April 2013

Monkeys with Guns, Money and Smartphones: The Failing News Media

Published on April 29, 2013

3009 views

“We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. We are monkeys with money and guns.” – Tom Waits

And smartphones.

Perhaps this is the lament of generations – that the next generation does not know; that they fail to recognize the sins of their fathers and are destined to repeat them. Or maybe all history is repetition. Sure, the names, the technology, the geography change, but the story remains the same. Power begets power, money begets money and nonsense begets ever more nonsense.

And what nonsense we have had as of late. Are we becoming monkeys with guns, money and smartphones? Have we confused information with knowledge, belief with reality, certainty with understanding, wealth with happiness and promoted the rights of guns and corporations and just damned idiots over human health and dignity? It certainly seems so.

Long ago, a colleague traveling through Cambodia spoke with a man about the Khmer Rouge. He said; “they thought they could reinvent the world and society by erasing all of the culture and rules of the past and starting with nothing, thinking they could discover the essence of mankind”. “Really?” he asked. “And what did they discover?” “That men without history or culture are nothing better than angry monkeys with machine guns”.

And here we are now, in 21st century America, angry monkeys fighting for the rights of machine guns over humans; ready, willing and able to re-write history by caveat, force, or simple ignorance – TL;DR anyone (too long, didn’t read for the older among us). Only our re-writes are driven not by a need to find the ‘essence of man’ or some meaningful truth about reality, but by money and the false sense that equates free market forces with moral good, belief with reality, and the quantity and force of information spewed with knowledge and understanding.

Saying less, more loudly, more frequently and with more anger is what constitutes news these days. And not only do we buy or pay for our own dumbing down upfront with cash, but we reward with more cash and our dying admiration the companies and individuals who profligate the garbage. Yes, sir, please feed me more toxic garbage, and yes sir please allow me to give you my hard earned paycheck for the privilege of killing my soul, my brain or my body.

A strange state, indeed.

This diatribe of lost hope came to be about month ago when Yahoo! in their infinite wisdom purchased a little known, software company called Summly. Yes, Yahoo! still exists, unbelievable right. And they just spent $30 million on software that summarizes crap internet content into smaller bits of crap internet content, so that we can browse it more quickly from our smartphones.

Aside from the fact that this software may not be that good and the company had few users and no revenue, both good reasons not to buy said company, this purchase is just directionally stupid and speaks to our continuous slide in non-thinking oblivion.

Do we really need smaller bits of crap from the churnalism that has become the news media? Do we really need to give a 17 year old, who created said software – software that has no socially or economically redeeming qualities – a one-off shot of cash, when we could hire and pay hundreds of people to produce quality, thoughtful and perhaps even enlightening articles? Better yet, we could invest in people and technologies to solve real problems in the real world, not the fabricated needs of the TL;DR generation.

Why not invest in writers, thinkers, journalists and create actual news articles that don’t have to be endlessly reduced to nothingness? Why not produce news that folks would read, learn from and maybe even enjoy? I suspect a business model that valued people and actual innovation at least as much as narcissistic gadgetry might actually improve our economic circumstances.

Alas, Yahoo!, and I am afraid, many others – the entire ‘old media’ enterprise – think it is directionally correct to pursue the quick and easy algorithm distillery approach to news. Think about it, major tech companies with no history or understanding of news, history or culture are guiding the news media toward obsolescence. And the news sector is following.

News rooms are shuttering in favor of social media driven gossip or marketing created content. Investigative journalism and thoughtful analysis are dead and in their place ‘political’ talk shows, brokers of endless “he said” “she said” cabals common in any high school locker room, flood the airwaves. Erstwhile, the old guard wonders why the media institutions of yesteryear are failing. Really guys, you cannot figure out? Content is not the same as news. Algorithms can’t do investigative reporting. Technology cannot replace people. TL;DR doesn’t cut it.

While the Yahoo!s and the Summly’s of the world can distill crap into smaller pieces of crap, it takes real thinking humans to understand history and culture. Without this understanding, we become no more than monkeys with money, guns and smartphones. But hey, really what more do you need? And ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?

