Don't be held hostage by Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - with the right diet and effective exercise, you can minimise its impact on your day-to-day life and future wellbeing. Packed with realistic advice from a qualified nutritionist, this guide takes you through everything from picking which treatments to try - and which to avoid - to thriving with PCOS superfoods and finding resources and support to help you stay positive and maintain your focus

When Ada Calhoun found herself in the throes of a midlife crisis, she thought that she had no right to complain. She was married with children and a good career. So why did she feel miserable? And why did it seem that other Generation X women were miserable, too? Calhoun decided to find some answers. She looked into housing costs, HR trends, credit card debt averages and divorce data. At every turn, she saw a pattern: sandwiched between the Boomers and the Millennials, Gen X women were facing new problems as they entered middle age, problems that were being largely overlooked. Speaking with women across America about their experiences as the generation raised to 'have it all,' Calhoun found that most were exhausted, terrified about money, under-employed, and overwhelmed. Instead of their issues being heard, they were told instead to lean in, take 'me-time' or make a chore chart to get their lives and homes in order. In Why We Can't Sleep, Calhoun opens up the cultural and political contexts of Gen X's predicament and offers solutions for how to pull oneself out of the abyss - and keep the next generation of women from falling in. The result is reassuring, empowering and essential reading for all middle-aged women, and anyone who hopes to understand them.

'In My Own Words' contains a collection of personal stories from women about their experiences of hysterectomy.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse, or POP, is a little talked about female health issue that half of all childbearing women will experience late in life. There are more than 300,000 surgeries for POP annually. Due to various causes such as menopause, estrogen loss, genetics, childbirth or heavy lifting, a woman's pelvic organs can shift or drop. This can lead to POP symptoms, including some painful and embarrassing ones, as well as impacting a woman's sexuality. The condition has probably always existed, but has received little press or public acknowledgement so women could learn about the condition and treatment options. This book on POP fills an unfortunate void in women's health awareness. Sherrie Palm writes about her own personal experiences in Pelvic Organ Prolapse: The Silent Epidemic. She had never heard about the condition until she needed surgery for it. Palm explores the subject from all angles, providing the information women need to recognize the symptoms of POP and to become advocates for their own health. Pelvic Organ Prolapse: The Silent Epidemic named the winner for Women's Health in the USA Book News National "BEST BOOKS 2009" Awards. http://www.usabooknews.com/2009bestbooksawards. html More information about Sherrie Palm, and how she is creating awareness for this women's health issue can be found on her website: http://sherriepalm.com/home About the Author: First-time author Sherrie Palm is a retired business owner. She lives in Wisconsin with her significant other; she has four children and seven grandchildren. Palm plans to conduct educational seminars on POP. She is also actively involved with the local Special Olympics and will donate a portion of the book's proceeds to the group.

These poems reflect a journey from a past delineated by racism, trauma and violence towards a present life of peace and intense natural beauty. Permeated with nostalgia and loss; songs of an immigrant community alienated in their own land, but pierced with fierce hope, faith in redemption, and a determination that we should all belong.

Helps women break through the tired and hurtful stereotypes of aging to better reflect who they are, how they live, and what they want as they age. Who hasn't heard the stereotypes about women of a "certain age?" That's the age when women become invisible, irrelevant, undesirable, asexual, unhinged, dried-up, hormonal messes. It's when women quickly slide into fragility and become forgetful, passive, weak, feeble, debilitated, disabled, dependent, and depressed. Or so the story goes. Not only are those outdated narratives sexist and ageist, they are also damaging to women's physical, emotional, financial, romantic, and sexual health. It's time to change them. In Not Too Old for That, Vicki Larson helps change the narrative about being a woman at midlife and older. She questions what we've been told aging would be like and encourages us to instead ask ourselves, what do we want it to be like, and how can we get there? The key is to be curious, open-minded, and intentional about the ways we are becoming our future selves.We have an opportunity to create new narratives of aging as a woman, ones that value women at all stages of life, not just youth, and it starts with us. Once the stereotypes that have held women back are broken down, women can move past them and rather than feel helpless as the years add up, they can discover and tap into just how much agency they have. Not only will this book help to create a less-ageist, less-sexist, more-inclusive future, it will release our daughters and all young women from a similar future.

