Dear Readers,
Why blog about women's health?
We have been behind on women's health matters for ages. This is partially a result of doctors not dissecting female cadavers until the 1500s. Scholars had a headstart of hundreds of years concerning knowledge of the male body. Because of this setback, there were ridiculous beliefs about women like the Wandering Womb and hysteria, some of which were perpetuated by renowned academics.
Depiction of the "Wandering Womb"
Midwifery wasn't a profession option for males for a very long time, as it was deemed "inappropriate" for males to see the genitals of women who weren't their wives. Midwives didn't receive consistent schooling for their profession: they learned from the midwives before them. When it came to childbirth, there was no set rules of procedure or ethics for a very long time.
Today, we are still experiencing the repercussions of these delays in medical knowledge. Today, there is no standardized form of sexual educuation in our school systems, resulting in both men and women lacking access to important information about puberty, periods, and safe-sex.
How some schools deal with sex education...
Doctors are still discovering new information regarding diseases that afflict women only. Consequently, women aren't taught how to handle female-specific diseases, such as vaginal thrush and endometriosis. There is a lack of information about how non gender-specific diseases (like heart problems, strokes, and autoimmune diseases) affect women differently than men.
The goal of this blog is to focus on women's physical health, and to help educate everyone who is interested, male or female. I will address popular topics, some lesser known subjects, and new information. Some topics covered by this blog are conditions that only women experience, how diseases affect women differently, some sexual education, and LBTQ+ information (and yes, transwomen are real women.) I hope you learn something: I know that I have. I encourage both comments and questions.
Variety of women in the healthcare profession
For more information about me, please visit my "About" page. And if you are interested in sources or more information for the subjects I cover, there will be links to relevant websites under "Resources". My contact information is listed under my "About" page, so feel free to reach out to me if you so choose.
Happy reading,
Victoria Johnson
Email: vjohn4@unh.newhaven.edu
Twitter: @vejohnson93
