The less women know about their bodies, the better
Hello friend!
π Let's start this week with good news about something that is becoming the recurring theme of this newsletter: language. Merriam-Webster, America's oldest dictionary has officially added "they" as a singular, nonbinary pronoun. Because it's people who dictate how words are used and not dictionaries β that is what senior editor Emily Brewster told NBC. This is such a big step forward.
Another recurring theme appears to be: the wellness industry. A while back, I recommended Jessica Knoll's NYT-piece about how the wellness industry a) is basically the diet industry in disguise and b) "contributes to the insulting cultural subtext that women cannot be trusted to make decisions when it comes to our own bodies".
Today, I want to give a little more space to a woman who has somewhat become the embodiment of this debate: Jennifer Gunter, the worldβs most famous β and outspoken β gynaecologist. She is taking both wellness gurus and conservative legislators (think anti-abortion) to war. And she is armed to the teeth with facts and expertise.
The doctor entered the spotlight a few years ago, when she took on Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness empire Goop. Goop promoted stuff like inserting (very expensive) jade eggs into your vagina for hormonal balance and recommended women to steam clean their uterus (also very pricey). Gunter was infuriated β not only by the fake (non-existing) science behind all this, but mostly because: βItβs one of the core beliefs of the patriarchy. That women are dirty inside. And yet Goop presents this as female empowerment?" Yeah. Wow.
Gunter has devoted a lot of time and energy to explaining why these "wellness" hoaxes are moneymaking scams at best, and harmful to your health at worst. Thankfully, she has been pretty successful (Goop is no longer recommending vaginal steam cleanses, for example), so she moved on to much bigger fish: Medically illiterate (male) politicians, who are controlling the female uterus by passing increasingly restrictive anti-abortion laws in the United States. Shocking: In 2017, more than than half of US women of childbearing age lived in states with abortion restrictions that conflict with scientific evidence.
While reading up on Gunter's agenda I got both angry at the status quo of wellness, law and the female body and simultaneously became incredibly grateful for her life's work. This world definitely needs more women like her. Here's her mission statement:
"I am not going to stop swinging my bat until everyone has the tools to be an empowered patient and those who seek to subjugate women by keeping them from facts about their bodies have shut up and taken a seat in the back of class."
My suggestion: Buy her book, educate yourself and support her amazing work.
βοΈ Woman on a mission is also the cue for my first #popculturepleasure this week. It has taken me a few months, but last week I happily stumbled upon the second season of The Good Fight on Amazon Prime. I adore this The Good Wife spinoff β first and foremost for its incredible female cast, especially Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart.
She is classy, sharp, funny and an all around badass. Most remarkably, however, she's never the "bitch boss", which is the usual role assigned to fierce women of a certain age in TV. In short: She is, in my opinion, the ultimate role model.
Elle magazine editor Kara Brown got to sit down with Baranski and chat about the show, about what a Donald Trump presidency means for women and about being comfortable with aging as a female actress. It's a brilliant interview which made me long for someone like Baranski as my mentor. And guess what pops up again? Last week's Likability Trap:
"Don't feel you have to keep apologizing. I think women do that so much: Oh, I'm sorry. Did I get in your way? I'm so sorry. I would love to just speak in declarative sentences and not qualify my opinions. I'm still working on it."
π§ My second #popculturepleasure of this week is also not brand new. It's pretty old, actually. I'm talking about a Desert Island Disc episode from 2013, starring Daniel Kahnemann. It surfaced in my Spotify podcast playlist last week as a summer break filler of the program and it warmed my heart. Kahnemann has an incredible soothing voice and a very calming, deliberate way of speaking.
The Nobel Prize winner talks very wisely about the difference between happiness and satisfaction, setting the right goals and, most importantly, friendship:
"If I have two pieces of advice for people, it is: One, pick the right goals, goals that you can meet. And two, spend a lot of time with friends."
Amen. Have you got enough friend-time scheduled in this week? If not, pick up the phone!
Have a lovely week,
Anna