A woman's mind and body change as she goes through life, and so should her outlook on what it means to be healthy and fit. If you're a woman over age 35, you need fitness and wellness advice that's uniquely tailored to your needs so you can look and feel your best. You need Total Body Beautiful. With combined decades of experience and dozens of fitness certifications and credentials, the expert team of authors, Andrea Orbeck, Desi Bartlett, and Nicole Stuart, have worked with hundreds of celebrities, supermodels, and ordinary women to develop workout and wellness solutions to stay active and feel good in their own skin-and they can do the same for you. These authors understand the complexities of women's bodies and the changes that occur as women age. More than an exercise guide, Total Body Beautiful explores the changes that women experience during and after pregnancy, during perimenopause, and during and after menopause. You'll learn how hormones affect your physical body and emotional wellness, the effects of exercise on the brain, and how nutrition affects the way you look and feel. You'll find insider tips and client stories from celebrities and clients who the authors have worked with. You'll get practical and research-backed advice on improving strength, mobility, flexibility, and aerobic fitness. You'll learn how to choose fitness activities based on your goals-both now and when your life priorities change. With 100 different exercises-spanning yoga, Pilates, and strength exercises-you'll have plenty of options to choose from when creating your workouts build, no matter what life stage you are in. Sample plans help you consider your needs when creating daily and weekly workout schedules, or you can choose from over two dozen predesigned yoga, Pilates, strength and cardio, and combination workouts for instant variety and effectiveness. Movement in many forms is the key to building and maintaining a healthy body and mind at any age. Get a renewed outlook on what it means to be fit with Total Body Beautiful. Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

Although menopause is a natural and inevitable stage in every woman's life, its physical, mental, and emotional manifestations can vary greatly from one person to the next. Add to this all of the conflicting "expert" information about the benefits, risks, and side effects to which women are exposed on a daily basis, and it's easy to see why most find it difficult to make informed choices about how to deal with their menopausal symptoms. Authored by a team of acknowledged experts in treating menopausal symptoms, Menopause For Dummies arms you with all the information you need to stay in control every step of the way. In plain English, it explains the role menopause plays in a variety of common health problems, such as osteoporosis, stroke, and heart disease. It walks you through proven measures for minimizing your risk of developing complications through including diet and exercise, stress management, hormone replacement, and other techniques. And it arms you with authoritative, up-to-the-minute coverage of: * Premenopause how to identify it and what it means * The stages of menopause * How menopause can affect your body, emotions, and libido * The latest facts about hormone replacement therapy * The pros and cons of various alternative treatments * The best ways of handling hot flashes * Easing symptoms with diet and exercise * Preventing bone loss * Helpful lifestyle changes With Menopause For Dummies in your corner you'll have a kinder, gentler "change of life."

This friendly and supportive little book contains everything you need to know to prepare for the perimenopause and take charge of your experience The years leading up to the menopause can be a daunting time, and one which is widely misunderstood. Fear not! This book is here to break the stigma and share the knowledge, answering the questions you’ve been too afraid to ask and demystifying the perimenopause once and for all. Filled to the brim with essential information, this book will take you through all the stages and symptoms of the perimenopause right up to the menopause, so you can face this new stage of life with confidence. Inside you will find: Guidance on understanding and preparing for the perimenopause and how to recognize the symptoms Practical advice for managing the mental, physical and emotional symptoms, including hot flushes, vaginal dryness, night sweats, changing libido, mood swings and much more Advice on the best treatments and medications for you, including how to approach it holistically, when to seek professional guidance and how HRT can help

This volume explores in depth femicide and feminicide, bringing together our current knowledge on this phenomenon and its prevention. No country is free from femicide/feminicide, which represents the tip of the iceberg in male violence against women and girls. Therefore, it is crucial and timely to better understand how states and their citizens are experiencing and responding to femicide/feminicide globally. Through the work of internationally recognised feminist and grassroots activists, researchers, and academics from around the world, this handbook offers the first in-depth, global examination of the growing social movement to address femicide and feminicide. It includes the current state of knowledge and the prevalence of femicide/feminicide and its characteristics across countries and world regions, as well as the social and legal responses to these killings. The contributions contained here look at the accomplishments of the past four decades, ongoing challenges, and current and future priorities to identify where we need to go from here to prevent femicide/feminicide specifically and male violence against women and girls overall. This transnational, multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral handbook will contribute to research, policy, and practice globally at a time when it is needed the most. It brings a visible, global focus to the growing concern about femicide/feminicide, underscoring the importance of adopting a human rights framework in working towards its prevention, in an increasingly unstable global world for women and girls.

