I am writing in response to the article
titled, Curing the 'Curse' of Womanhood, in the Dec. 14
edition. I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Kathleen O'Grady
that the medicalization of women's bodies is
alarming and cause for concern.
For most of my life, I have suffered from
severely painful periods. I will be having surgery with doctors
who have developed highly successful
techniques to address common gynecological
and reproductive disorders.
I am disturbed whenever I encounter someone
who refers to womanhood in denigrating terms (a "curse"). Being
a woman has its crosses, but my fertility is what makes me who
I am, body and soul. I have no more desire to eliminate that
biological part of me that makes me a woman than I do to
eliminate the compassion, tenderness, and
inner strength that makes me a woman.
The truth is that there is rampant sexism in
the medical community, whose "solutions" for female problems
amount to nothing more than "suppress or eradicate" the woman's
fertility. When a man has a urological problem, it would be
scandalous to suggest he surrender his manhood to treat the
problem. But it is perfectly acceptable to offer this to women
and the new pill you reported on is just the latest in a long
line of substandard treatment
offered to women.
When doctors were doing research into male
hormonal birth control in the 1960s, one of the male subjects
suffered a slightly shrunken testicle, and they canceled all
research. But three women died from taking the pill and they
simply lowered the dosage.
Given the incredible health risks associated
with hormonal contraception, I fail to understand why there is
not more outrage among so-called "modern,
liberated women" about what the medical
community passes off as "treatment" for common gynecological
problems.
I threw my birth control pills out five years
ago for natural family planning, and I am healthier and happier
for doing so.
Misty Mealey
, Roanoke, Virginia