Marcia G. Yerman

One of the top things a doctor can do for a patient is to empower them to be part of the decision-making process by giving them a full range of options around their treatment. The days of paternalistic practitioners are in decline.

Mark your calendars for The Reproductive Freedom Festival on the evening of March 20. Over three hours of live performances will be streamed from a studio in Manhattan to viewers across the country — and the world. It will be accessible via computers and other digital devices for free. Pre-show highlights begin at 5:15 pm EST. The goal of the event is to foster awareness of and focus attention on the issue of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, while anchored in Women’s History Month.

Known on the Internet for her Marrying George Clooney blog (and book by the same name), Ferris is constantly engaged with a slew of followers and friends on her Facebook page. They religiously check in to see her daily thoughts on life, love, politics, and more.

I reached out to Kate to discuss her film, her impact on the 2011 Massachusetts anti-trafficking law, and her take on the distinctions between “sex work,” “sexual exploitation,” and “abolition.”

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but for those whose lives dramatically changed when they entered the realm of rape survivor, there is no 30-day expiration date.
This is made abundantly clear by Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino, the co-founders of End Rape on Campus (EROC). They also have edited the book, “We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out.”

OK. Full disclosure. I don’t watch Fox News. I’m an MSNBC kind of girl. Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, and Melissa Harris-Perry are my peeps. But I do know who Megyn Kelly is, albeit from clips of Jon Stewart (what are we going to do without him?) where he highlighted some of her more puzzling statements like “Jesus was white.”

"The upside of the Internet, social media, and digital photography is that victims can now record actions of offenders and share them with a community of supportive allies. May emphasized the importance of bystander intervention. “If you see someone getting hurt, you get involved.” It’s a key piece of the Hollaback! philosophy. May suggested using Twitter as one way to help report incidents of harmful behavior."

November 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls. Using the color orange to symbolize “a brighter future without violence,” 16 days of activism has been planned to bring recognition to the continued dangers facing women and girls around the world.

Women's History Month — it should be a celebratory time as women reflect on all they have accomplished.

When recounting that Mildred didn’t like that Gayle was flat-chested at 15, we learn how Mom stuffed her daughter’s bathing suit top with foam. It escaped and floated away during a swim lesson. Rather than express regret at the incident, Mildred offers the response, “Your boobs grew, and your nose grew.”