The XX Factor: What women really think.

Know More, Screen Less

Emily B, I agree with you that it’s really unfortunate that the conclusion that we don’t need to routinely do mammograms until 50, instead of aparking a national, rational discussion about the advisability of “screening and prevention,” has become the harbinger that we’re all going to live under British health care rationing. The debate over whether we benefit from searching for early cancers is not new, and no wonder the public is so confused. This is like the “no fat” to “no carbs” pendulum swings on official diet recommendation ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

The Mammogram Mania

I've been trying to understand the flap this week over the recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Task Force—a group ill-prepared to handle the controversy—to delay routine mammograms to age 50 for most women. And now, in a truly terrible coincidence of timing, we have a second round of commotion over the advice of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to push pap smears to screen for cervical cancer back to age 21 ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Home for Thanksgiving

A post from DoubleX Staff:

I know what they say, that holidays are occasions to revisit family stress. Many a great novel and movie has been built on this premise. And in general, I would say it's true. The Jewish holidays are all about starving and yelling. Vacations involve too much childcare. But for me, Thanksgiving is the blissful exception. Maybe it's because I really like my in-laws. Maybe it's because turkey has a soporific effect. Or maybe it's because my mother-in-law bakes dozens of pies, at a ratio that works out to be about one per person. Who could complain about that? ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Time Magazine Prematurely Applauds an End to Hover Parenting

A post from DoubleX writer KJ Dell'Antonia: 

Time magazine's "Can These Parents Be Saved?" story offers a glorious rundown of the rampant possibilities for overparenting that have become available in recent years. From kid leashes ("Kinderkords") to fears about kindergarden "pencil-holding-deficiency," the opportunities for parental self-congratulation are plentiful—almost anyone can think "I may have hovered once in a while, but I was never that bad" ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

It's Time For Some Competition, Yoginis!

Yoga is a meditative practice sometimes thought to help liberate the soul from all worldly suffering. The Olympics are a tribalistic sporting event in which nation states battle to produce impressive feats of human athleticism. Bikram Choudhury—a man who teaches yoga in a speedo and a diamond-studded Rolex, guards his trademarked pose sequences like a Rottweiler on meth, and likes to compare his balls to “atom bombs”—says its high time to combine the two. “This,” Bikram’s wife tells the New York Times, “is our dream" ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Why Oprah Is Giving Up the Mic

Oprah Winfrey is going to announce today that she will be leaving her eponymous talk show in 2011. The New York Times believes Winfrey is resigning from network TV in order to focus on the cable network she's working on, called OWN, which will feature shows from all of her favorite cronies, like Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, and Dr. Phil. While this might be the case, I think another reason Oprah is hanging up the mic is because she has destroyed the core of what made her so popular in the first place: She's no longer relatable ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Famous Authors on Writer's Block: Junot Diaz's Sweet Spot is in the Bathroom

A post from DoubleX writer Lauren Bans:

Last week the Wall Street Journal interviewed basically every good living writer and asked them to share tips on sitting down and penning a book. The only clear lesson to emerge from the piece (titled "How To Write A Great Book") is that there is no set step-by-step instructional for writing a great book. That, and writing is hard so famous authors invent their own eccentric tactics to deal with the inevitable torture that is writer’s block ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).

A Brief Defense of Sarah Palin

Women Need a Pap Smear for Breast Cancer

A guest post from Cindy Pearson, the executive director of the National Women's Health Network:

Mammography screening just doesn’t work very well in women before menopause, as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has now recognized. Everyone hoped that it would. But in 1993, it became clear from well-done studies that our hopes hadn’t panned out, and screening just didn’t work well for women in their 40s (or at all, for even younger women). The fact that most women didn’t know this, and instead received a falsely optimistic message about the life-saving benefits of once-a-year mammography screening, was incredibly frustrating. More background here.

At the National Women’s Health Network, we’re glad that the federally appointed task force has told the truth about what studies have found. Now women have a better chance of getting an honest assessment about the value of a heavily promoted technology. Information is always a good thing ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

The New Mammogram Guidelines Smell Like Rationing

We keep hearing from proponents of health care reform that government rationing of health care is a “canard.” We don’t have health care reform yet, but with the new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that women shouldn’t get mammograms until the age of 50, and then only every two years, it feels like we’re getting the rationing.