Welcome to My World – The Anti-Dove

by Lana Hanson

Published on April 26, 2013

1582 views

The latest Dove ad campaign traveled around Facebook faster than a 1980’s Glam Rock groupie Chlamydia infection. You would’ve thought this short video held the message to the Meaning of Life or something. Even I became a sappy sucker and reposted it. Once the druggy effects of sappy soap opera music and emotional manipulation finally wore off I realized I have, just been like, TOTALLY violated by a soap commercial.

This might take hella amounts of scrubbing and hard core self-evaluation to remove the remains of being fondled by a slick marketing scheme. I wonder how many women (and a few still visibly shaken and tearful gay men) rushed out in their pajama bottoms and slippers to empty store shelves of all Dove products to show solidarity.

And speaking of the 1980’s – the scenario of the Dove ad sounds like it could be an eerie set up in some horror movie from that era. I mean, these women were instructed to walk into an apartment to be filmed alone with an unseen stranger sitting at a draft board who asks questions such as “Tell me about your chin” in a creepy calm voice?! Somewhere Freddy Kruger is watching Youtube and whispering to himself “I. Am. SUCH. A. Loser.”

None of the women chosen to take part in this Dove sponsored experiment were too dark, fat or old so it seems the company got its porridge just right. Most of them were Caucasian blondes with blue eyes (HELLOOO GOLDILOCKS!). And a majority of the comments heard in the commercial were made by the Caucasians, too. I’d like to think that in the final dramatic moment when these women are shown their before and after sketching, the one Asian woman and the two African American women just cackled “I don’t have time for this shit” and left.

The women seemed awkward and pressured to respond in the way the director of the ad nudged them to…y’know – just like reality TV! Even the tears seemed a bit…counted. All seemed to harshly judge the women in the first drawings – based on appearances – so was any lesson learned at all? The commercial ended with the words: “You are more beautiful than you think.”

But what if you’re not?? What if the first sketch IS you? You might’ve seen this commercial while sitting on the couch stuffing your face with Funyans and realized a forensic artist just flashed a picture of you on TV!

Then welcome to MY world.

A Crown for the Worst Headache or Migraine – Medical Marketing Gone Wrong

by Nancy Bonk

Published on April 25, 2013

2627 views

As if battling the stigma that surrounds migraine and headache disorders isn’t difficult enough, we can thank Excedrin for continuing it. Excedrin is currently running a sweepstakes called “Who Deserves Excedrin The Most – Help Decide Who Wears the Crown.” In this sweepstakes the idea is to vote on a collection of people or “headache sufferers” who are matched in a daily, “head-to-head” video format, enacting a story and/or situation. The idea is to vote for who deserves to wear “the crown.” E-gift cards are given out every day and your vote is then entered into the pool for the grand prize, a seven day trip for two to Jamaica.

Each of these 16 videos depicts a short story of a particular situation, event or everyday occurrence that in Excedrin’s mind, will give you a “headache.” Some of the videos include rambunctious children in the back seat of a car, the frustration of being on hold for a lengthy amount of time, horrendous flying experiences, raising children, difficult bosses, and completing your taxes at the last minute, to name just a few.

Really. Excedrin wants the public to “crown” someone the Headache King or Queen – celebrate it with a crown, what, like the Burger King? Comedian Molly Shannon is the spokesperson for the sweepstakes and recently said she is a “headache sufferer.” Ms. Shannon can be quite funny and may simply be trying to bring levity to a serious topic. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good laugh (even at my own expense) and believe humor plays an important role in our lives. But because the stigma is so high in headache and migraine, I think the slightest amount of banter may increase that stigma, it certainly doesn’t do anything to decrease it.

With over 300 different types of migraine and headache disorders and no test, tool or machine to diagnose them, shouldn’t we be concentrating on more important things than a “crown?” Does anyone ever want to be named the MS King or Breast Cancer Queen in a sweepstakes? Of course not, because the public would never allow that to happen. Here’s the thing – because “it’s just a headache” doesn’t mean we get a “crown” to wear. We all know headache and migraine are so much more than simply a “headache.” What do you think about Excedrin’s marketing idea?

