Showing posts with label cervix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cervix. Show all posts

Thursday 17 November 2011

The Beautiful Cervix Project

As part of my evening reading and reviewing, I happened upon a guest post on the Feminist Breeder blog of Gina Crosley-Corcoran.  The post was about taking control of fertility and knowing about one's own body. The blogger, Kim Buettner-Garrett said:
"... the idea of taking hormones to prevent pregnancy really made me uneasy. And the mere thought of inserting a hunk of metal into my uterus to create a “hostile” environment for a fertilized egg (leading to possibly heavier and more painful periods) also made my stomach turn — I don’t want to make any part of my body “hostile”, thank you very much"
 Kim recommended a book  Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler and you can read what she said on the site here.  I haven't read the book, but by the sounds of it, I need to get it and read it soon.

Kim's concerns  reminded me of the way that Gail J Dahl referred to hormonal contraception as 'chemical castration' - a term I hadn't associated with the 'pill' (and other forms of hormonal contraception) until I read those words of Gail's. Kim's comments and others who responded reminded me how few of us women know much about the inner workings of our marvellous bodies.  I remembered a wonderful site I came across some time ago "The Beautiful Cervix Project"

A student midwife decided to photograph her cervix through the menstrual cycle as a project for her course. Out of that project grew this amazing webiste and the project has expanded to include photos of the cervix across the reproductive cycle.  Her site has had over two million hits.  All different people with different reasons for exploring the wonder of the cervix visit her site.  Take time to explore and get to know the cervix. You'll be glad you did!

Oh, please explore at your discretion. If you are likely to be offended, please don't go there, avoid it.  The curator of the art has had trouble with people reporting her site for inappropriate content.  As it is a blog about the cervix, photos of the cervix in all its phases and roles is highly appropriate.

So be warned.

Come back and share what you've learned and your reaction to the project. I'd love to read what you think about it.