Women, Trauma, and Journeys towards Desistance: Navigating the Labyrinth provides an examination of women's desistance from crime from a gender-responsive, trauma-informed perspective. The book is based on the reflections of fifty-six women over a three-year period as they transition from custody to the community. With the women, the author examines how experiences of trauma, victimisation, and intersectional oppression constrain access to traditional desistance supporting processes, including supportive relationships, identity construction, the exercise of agency, and engagement with treatment and interventions, reframing these processes from trauma-informed perspective. The book joins together the women's insights and experiences with principles of gender-responsive, trauma-informed principles in a framework through which criminal justice practitioners can support women in their efforts to leave crime behind. The framework for practice is a fusion of concepts from desistance theory, principles of gender-responsivity, and trauma-informed practice designed to help women understand the root causes of the problems they face in the present whilst building on their resilience and strengths to achieve their goals for their futures. This book is ideal reading for scholars and students of criminology and criminal justice, particularly rehabilitation, gender and crime, and feminist criminology. It will also be of interest to academics and practitioners of forensic psychology and social work, as well as probation officers, social workers and prison officers.

The twenty-first century has seen LGBTQ+ rights emerge at the forefront of public discourse and national politics in ways that would once have been hard to imagine. This book offers a unique and layered account of the complex dynamics in the modern moment of social change, drawing together critical, social and cultural theory as well as empirical research, which includes interviews and multi-platform media analyses. This original new study puts forward a much-needed analysis of twenty-first century television and lesbian visibility. Books addressing the representation of lesbians have tended to focus on film; analysis of queer characters on television has usually focused on representations of gay males.  Other recent books have attempted to address lesbian, gay and trans representation together, with the result that none are examined in sufficient detail – here, the exclusive focus on lesbian representation allows a fuller discussion. Until now, much of the research on lesbian and gay representation has tended to employ only textual analysis. The combination of audience research with analysis in this book brings a new angle to the debates, as does the critical review of the tropes of lesbian representation. The earlier stereotypes of pathological monsters and predators are discussed alongside the more recent trends of ‘lesbian chic’ and ‘lesbianism as a phase’. 

This book examines sex, sexuality, gender and health in the Pacific with a focus on three key sets of issues: young people, culture and education; sexual and reproductive health and well-being; and belonging, connectedness and justice. Bringing together the work of scholars from across the Pacific region, this innovative volume showcases traditional knowledge and diverse disciplinary scholarship of policy and practice relevance. In addition to focusing on relationships, health, education, family and community, chapters engage with a number of cross-cutting themes, including violence, justice and rights, and sexuality and gender diversity. Drawing on the diversity and richness of the Pacific, its cultures, languages and people, the book lays the foundations for future conversations and scholarship for, and by, those within the Pacific. Sex and Gender in the Pacific is an important resource for students, researchers and practitioners working in Pacific studies, sexuality and gender studies, public health, nursing, public policy, sociology, education and anthropology.

Katerina Bryant's debut Hysteria is an astounding hybrid memoir exploring chronic mental illness and the treatment of women's health throughout history. When Katerina Bryant suddenly began experiencing chronic seizures, she was plunged into a foreign world of doctors and psychiatrists, who understood her condition as little as she did. Reacting the only way she knew how, she immersed herself in books, reading her way through her own complicated diagnosis and finding a community of women who shared similar experiences. In the tradition of Siri Hustvedt's The Shaking Woman, Bryant blends memoir with literary and historical analysis to explore women's medical treatment. Hysteria retells the stories of silenced women, from the 'Queen of Hysterics' Blanche Wittmann to Mary Glover's illness termed 'hysterica passio' - a panic attack caused by the movement of the uterus - in London in 1602 and more. By centring these stories of women who had no voice in their own diagnosis and treatment, Bryant finds her own voice: powerful, brave and resonant.