Inert Ingredients in Glyphosate Herbicides Are Toxic Too

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on April 24, 2013

3690 views

Funny thing happens when you actually measure stuff, you find that things are not always as they seem. This appears to be the case with popular pesticides and herbicides – the inert ingredients are not so inert after all.

Herbicides and pesticides are formulations that combine the primary weed or bug killing chemical(s) with what are called adjuvants. Adjuvants are compounds that dilute or preserve or in some way maximize the delivery of the primary chemical. The adjuvants are considered inert or as having no effect. So, when chemical companies seek approval for their product, they only have to show the safety of the active ingredients – not the adjuvants. (A similar procedure is used with vaccine approval and that is how dangerous adjuvants like thimerosol (thiomersal), the mercury based neurotoxin used in a variety of vaccines, reach the market.)

What happens when researchers begin measuring the entire formulations, the adjuvants alone and together with the primary chemicals? We learn that, the adjuvants are more toxic than the primary chemicals. This appears to be the case with glyphosate based herbicides.Glyphosate is the primary weedkiller in Roundup and other popular herbicides.

Glyphosate is pretty disruptive to health on its own accord being linked to significant endocrine disrupting effects that can lead to cancers and reproductive disorders, ambiguous genitalia and neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring of exposed animals and farm workers. But glyphosate isn’t the only chemical in the herbicidal formulation. Glyphosate is combined with host of inert ingredients. Researchers in France tested these supposedly inert ingredients, individually and in the standard product formulations. What they found was troubling.The adjuvants were cytotoxic (induced cell death) to cells from the kidney, liver and placenta. The placental cells were especially sensitive to the adjuvants reacting and dying off at twice the rate as either the kidney or the liver cells.

While each of the nine adjuvants tested were cytotoxic, one adjuvant in particular stood out as more than 100 times more toxic than glyphosate or the other adjuvants – a surfactant called – POE-15. POE-15 is found in a host of common gardening and agricultural products including: Topglypho 360, Glyphogan, Clinic E.V. Bayer GC, Genamin, Roundup GT and Roundup GT+. The toxicity of these products directly corresponded to the concentration of POE-15. Formulations with larger concentrations of POE-15, were more toxic.

What does this mean? The acceptable exposure levels, those levels deemed to safe for human health, are calculated based only the primary ingredient glyphosate. Because the adjuvants like POE-15 are not considered, the approved exposure levels significantly underestimate the real risk to health, especially fetal health. Not measuring something is not the same as warranting its safety or efficacy. Policy regulations must be changed to reflect the total composition of the product seeking approval, whether it be drugs or environmental chemicals. In the mean time, limit your exposure. Find safer ways to control weeds, especially if you are pregnant.

Post Hysterectomy Skeletal and Anatomical Changes

by WS

Published on April 23, 2013

340470 views

I wonder if so many women would “choose” hysterectomy if they knew how it would affect their figure and internal anatomy. I know I would have told my once respected gynecologist “no way” and left never to return if I’d known just a smidgen of what I now know. Here are some of the anatomical and skeletal changes that occur post hysterectomy.

Ligament and Skeletal Changes Post Hysterectomy

An intact woman’s figure has space between the rib cage and the hip bones commonly known as the waist. The waist gives her the curve in her lower back, the natural sway in her hips, her “elongated” torso that’s proportionate to her extremities. This all changes after hysterectomy.

Four sets of ligaments hold the uterus in place. These ligaments are the “scaffolding” or support structures for the core (midsection). When the ligaments are severed to remove the uterus, the spine compresses causing the rib cage to gradually fall toward the hip bones and the hip bones to widen. This causes a shortened, thickened midsection, protruding belly, and loss of the curve in the lower back, giving the appearance of a flat derriere. In some women, these changes cause those hated rolls of fat (weight gain or not). In others, it looks more like a pregnant belly. This can be particularly distressing for women whose hysterectomies denied them the chance to have (more) children.

