G is one of the smartest people I know, but she takes exclusively ridiculous pictures.
Sometimes a few free work days means it’s time for an old-fashioned road trip and a little networking in a new city. This time around: I stopped by Cleveland, OH to visit my good friend, Eugenia, who is in med school at Case Western. She is probably my oldest friend at this point, and we are both loud, ice-cream obsessed goobers.
One of the amazing things that Case Western has to offer is a museum exhibit dedicated to the history of contraception, which means I made a bee-line for the medical library where the exhibit was housed.
And I was not disappointed.
The Dalkon Shield: the IUD to end all IUDS. But seriously, this thing set IUD use back decades because of its penchant for PERFORATING YOUR UTERUS.
Or, you could always try lemon juice or a candy bar wrapper as a spermicide-condom combo instead
Old-school douching powders and LYSOL bottles. For a lemon fresh nether region.
The museum was a perfect reminder of how far we’ve come in reproductive medicine. Liletta, Skyla, and Mirena are far cries from the hand-made IUDs of the past, and we’ve largely discarded douching as a contraceptive method (probably because it’s dangerous and doesn’t work). Information about birth control efficacy and safety is widely available to the public, including young people and unmarried couples.
And yet, I’m also reminded that the policing of women’s bodies through reproductive health is alive and well. Some practices have not gotten much better: access to abortion services is constantly under threat, birth control teeters in the balance of the current health insurance debate, and sex workers are still subject to discrimination, criminalization, and violence.
An early 1900s model pelvic teaching model, designed to help midwives learn how to deliver babies.
Seeing old pelvic models reminded me of the continuing practice of teaching pelvic exams on unconsenting, anesthetized woman during general surgery.
Modern condoms actually date back to the 1870s
Look at all these creative IUDs!
A rainbow of cervical caps. Note that at least 1 of them is made of metal. Ouch.
2 guesses as to what these are for. Did you say condom molds? Because you would be right!
It can be a fun exercise to look at reproductive technology from previous generations and breathe a sigh of relief that things are so much better. Thank goodness we don’t think beaver testicles count as contraception! Hallelujah that people don’t go to jail for passing out birth control informational pamphlets! It’s easy to excuse the inequities of 2017 by using 1917 as a benchmark. But problems persist.
Now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back and content ourselves with the progress that has already been made.
Intimate Health Consulting exists because last year, 23% of trans people in the US did not see a doctor when they needed to because of fear of being mistreated. Because 222 million people around the world have unmet contraceptive needs. Because 62% of women report having never had a physician-initiated conversation about sexual effects of cancer or invasive treatment. There are still HUGE gaps in the quality of care being provided around reproductive health. And as they said in Hairspray, “we’ve come so far and got so far to go.”
Conversations about reproductive health are intense. Here is a picture of Cloofey, the house dog, who is perfect in every way
