Women’s Rights

Women’s Health Research Day!

/ kellyemckinnon / Leave a comment

Join us today at the State of Illinois Building and around the city to raise awareness of women’s health issues!

On this day last year, the NIH started requiring the consideration of sex as a biological variable in basic research! Thank you to the women who have fought so hard for years to make this happen!

While many of us are aware of the miscommunications concerning reproductive science and women’s health in politics and the media, as well as the inadequacy of sex-ed programs across the country, it actually goes much deeper than that. Reproductive science is not only frequently left out of Anatomy & Physiology classes, it is also frequently left out of high impact academic journals and funding sources. In fact, until a policy at the National Institute of Health (NIH) requiring the consideration of sex as a biological variable was implemented last year in 2016, many academic fields completely ignored reproductive science and the role that reproductive hormones can play in disease progression and patient treatments.

These examples are indicative of a much greater issue in modern scientific research and the way that scientists communicate their findings. There is a clear feedback loop between poor communication of reproductive science research and the stigma surrounding the field. The stigma inhibits research and communication, and the lack of research and communication sets back public perception.

We still have a long way to go — including females is still not *required*, it’s only required to be *considered*.

However, today we celebrate the progress that has been made in Women’s Health Research.

Thank you to Mayor Rahm Emanuel for proclaiming January 25th Women’s Health Research Day in Chicago!!

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Me too…. obviously.

/ kellyemckinnon / 1 Comment

Me too.

…obviously, me too.

While all of my friends have been posting their #metoo statuses over the past few days, I’ve found myself unable to process what I was feeling. I knew this happened to all women, it wasn’t surprising. But I was confused, angry, sad. I wanted to say me too. I felt I needed to say me too. I think it’s important to say it, to speak up. If for no other reason than that so women know they aren’t alone. And we need to draw attention to a major problem in our society. We need to fix this.

But for some reason, like so many other women, I couldn’t find the words. I couldn’t simply say “me too” without adding the disclaimer that others have been through worse. Without second guessing myself. Was I somehow asking for it? Does that even count? Will anyone believe me?  What if this just gets twisted into another political argument with two sides so that we all fight each other instead of talk about the actual problem? Is it even worth discussing, knowing that this movement will likely be hijacked and given a divisive label, so that people know which side they should be on and who to hate?

Will anyone even care?

This has been a topic of discussion with nearly every woman I’ve talked to over the past few days, though none of us really want to talk about it. We are all questioning ourselves. But at the same time, we are boldly sharing our stories with our friends, exposing our scars, and confidently telling each other, “that was absolutely not okay,” “that should have never happened,” and “yes, that definitely counts.”

These were the answers to our own questions too, of course. But we are constantly taught, both directly and indirectly, that “boys will be boys” and it’s up to us to stop them from touching, drugging or raping us. So much so that we even start to question and doubt ourselves when these things happen to us. We ask ourselves what we did wrong.

The way the stories are told – there is always some reason to blame the victim, some way to make it their fault, some way they could have prevented it.

Why did you let him buy you a drink? Why did you let him take you to dinner if you weren’t planning on spending the night? But you had sex with him before, how was he supposed to know that it wasn’t okay now? Why did you let yourself get drunk? Why were you wearing that dress if you didn’t want that kind of attention? Why did you get in the car with him? Why were you walking home by yourself after dark?

We are asked these questions as if the obvious consequence of any of these actions is rape. And so, naturally, we can only blame ourselves, because they’re right – if we hadn’t agreed to go out with them, they couldn’t have raped us. And if we hadn’t let them buy us a drink, they couldn’t have drugged us. And if we could just make sure that we’re home before dark every night…

Continue reading →

Why I marched, and will continue to march

/ kellyemckinnon / Leave a comment

March

Today I marched in solidarity with women all over the world who are standing up for their rights.

I did not march because my candidate didn’t win, or because I thought it would change the results of the election. I did not march due to differences in political opinions. I did not march because I’m “whining,” or “a special snowflake,” or a “crying libtard,” or any of the other oh-so-original and so eloquently stated insults that have been thrown at us (generally by the same people who lecture about how we all need to unite).

This is bigger than a difference in political opinion.

Today I marched for equal rights for women everywhere. I marched because I’m in a male dominated field, and have personally experienced sexism and misogyny, as have so many of my female colleagues. Continue reading →