As if an unattractive figure isn’t devastating enough, these skeletal changes lead to chronic back, hip, and rib cage pain as well as tingling and loss of sensation in legs and feet. It also explains why, even absent osteoporosis, hysterectomized women lose height. With all these changes to the skeletal structure, I wonder if hysterectomy can also cause spinal stenosis. It would certainly seem plausible.

Evidence of my spine compressing started 12 to 18 months post-op. A crease started forming about two inches above my navel. It gradually lengthened over the next 6 months to a year until it became visible all across my midsection. I’ve always been thin (underweight) with flat, toned abs and prominent hip bones. And contrary to what most women experience after hysterectomy, I lost weight. As my spine compressed, my flat abs became “fat” and flabby. My hip bones became less prominent in the front (as my belly pooched out) and more prominent in the back since my rib cage had fallen onto my hip bones. And I now have intermittent back, hip, and rib cage pain as well as tingling in feet. My sacrum / tailbone has also looked bruised since not long after my hysterectomy.

Internal Organs Post Hysterectomy

And how does the body change on the inside? Well for one, it affects the bladder and bowel. The uterus separates the bladder and bowel and holds them in their rightful positions. Removal of the uterus causes these organs to fall impeding function. When the bladder or bowel is full, there can be a feeling of discomfort or even outright pain (exactly what I’m feeling at this moment – constant pain that increases by just walking). Complete emptying can be problematic as can incontinence. Bowels may alternate between constipation and diarrhea. Adhesions can further hamper bowel function even to the point of a life threatening obstruction. I’ve had serious bowel problems ever since my surgery 7 years ago. Chances of bladder, bowel, and vaginal prolapse and fistula also increase leading to more loss of quality of life and future risky surgeries. Hysterectomy has even been shown to increase risk of renal cell (kidney) cancer likely caused by damage to ureters. I have to wonder if functions of other organs may also be affected as our organs don’t work in isolation and may be further affected by the anatomical changes.

Nerves and Sex Post Hysterectomy

And what about sensation after all those nerves and blood vessels are severed? What’s it like having a shortened vagina that’s not connected to anything? Well, it’s no wonder sex isn’t the same! How can it be? And if you enjoyed uterine orgasms, those are obviously a pleasure of the past. Even nipple sensation can be lost because nerve endings are found all along the spine. The severing of nerves as well as scar tissue formation can cause a problem worse than loss of sensation – nerve entrapment which can be quite painful.

I’m not sure which is worse – the hormonal adverse effects or the anatomical and skeletal adverse effects. There’s no doubt though that my body has been drastically altered since the unwarranted removal of my vital female organs.

The adverse effects to a woman’s figure, as well as the many other adverse effects of female organ removal, are detailed in the video “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs.” Priceless!

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Forget Dove, This is Real Beauty – This is My Body Project

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on April 21, 2013

2864 views

Forget the gauzy, syrupy ad campaign by the folks at Dove soaps (and the counter ad for men). Forget the lithe, wafer thin, perfectly airbrushed model on the cover of any magazine or the siliconed double D on the porn channels. Real beauty isn’t contrived or hesitant. Real beauty isn’t perfect or airbrushed. Real beauty is messy and scarred, but powerful. Real beauty comes from the freedom to be vulnerable, to be who you are.

We don’t need advertising moguls telling us what beauty is, but we do need the wisdom of a young woman fed up with the superficial concepts of beauty to show us what is right before our eyes – that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Meet Kailei Picciotti, the 19 year old college student behind one of the most important feminist movements of our time: This is My Body Project.

Thanks to Kailei’s simple and personal act of protest – she scribbled in black ink This is My Body across her naked abdomen, took a picture and posted it on Facebook – we have a vision of beauty that transcends anything advertisers can create. From that simple act of protest Kailei began a movement that empowers men and women to reclaim their freedom and own their beauty. In just under two years, the Body Project has almost 20,000 followers.

