Verily • 31st March 2021

I Have a Wanted Pregnancy, And Yet I’ve Received Pressure to Un-Want It

I am a happy mom to four kids—three already born and one on the way. As a fourth born myself, it is a special pregnancy for me, even if one of my least favorites in the nausea department. Some of the greatest gifts I’ve received in life are my siblings, and so I’m thrilled to be able to add another for my kids. This pregnancy was not a “mistake.” So I was frustrated when I attended my latest pregnancy ultrasound and a doctor pressed me to doubt my own desire or capability to add this latest person to my family.

Natural Womanhood • 27th March 2021

The FDA Approved the Clue App for Contraceptive Use. Here's What That Means.

Earlier this month, the FDA announced it cleared another cycle charting app for contraceptive use—this time it is the app called Clue Birth Control. In 2018, the FDA cleared the app Natural Cycles to be marketed as a medical device for contraceptive use, and many wonder if this is the dawn of FemTech possibilities, offering hope to women who are sick of birth control side effects yet still want reliable contraception. But there are some important clarifications . . .

Verily • 11th March 2021

What ‘WandaVision’ Gets About Trauma (Even If It Glosses Over the Costs!)

The Disney+ streaming spinoff series, coming after the Marvel Comic Universe just ended an era of Avenger movies, met an eager audience of viewers still homebound during a pandemic. Starting January 15 of this year, it soon became the most-watched show of any title across all major streaming platforms that month. Its season finale released on March 5 left fans with many feelings . . .

IUD Alert • 28th February 2021

Study: Women Seeking IUD Removal Face Roadblocks to Care

In a study published in February 2020 in the international reproductive health journal Contraception, researchers found that many women seeking to have their intrauterine device (IUD) removed often face delays and roadblocks from their healthcare providers. . .

Verily • 3rd February 2021

Let’s Stop Acting Like ‘Sex Work’ Is Empowering

When referring to “sex work,” most people are referring to work in commercial sexualized content, along the lines of pornography production or stripping. “Sex trafficking,” in the United States, is defined as to any commercial sex act with a minor, or any commercial sex act involving force, fraud, or coercion. So how do we differentiate between what is often billed as so-called reputable “sex work” and disreputable “sex trafficking”?

Verily • 21st January 2021

Our Awkward Semantics About When Life Begins—And What It Means For Women’s Health Care

A 2011 study published in the American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecology found that half of the gynecologist-obstetricians surveyed believe that life begins when the sperm meets the egg, that is, the moment of conception. “One-half of US obstetrician-gynecologists (57%) believe pregnancy begins at conception. Fewer (28%) believe it begins at implantation, and 16% are not sure,” the results stated.

Natural Womanhood • 15th December 2020

The Unethical Push to Sterilize Women in the Delivery Room

Many pregnant and postpartum women know what it’s like to field questions as they’re about to give birth and just after: “are we having an IUD inserted today?” or “what birth control will you be taking after birth?” Most recently, we’ve heard, “are we having our tubes tied today?” in reference to the sterilization procedure otherwise known as a bilateral tubal ligation.

Verily • 9th December 2020

What Makes ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ My Favorite Series of the Year (And Even Longer)

The story of an orphan-girl-chess-prodigy might not seem like the formula for a runaway television hit. But Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, which premiered in October is just that. According to Netflix’s metrics, the show garnered 62 million “views” in its first 28 days, outstripping Netflix hits like Stranger Things and close on the heels of the outrageous Tiger King.

Verily • 17th September 2020

Netflix’s ‘Cuties’ Didn’t Have to Participate in Exploitation to Expose It

I love the idea of media and film putting social ills like sexualization in a critical view, so typically I’d be intrigued by a storyline like that of Netflix’s Cuties—which follows an eleven-year-old Senegalese immigrant girl as she navigates the meaning of her femininity and seeks acceptance among her peers in a hypersexualized culture. However, as I watched clips of the film circulate on social media, I had to pause to consider whether I could view it.

Verily • 1st September 2020

If We Want to Save the Children, Let’s Start with Ourselves

Domestic minor sex trafficking is a big sprawling mess and requires much federal and state attention to combat and lots of hard work. Each state, each community has to focus on their unique local issues with it. It also requires concrete action from all of us.