Focusing on reproductive and sexual justice, this important book explores in detail both the challenges that trans people face when negotiating reproductive and sexual health in restrictive social contexts, and their agency in advocating for change. Chapters cover a breadth of topics such as intimacy, sexual violence, reproductive intentions, sexuality education, oncology, and pregnancy, introducing readers to the latest research in the field as well as key emerging concepts. The authors identify core principles for trans reproductive and sexual justice, providing a broad overview of what is currently succeeding and what can be built on going into the future. Trans Reproductive and Sexual Health offers a comprehensive exploration that is essential reading for academics and students in psychology, sociology, gender studies, and related areas, as well as clinicians and policy makers, offering direct implications for professional audiences working in health and social care.

By means of a historical, legal and scientific approach, this book identifies the issues, progress and setbacks in the right for women to access abortion in various countries of the Global North. The book provides insights on the past, present and potential actions and struggles in the future about continuing to have the right to procure an abortion. Rites and rituals in order to better understand the practices of Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Taiwan, permeate discussions and debates. The volume presents the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on access to abortion healthcare services and abortion, and the innovative initiatives and schemes designed and implemented. The latter encourages health professionals and decision-makers to reflect on the 'good practices' and retain and develop over the long term. This edited collection is intended for academics and students across the social sciences and healthcare sector, members of the legal profession, healthcare professionals, activists, policy-makers, and any stakeholders working for and caring about women's reproductive rights and abortion rights.

This book investigates the history of women's reproductive health in Ghana, arguing that between the 1920s and 1980s, it was largely driven by discourses of development and population control rather than a concern for women's health or rights. Between the 1920s and 1980s, the choices that Ghanaian women made regarding their reproductive health were defined by development policy and practice. Spanning the colonial and immediate postcolonial periods, this book demonstrates that whilst the substance of development discourse shifted over time, principles of development continued to be used to impact and legitimise reproductive health policy and practices well after independence. The book explores Ghana's pluralist health system, the introduction of maternal and child welfare, the dominance of the Red Cross in Ghana's maternal and child health landscape, nationalist pronatalism and global population activism. In order to understand how global iterations of development and health policy impacted ordinary lives in Ghana, the author uses evidence from multiple 'levels,' including private papers, national archives and records of international and transnational organisations. Providing balanced archival perspectives, the book includes extensive oral history interviews carried out with both rural Ghanaian women and traditional birth attendants, as well as with midwives, doctors and family planning fieldworkers. This book will have an important impact on a number of historical fields including Ghanaian history, global health history, global histories of population and family planning and histories of development. It will be of interest to researchers and students in the history of public health, development, Africa, Ghana and gender.

Most European countries have experienced labour market reforms at varying times leading to extended working life and a postponement of retirement age. This book provides a gender perspective on the impact of extended working life on the different dimensions of well-being, the factors which can limit extended working life, and the working conditions of older workers. Over the course of 11 chapters the book explores factors that can limit access to paid work or affect working conditions for older workers, including care for dependent individuals, negative stereotypes surrounding aged workers and poor health. It also investigates differences in working conditions for older workers by gender compared to other groups of workers and across European countries including case-studies from Austria, France, Spain, Poland, Croatia, Albania and Turkey. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, sociology, gender studies and labour studies more broadly.

Current public health promotion of breastfeeding relies heavily on health messaging and individual behavior change. Women are told that "breast is best" but too little serious attention is given to addressing the many social, economic, and political factors that combine to limit women's real choice to breastfeed beyond a few days or weeks. The result: women's, infants', and public health interests are undermined. Beyond Health, Beyond Choice examines how feminist perspectives can inform public health support for breastfeeding. Written by authors from diverse disciplines, perspectives, and countries, this collection of essays is arranged thematically and considers breastfeeding in relation to public health and health care; work and family; embodiment (specifically breastfeeding in public); economic and ethnic factors; guilt; violence; and commercialization. By examining women's experiences and bringing feminist insights to bear on a public issue, the editors attempt to reframe the discussion to better inform public health approaches and political action. Doing so can help us recognize the value of breastfeeding for the public's health and the important productive and reproductive contributions women make to the world.