Men and women from all over the world bear their bodies with the simple and defiant message – this is my body. No airbrushing, no perfection, just the simple, raw beauty that comes from having the power and the freedom to be vulnerable and accept what comes.

This is My Body Project reminds us what real beauty and real power look like.

Let me introduce you to the remarkable young woman, Kailei Picciotti, who began the Body Project.

This is My Body Project

Kailei, tell us a little about yourself. I’m a college student and juggle four different jobs on top of running the Body Project. I started the Body Project when I was 17. I had done some modeling throughout my teen years. I started to receive anonymous messages on social media sites saying things like, “in real life you’re fat and hideous” and “you’re too ugly/fat to model. You should just kill yourself then I wouldn’t be forced to look at your hideous face.” “Cut a little deeper next time.” I don’t consider myself “fat.” For most of my life I had, but I eventually got over it. I do realize, though, that I’m not a “thin” girl. Currently, I’m a size 11 in jeans and I weigh 165 lbs. I am curvy and I have a bit of a gut, but I’m honest about it and I’m proud about the way I look. At first, I took these attacks heart and was really upset. For months, I was extremely depressed and thought they were right. I answered their message with really humbling words though and never showed I was upset. I talked to friends/family about my situation and they were comforting, but it didn’t help.

To this day I don’t understand what made me change my mind… but one day I did. I realized they were wrong about me. I realized I needed to do something about it. I needed to show these people that it’s okay to be “fat” and it’s okay to love your body. Actually loving your body is a really good thing! So I went down into my basement-turned-photography-studio put my camera onto my tripod and went to work. I had an idea of a conceptual photo where I wrote ‘This is My Body’ on my stomach. To show that I was proud of my chubby little belly and didn’t mind the ridicule. You can see the original post and photo here.

That post, even though I was convinced it would bring me most ridicule, received a lot positive attention. Within the next few days I had a dozen girls send me photos of themselves inspired by what I had done. A few months later, I compiled those photos into an album on Facebook and the This is My Body Project was born. About a year later, I was ready to take on this Project more fully and saw my passion for really helping people love their bodies. Ever since then I’ve been working diligently on the Project to help as many people as I can and change as many lives as I can.

How has the project grown and where do you see it going in the future? Considering the Project started kind of by accident it has grown to an extreme degree. I’m in shock and awe every day going through all of my e-mails and submissions. I can’t even believe what a big deal it is. It’s astonishing and truly humbling. Right now we’re just online. We have a Facebook page, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter. That’s not good enough for me though. I want to branch out and make this a physical entity. We’ve formed a club at the college I currently attend so we can do fundraisers within our community and help local charities. We can also have taken steps to becoming a non-profit organization. That is my true dream for the Body Project. I want to make helping people love their bodies my career and give other people the chance to make it their career as well!

Why do you think the project has resonated with the public? Because it’s a subject we all can relate to. Somewhere inside all of us in an unsure individual who wonders about how people see them and if they find them beautiful. We all do it. We all question ourselves. It also helps that the media has body type archetypes that no one can relate to, because the people on our page are real people that the public can relate to. I think that has a lot to do with it.

What about internet safety? Were you ever concerned that posting pictures of girls, women, even men, might elicit untoward responses? I still have concerns about this not just regarding myself, but everyone on the page. I have gotten messages/harassment from internet creeps regarding the type of imagery I post of myself online. I know how to be safe on the Internet and am very cautious about how I handle those situations when they happen to me. I give no answer or response and depending on the site that they contact me I ban them from contacting me. I’ve never had anyone else on the page come to me with a problem about this thankfully. If I ever did I would be sure to have them ban that individual from contacting them. Also ban that person from having the ability to view our page at all and would on some sort of forum warn the rest of the page about the individual if they were to contact any of them.

Is there a story that has touched you/your followers more so than any other? I know this probably sounds really corny, but every story has touched me. Every story means something to me and I read all of them, every word and every thought. It has definitely helped me grow as a person and expand my mindset. I appreciate every story I get so much. The stories that really inspire me the most are the stories about people overcoming self-harm because that’s something I’ve done myself. There also are a few stories shared by people who have Muscular Dystrophy, a disease I myself have. Reading the stories about muscular dystrophy always bring tears to my eyes, in the most beautiful way.