Faith Counts • 19th August 2020

Black Is King

Many know Beyonce Knowles-Carter was a force to be reckoned with. But few could have expected the 1.5-hour visual album Black is King that the singer-director dropped on Disney+ this summer. Disney+, you might ask? Of all platforms the multi-platinum star could have chosen to debut her latest work, how did the streaming service known for kids films make the cut?

Verily • 23rd June 2020

Traction Is Growing Against Sex Trafficking and Porn

In addition to spawning countless conspiracy theories, Jeffrey Epstein’s untimely death in a New York correctional facility in August 2019 tells us something true: while some people may have not wanted Epstein’s secrets to be revealed, still more did. And for that, we have a Netflix documentary released last month called Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich...

Verily • 12th May 2020

The Part of Tara Reade’s Story that Megyn Kelly’s Interview Captures

Some have wondered if the #metoo movement has ended, suggesting concerns for women’s assault disappears once the accused include members of a different political party. It’s within this backdrop that on Friday Megyn Kelly stepped up, hosting an interview with Reade on her personal YouTube channel...

IUD Alert • 24th April 2020

Bad Side Effects: A Persistent Part of Birth Control History

An increasing number of women are turning to menstrual charting apps for health management or to try natural forms of family planning. In a 2018 Cosmo survey, 70 percent of young women said they’d either stopped taking the Pill or had considered doing so in the past three years. It would appear that birth control is starting to get a bad rap for undesirable side effects...

Verily • 16th April 2020

Pornhub Doesn't Care

Pornhub’s donations of 50,000 surgical masks in response to COVID-19 are a part of “Pornhub Cares,” the official philanthropic division of the world’s largest adult site. But upon closer look, the work of Pornhub Cares is little more than a public relations campaign to distract from the abusive practices the company’s been accused of (which are rampant throughout the entire sex industry).

The Federalist • 30th March 2020

How Journaling Can Help You Process Anxiety

It’s easy to succumb to feeling overwhelmed right now. With so many experiences colliding—the stress of juggling more than I already thought I could with work and life, the thrill of the can-do American spirit; the fear of the unknown; the joy of seeing good governance in action; the anger of seeing bad governance in action; the pain of knowing people are suffering...

Verily • 13th March 2020

Weinstein Lessons We're Still Learning

This week, Harvey Weinstein—movie mogul of the Weinstein Company whose misbehavior all but started the #metoo movement—was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual crimes against women. For many, this result comes as no surprise. Many have read Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker articles, expanded in his book Catch and Kill. Weinstein has received backlash for accusations of sexual crimes for years in the court of public opinion. But in the judicial court...

Natural Womanhood • 9th March 2020

Addressing Our Maternal Mortality Crisis with Fertility Awareness

Pregnancy is hard, and it always will be. But, thanks to modern medicine, pregnancy should be life-making and not life-taking. Unfortunately, in America, maternal mortality rates have been increasing since the 1980s, according to the CDC. Further, America’s maternal crisis reveals racial disparities, as black women and Native American women are about three times as likely to die from delivery complications...

Verily • 13th February 2020

Does Hollywood Not Want Us to See 'Judy'?

Judy wasn’t nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. There were numerous contenders for the top film honor, so it was a tight race. But Judy is also not a picture that puts Hollywood in a good light. It would sound conspiracy-theory-like for me to say the Academy doesn’t want you to see Judy, but … I think the Academy doesn’t want us to see Judy. Previous Oscar-nominated films that have featured Hollywood have portrayed it as the good guy. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood...

Verily • 1st August 2019

Girls’ Suicide Numbers Are Increasing—and Current Media Isn’t Helping

This year, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published some troubling findings: suicides in girls have significantly increased in the past decades. The article cited a report in which “female youth aged 10 to 14 years experienced the largest percentage increase in suicide rates compared with other age groups,” and another report found “youth aged 15 to 19 years showed suicide rates for female individuals more than doubled from 2007 to 2015.” In a commentary published alongs