Virginia,
119

Worcester (Mass.) Healty Start Initiative,
452

work,
see
jobs and work

workers rights, organizing for,
751

workplace,
745
,
748
–51,
758

action strategies in,
748

creating change in,
749
–51

in foreign countries,
746

precautions for pregnant women in,
748
–49

World Conference on Women (1995),
781

World Health Organization (WHO),
321
,
506
n
,
528
,
531
,
646
,
692
,
789
,
795
,
823

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH),
81

WPTV News Channel
5
,
49
,
49

Wyeth-Ayerst,
537

Xeloda,
228

Yayasan Kesehatan Perempuan (YKP; Women's Health Foundation),
822
–23

Year After Childbirth, The
(Kitzinger),
452

yeast infections,
186
,
278
,
294
,
624
,
635
,
637
–39,
642

antibiotics and,
623

diagnosis of,
638

HIV and,
304

lubricants and,
178

oral,
304

self-help for,
638
–39

treatment of,
33
,
638

Yes Means Yes
(book),
145
,
163
–64,
703
,
709

“yes means yes” slogan,
163

yoga,
305
,
497
,
523
,
528
–29,
556
,
609
,
647

yogurt,
538
,
642
,
821

Yoplait,
821

Young, Courtney,
50

Younger Women's Task Force,
819

“Young Feminists—Poison Earth, Poison Woman” (Ojanen-Goldsmith),
727

Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition,
146
,
270

YWCA,
64

Zakariasen, Kay,
644
–45,
644

Zambia,
797

Zandt, Deanna,
812

Zeilinger, Julie,
810

Zestra,
184

Zilbergeld, Bernie,
155

Zimbabwe,
799

Zoladex,
484

Zoloft,
188
,
392

Zuna Institute,
93

*
This chapter describes female sexual anatomy, but some of us who identify as women do not have this anatomy. Some of us have parts of both male and female anatomy, and some with female anatomy identify as men or as neither sex. For more information, see “Disorders of Sexual Development,” p.14, and
Chapter 4
, “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.”

†
The formal medical term is given in parentheses if it is different from the english or more familiar term.

*
See “Disorders of Sexual Development,” pp.14–15, for more on people born with sex chromosomes, external genitals, and/or internal reproductive organs that are not exclusively male or female.

†
The idea of a galaxy of gender was expressed in Gordene O. MacKenzie's “50 Billion Galaxies of Gender: Transgendering the Millennium,” in Kate More and Stephen Whittle's
Reclaiming Genders: Transsexual Grammars at the Fin de Siècle
(New York: Continuum, 2000).

*
For more on this topic, see myhusbandbetty.com/2009/09/17/jeez -louise-this-whole-cisgender-thing; pamshouseblend.com/diary/12837/cisgender-and-cissexual-terminology-the-getalonggoalong -moment.

*
Whereas previous editions of
Our Bodies, Ourselves
devoted a separate chapter to women who have intimate romantic/sexual relationships with women, this edition addresses our relationships with women and with men in a single chapter, “Relationships.” As in earlier editions, the experiences and concerns of lesbian and bi-sexual women appear throughout the book.

*
Some women use the word “cisgender” to define themselves, meaning their gender identity is in harmony with their biological sex. For more information, see
Chapter 4
, “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.”

*
Unless otherwise noted, the effectiveness numbers used in this chapter are taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2010.

*
Blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. If you are Rh-negative and the fetus is Rh-positive, you may form antibodies against the Rh factor in the fetal blood cells. In a subsequent pregnancy, these antibodies can react against an Rh-positive fetus, causing serious harm. To prevent you from forming these antibodies, your provider will give you an injection of a blood derivative (one brand name is RhoGAM) within seventy-two hours after the abortion.

*
Though the date of your last menstrual period (LMP) can provide an estimate of how pregnant you are, LMP dating can be inaccurate, particularly for women with irregular menstrual cycles. A clinician will make the final assessment about how advanced the pregnancy is through a pelvic exam or ultrasound.

*
Most clinics now use mifepristone plus misoprostol because it is more effective than methotrexate. Methotrexate is available in some clinics because it is less expensive than mifepristone.

*
To read one woman's story of having a later abortion because of fetal impairments, see “My Late-Term Abortion” at the Our Bodies Ourselves website, ourbodiesourselves.org.

*
If your pregnancy was not planned, or if you are deeply ambivalent about whether you want to raise a child, see
Chapter 12
, “Unexpected Pregnancy.”