The Los Angeles Times writes that “[i]nsurance companies and Medicare administrators … said they they would continue to pay for the procedure -- although it is not clear how long they can resist the panel's influence.” The LAT adds that the panel’s recommendations are “generally followed” by insurers and Medicare ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

My Husband Went to Argentina, and All I Got Was This Lousy Divorce

A post from DoubleX writer KJ Dell'Antonia:

Politico.com reports that days after husband Mark Sanford admitted to having an affair, Jenny Sanford filed an application to trademark her name for use in "product merchandising to be sold at online retail store featuring clothing, mugs and other household items; stickers, decals, notepads.’” Herein, a few ideas that should sell out fast. OK, we get that this kind of thing is probably exactly what Jenny Sanford is trying to prevent. But here are a few items we'd like to see in our scorned-wife-fantasy-revenge-scenario of the still- (but presumably soon-to-be-former) Mrs. Sanford's store (that would be VindictiveBitch.com):

The "My husband went to Argentina and all I got was this damn divorce?" mug ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Going Fake: Sarah Palin's Book Rewrites History

Emily Y., Emily B., Hanna, and Jessica: You’re all so on point with your observations of Sarah Palin. Like Emily Y., I would like to see her go away, but not before I add my voice to the chorus of why I believe she is a fraud.

I watched Palin on Oprah yesterday afternoon. I wanted to hear what she had to say, since I have no intention of reading, let alone buying, her book. There are enough published excerpts of Going Rogue that I’ve already gotten my fill ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Sarah, Go Away

DoubleX News

Daughters Devalued

A post from DoubleX writer Amanda Marcotte:

If you're interested in reading a refreshing burst of honesty today, you could do worse than Aaron Traister's piece about the different reactions he received from people when he told them he was expecting a son and when he told them, a couple years later, that he was expecting a daughter. Americans tend to think we're above the prejudices that drive people in China and India to use sex-selective abortion, but as Traister's piece shows, we're far from the angels we'd like to pretend we are. ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).

Palin: From the Nursery to the White House

Palin: The Ever Lovin' Mother

Palin's "Going Rogue" and Bristol's Pregnancy

Emily, I too have been reading the dribbles emerging from the soon-to-be-published Palin memoir. You're right that we mine her for insight on sexual politics, and I was particularly intrigued with the information that the AP published about Palin's reaction to Bristol's pregnancy and the McCain campaign's treatment of that pregnancy. According to the AP article, Palin felt that the statement prepared by McCain's team about Bristol "glamorized and endorsed her daughter's situation." As opposed to what? Debasing and shaming her daughter's situation? Making her into a cautionary tale? The attempt at making Bristol an abstinence spokeswoman who appeared on multiple national morning shows was far more glamorizing than any statements the McCain campaign made on her behalf ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

The Supreme Court Is Afraid of Gossip Girls and Boys

A post from DoubleX intern Jessica Dweck:

In an Onion-esque piece of news this week, the New York Times reported that Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered a student newspaper to “tidy up” its coverage of his recent appearance at a high school assembly. Kennedy, an ardent protector of First Amendment rights—and apparently, irony–allowed the young journalists to attend the event on the condition that his office would pre-approve any articles written about him.

Why would Justice Kennedy do such a thing? Two reasons. First, the Bill of Rights protects speech in part to encourage transparency and create a Millian slurry of ideas in which the creamy globs of truth eventually float to the top. An inaccurate or misleading quotation by reporters with exclusive access to Kennedy's speech would be nearly impossible to correct. Second, and perhaps more fundamentally, the Supreme Court has a deep-seated interest in practicing defensive PR ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Would You Take a Pill That Prevents Cancer? Unlikely.

Gina Kolata points out, once again, that diet and exercise have not been shown to affect breast cancer rates. Massive, well-run observational studies and randomized controlled trials turn up nothing. This finding appears to be unacceptable; popular culture rejects it utterly. Women’s magazines continue to preach the holy gospel of five fruits and vegetables a day. Doctors continue to tell patients at high risk of breast cancer that diet matters. The director of one of the (fruitless?) studies tells Kolata that doctors need to “rethink the studies.” Diet and exercise “are likely quite important, but we just aren’t getting the answers” ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)