What are you proudest of? I wake up every morning knowing that I’ve made a difference in the world for the better. That is the best feeling in the world. When I get messages from the public letting me know how much I’ve inspired them and how much I’ve helped them, I wouldn’t say gives me a sense of pride, but more so gives me a sense of humbleness and gratitude.

Where do you see yourself in 1 year or 5 years? Will this project be part of your career? In one year I’ll be finishing off my Associates degree and transferring colleges to start my Bachelor’s degree. I hope that by then when I make my move that the Body Project is a legally recognized non-profit because that’s what I want my career to be. If all goes as planned in five years I’ll be a totally awesome non-profit business owner; a woman who employees people, teaches them to love themselves and raises awareness about the media. I want to change people’s lives for the better. I also want to the world for the better!

How do you see this fitting with the feminist movement? I’ve never given the idea much thought so I honestly don’t know. I hope that it can help in changing people’s perspectives of our society’s rape culture and the radical standards women are held to within their own sex lives. Things such as slut-shaming and the beauty standards set in the porn industry. They’re all subjects I’m very passionate about and so I try to tie them into posts on the page.

How do you see this project changing the perceptions of the human body? I think that the Project gives people a healthy dose of realism. What we’re shown on TV in magazines and advertisements obviously isn’t realistic and the Body Project shows the many ways a natural body can look and also shows that a natural body without any sort of alterations is beautiful. That’s the point that we’re trying very hard to prove. I hope eventually this can change the standards we’ve all subconsciously set ourselves to as far as our appearance goes.

Final thoughts? I just wanted to say thank you for the publication of this interview and for taking the time to speak with me. I genuinely appreciate it and hope you can make a great story out of this!

Real beauty isn’t plastic or contrived, it’s empowered. Thank you Kailei for reminding us of that.

Breaking Sexual Taboos

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on April 18, 2013

3042 views

When discussing my writing and research amongst a group of peers recently, I was struck by how quickly the conversation devolved into the more apparently, though not really, salacious articles I have written as of late. Yes, they were about sex and often cursorily about penis size. Mostly though, the articles used the phrase penis size as a vehicle to introduce bad research or media on medically-related topics. Of course, the added benefit of using one of the most popular search phrases on the internet was not lost on me and I used it to my advantage.

In these articles, I pondered our notions about sex and language; sometimes in jest, sometimes in all seriousness, but in each case, it was not the topic of the article that was most intriguing to those in this conversation, it was the blatant use of the taboo words penis size that merited the school-aged giggles from otherwise hyper-educated adults. And so it is, that I have begun to be introduced to folks, not by the serious research and commentary that I do, but by the posts on penises and sex. Yes, mom, I got a PhD to talk about penis size.

The interesting thing is, I know relatively nothing about penis size and frankly, I am learning that few of us do. The subject is taboo and like much of sexual health, riddled more with myth and misunderstanding than actual data. Do women (or men) prefer larger penises or is that merely one component of a complicated sexual dance? Are there racial or geographic differences is size, as myth proclaims or do the larger or smaller among us average out when large data sets are analyzed? Are there data sets about the size to pleasure ratio or is that just too taboo to even consider? Is this something a legitimate researcher should even consider considering (how’s that for a bit of deconstructive thought – thinking about thinking) or does the mere fact I am discussing this topic publicly, obliterate any hope of being taken seriously for my other research? Social mores what they are, it’s probably the latter. That is unfortunate and this is why.

The taboos that define what we can say, see or even know about sex or sexual health seep into every aspect of medical research and certainly political thought. In men’s health, think about circumcision for a moment. How might we approach that differently, if parents were given accurate information about male anatomy – that yes, in fact there are nerve endings that reach all the way to the tip of the penis and that yes, infants do feel pain. Might we not be so ready to lop things off for some biblical, pre-sanitation view of reality? Perhaps, but because we can’t talk about these things openly, we are left with myth to make medical decisions. Grown men know more about the anatomy and physiology of the heart muscle than they do of their own penis. Talk about driving blind.

