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Reproductive Health

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How Planned Parenthood of Greater NY Defanged Conservatives and Strengthened Its Mission

In its 105th year, the Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) sharply turned its large ship in a different direction when it publicly disavowed its founder, Margaret Sanger and reckoned with its white supremacist history.

Over the prior 104 years, Conservatives have weaponized Sanger against Planned Parenthood by exposing the holes within white feminism. While liberals (defensively) hailed Sanger as the feminist pioneer of the Reproductive Rights movement who was a woman of her time.

If you are confused about Sanger, I am here to help clarify

Book cover of Killing The Black Body by Dorothy Roberts

For a heavily researched, in depth understanding of Sanger, I urge you to read Killing The Black Body by scholar and professor Dorothy Roberts. It refutes the “woman of her time” argument because as many know, Black and Indigenous women were purposefully not heard, despite their pushback, during Sanger’s time.

It also unpacks how W.E.B. Du Bois was against eugenics, despite how he and other Black people from that time are used by white feminists as a (the?) reason to not “cancel” Sanger.

Roberts also unpacks the maternal colonialism endemic to Sanger’s work. For example, in her 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble (heir to Proctor and Gamble), she said, “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” When Sanger coined the term “birth control”, it was couched in the language of eugenics, which was defined by race and could never be understood apart from race.

Similarly damning to Sanger’s legacy is how the Germans learned from and modeled their sterilization laws from eugenicists (including Sanger) in the USA. Yes, it was those in the US who provided the framework for the Nazi compulsory sterilization law of 1933 which was eventually implemented during the Nazi Holocaust. Again, read the book.

Before I go on . . .

I want to underscore that I am indubitably grateful for Planned Parenthood and the services it has provided to me. And, as mentioned in my abortion story, during my process of decolonization, I have come to understand the deep chasms that have historically prevented Planned Parenthood from evolving, innovating and leading communities it serves in an equitable way

Therefore, I was curious to learn what happened, internally, at PPGNY to finally turn the proverbial ship towards equitable reproductive freedom

So I reached out to my contacts at PPGNY and sat down with Merle McGee, Chief Equity and Engagement Officer and Fiona Kanagasingam, Chief Equity and Learning Officer to discuss everything from Sanger’s name removal to the expansive and bold future that they envision for the NY affiliate.

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grapefruit that emulates a lubricated vagina or WAP
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A Urogynecologist On The Health Necessity of WAP

A few weeks ago, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion came out with the music video WAP (Wet Ass Pussy). Some people think its too vulgar and as expected, Republicans are all uptight about it. I think Cardi B has brought to light something that is REALLY important but taboo to discuss. Your pussy NEEDS to be wet. So I thank Cardi B for disrupting the culturally prude, misogynistic and patriarchal existence that we are subjected to.

I mean if I asked my religious Muslim mother, “Is it important to have a wet ass pussy?”, she would first say, “What is this?” I would clarify and say, lubricated vagina, and she would say, “Of course it is necessary”. Growing up, it was haram for my sisters and I to date or watch Beverly Hills 90210 (but we figured out how). Yet talking about kegels, cramps and/or the consistency of our period blood with my mom and dad was an accepted norm.

So normal that when I got my period, at age 11, my mother (a pediatric pathologist at the time) took me down to the basement to look at vaginas under her microscope. Ok, so they were (nasty) vaginas with STIs and she was trying to make a point. Without saying a word her eyes threatened, “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE SEX (BEFORE MARRIAGE)”. We never discussed morals or anything, she just showed me that sh*&. I still laugh when I realize that my mother provided me with the most effective sex ed. lesson.

While thinking about this, I reached out to my older sister, Naz, aka Dr. Nazema Siddiqui, Urogynecologist and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke Medical School to discuss the mechanics and importance of WAP.

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Illustration of Black women's hands holding a card for reproductive justice
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Why Reproductive Justice Does Not Align With ProChoice Politics

“Reproductive rights” and “reproductive justice” are phrases used interchangeably, while in fact they are dueling movements amidst a growing power struggle.

The Reproductive Rights Movement is led by mid-upper class white feminists with a narrow agenda, that solely focuses on ending pregnancy through “pro-choice” activism. It has refused to incorporate anti-racism into its framework.

The Reproductive Justice movement is led by radical feminists of color and QTPOC who affirmatively incorporate an antiracist framework. RJ represents those who legally lost the “right to choose” four years after Roe v. Wade and addresses reproductive violences that remain ignored or unimportant by the former movement.

The new Black President of Planned Parenthood, Alexis McGill, has indicated that her vision is to lead the organization into a reproductive justice framework for the first time. This is great news considering the organization’s sordid history! It signals a real ideological shift towards justice.

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 Photo Source: Tiffany Smith Instagram
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Loving your FUPA (aka Mommy Tummy, Diastasis Recti)

After giving birth, for the first time, I, like many other moms, got a FUPA. And I don’t do SPANX (anymore). A while back, I admittedly got seduced by their advertising, so I went ahead and ordered some. They made me bloated, contorted my stomach rolls, constantly hiked up my thighs and my body looked strange. I thought, “Oh, I just ordered the wrong type”. So I ordered 3 more versions of essentially the same thing until I put my proverbial foot down. I’m no longer suckin’ in sh*&. Instead, I run around my apartment singing “I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly…”

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3-D pink clitoris that is 8 inches and anatomically correct.
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Your Clitoris is 8 Inches

Your clitoris is 8 inches. It is *not* the size of a pea.

I’m admittedly embarrassed to have learned this when I was 36.

I view myself as knowledgeable about my health and sexuality and I *thought* I knew a lot about my vag. For example, my older sister and I overlapped at the same University (I was an undergraduate while she was in medical school studying to become an OB/GYN). I’ll never forget how she paraded into my apartment during my junior year and demanded that my roommates and I individually stand over a mirror because we *needed* to learn about and inspect our vaginas. We took turns going into the bathroom, while my sister sat at the threshold doling out instructions about how to stand, what to lift, what to look for… (FTR, I felt like I was going to faint).

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Silhouette of a strong woman with her fist raised, with a bright orange background.
(Parent)hetical

5 Ways To Overcome Tokophobia

I honestly thought I would never have a kid . . . And then one weekend, I had a feeling. I took a test and two lines appeared on the stick. I was nauseous, numb and called my two best friends, immediately. We talked, talked, talked, talked and I slept. The next morning, I woke up, in shock, wondering if I should call my Partner, but I thought “everything will change the minute you tell Them”, so I refrained for another day.

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