In women’s health, it’s even worse. The powers of the magical vagina are so strong that even saying the V word can get men or women fired from jobs. Just recently, a high school health teacher was fired for teaching female anatomy and daring to ascribe the proper terminology to the female reproductive organs. In the overly litigious and ridiculously tabooed work environment, I suspect even using the word vagina in polite company might yield claims of sexual harassment (oh, our sensitive ears). And don’t even think about showing pictures of the female pelvic anatomy – that would be porn.

Even common medical imagery of the female sexual anatomy is often neutered with Barbie parts. Really, it is.

This is something that I recently and quite accidentally discovered; medical and scientific renderings of the female pelvic anatomy are not always complete (I suspect similarly incomplete imagery for male anatomy but have yet to investigate). Nerves, blood vessels, and the like, end well before reaching the magical, mystery areas of the female labia and clitoris. Indeed, in many illustrations those regions do not exist but are replaced by neutered Barbie parts. Keep the magic and mystery alive. Who knows what would happen if we were to show those sacred anatomical features. Oh no, women might realize there are nerves down there. Worse yet, physicians might recognize that there are nerves and begin understanding that the ‘psychogenic’ sex pain could be nerve compression. Gads, we’d lose the multi-billion dollar antidepressant industry.

If we can’t have adult conversations about sex or sexual anatomy or accurately portray visual images of human sexual organs without risk of repercussion, how in the world are we to treat diseases that affect said organs? A more fundamental question – would we have more fun if the tools of the trade were more thoroughly understood and appreciated? Perhaps.

Some interesting sites with complete pelvic anatomy and information about male and female nerve damage:

Health Organization for Pudendal Education – bet you never heard of the pudendal nerve. The pudendal nerve is responsible for sensation to the penis and the clitoris. Damage that nerve and you have problems.
Interactive Atlas of the Female Pelvis. This shows how incredibly complex the female pelvic region is. It makes me wonder how much damage we’re causing with cesareans and hysterectomies.

Learn pelvic anatomy. Break the taboos.

New Study: Bras Make Breasts Saggier

by Lana Hanson

Published on April 12, 2013

1859 views

Well, ladies, it finally looks like it’s “high” time to unhook our restrictive bras once and for all! I’m almost tempted to wipe a tear, fire up the BBQ grill, lay these worn, sad slings down and play a lil’ “Taps” using my palm and sweaty armpit for accompaniment.

Freedom never felt so sweet!

The reason behind my relieved rant? The published results of a study led by research professor Jean-Denis Rouillon which state that “Medically, physiologically, and anatomically- breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity.” In short: Us broads are better off without the bra!

WHOO! HOO!

He came to this conclusion using nothing but a simple slide rule, a caliper, and fifteen years of going eyeballs to nipples of 330 women participants.

But really, ANY anxious teenage boy could’ve let us know this “scientific” finding in less than five minutes into a full and proper make-out session, saving us billions and putting the brassiere business in bankruptcy.

But this new bra-less lifestyle brings up a new dilemma for busty girls like me. All these years my deep, cavernous cups have been used less for lifting than for catching… as in catching the crumbs of my meals! The list goes on and on: Pie crumbles, popcorn kernels, even dollops of ice cream have slipped to the catcher’s mitt of my DDs! All these gathered together could make for pretty awesome trail mix! Unless…

Unless I somehow land a date with North Korea ‘s chubby cheeked leader Kim Jong Un!! As you know, he’s been making threats about shooting off missiles over there. Maybe I could stop him in two ways. I could ditch the stupid bra and let the ravenous face of that hungry dictator nibble at my cleavage, scavenging for scraps in there! And I could use my big bra to catch any missiles he launches! Talk about the best of both worlds!

With genius ideas like these, I really should be working at The United Nations, right?

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Ligament and Skeletal Changes Post Hysterectomy

Internal Organs Post Hysterectomy

Nerves and Sex Post Hysterectomy

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