Miscarriage? It's Your Fault.

A new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, finds that pregnant women who consume 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day — the amount in 10 ounces of coffee or 25 ounces of tea — may double their risk of miscarriage. Spurn that supersized Starbucks. If not, you could be, you know, miscarrying your pregnancy.

But here's the thing. Miscarriage is actually complicated. No-one can really tell you why you miscarry. Most likely, it probably isn't your fault, unless you're a meth-addled alcoholic. And as a doctor friend has observed over the years, those women always seem to be pregnant and having babies just fine.

As The New York Times put it:

Dr. Carolyn Westhoff, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and epidemiology, at Columbia University Medical Center, had reservations about the study, noting that miscarriage is difficult to study or explain. Dr. Westhoff said most miscarriages resulted from chromosomal abnormalities, and there was no evidence that caffeine could cause those problems.

What are more direct factors? She says smoking, chlamydia and getting pregnant when you're old. Makes me want to suck down a capuccino right now.

Civil Rights and Women's Rights

While it's not likely that the anniversary of Roe v. Wade will ever be a national holiday, the impact to women is not unlike the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. whose birthday we observe today. King wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," bringing universal relevance to civil rights movement -- and why his legacy resonates today. Thirty-five years ago, the Supreme Court made first trimester abortion the law of the land. No more sneaking across borders. Women officially could control their reproductive choices in the U.S.

So the fact that the two major candidates competing for the democratic presidential nomination are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the eloquent reminder of how far we've come. The important thing now is not to go backwards, and to keep moving forward.

Feminine-ism
First came the Feminine Mystique. Now, feminine-ism? In Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle (I know, I know, I saw it as I was about to throw it away) , this opinion piece caught my eye. The author argues that with Hillary Clinton as leading, teary-eyed candidate for president, power and emotional intelligence will come together. Her fantasy? Hill divorces Bill on day one of her presidency.

Dewey Beats Truman

Truly, people are acting crazy about the Hillary win -- blaming it, or attributing it, to a moment of emotion, restrained as it was.

But to me it seems that there's an echo chamber that won't stop till the last vote is counted on Election Day. Really, why do we think the pundits know all? Why do we think that because everyone says it, that makes it true? One thing that's for sure, newspapers and polls don't decide elections. Tears or near-tears don't either. Only voters do. And to think for a minute that N.H. voters were going to sit back and be told how the election was going to pan out before they'd finished voting, well, you mis-underestimate.

The show of emotion was symbolic of what Hillary Clinton did in the few days she had to prove herself to N.H. voters. As she put it, she found her voice. If that voice cracked because she wanted to win so bad, well, that's not so bad. What everyone forgets now that she's won, is that they thought the tears would hurt, not help her. As Maureen Dowd's column put it, Will Hillary Cry Her Way to the White House? But the point is, she may not have to.

Hillary Takes It!

I couldn't help but be swept up in tonight's history making primary. The first primary in the nation. The first woman to win it. I know that a lot of people are going to explain away her victory with all sorts of guesses. So I'm throwing mine in -- I think this editorial from Gloria Steinem may have helped. In an op-ed in Tuesday's New York Times comparing the ground-breaking campaigns of Clinton and Obama she wrote:

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

So maybe Clinton can't win -- she was chided for being too cold on the campaign trail. Then derided again for showing emotion. But if she really was showing her softer side, maybe it was all a ploy for votes. But here's the thing: Clinton did win. So for now, pundits aside, the voters spoke. And they voted, not for change, not for status quo. They voted for a woman. The vajority has spoken.

Word of the Day

Today, I learned something, so I'm sharing it with you: I'm part of the vajority.

vajority
The majority of women.
The vajority will vote for Hillary in 2008.

Isn't that too great? Gives VJ day a whole new meeting, donchya think?

Hillary's Moment

Oh, dear, I think Hill's taken my advice to heart. She girled it up today all right, by tearing up about getting up in the morning. It was a pretty innocuous question -- how do you do it -- at a campaign event, and she just kind of lost it. One moment of a lifetime of moments where she's been hard as nails. Now there's Edwards saying she's not tough enough for the job. There's every headline story on the New Hampshire campaign leading with her breaking up. As my friend commented after watching the grueling campaigns, "You know it's what every man campaigning wanted to do." You'd think from the hysteria of the coverage that she just lost the election. When all she lost was her cool.

Change, Thy Name Is Woman

It's true. Hillary started it. She de-gendered herself in the presidential campaign. She's not the woman candidate, she's the establishment candidate. She's the one the Republicans invoke, she's the one her party, and her rival party, love to hate. Her democratic rivals have happily dropped her gender and referred to her as "status quo." This from two of her fellow colleagues, a former and current senators Edwards and Obama, who promise change and cast themselves as Washington outsiders. (Maybe because neither has done much inside of Washington to brag about. Just saying.)

I admit that I kind of hoped for a more inspiring woman to lead as candidate for president. But I never thought that our first viable female candidate wouldn't even be seen as a woman at all. So, my advice to Hillary Clinton, is this: once and a while, you maybe should remind people you're a woman. Hillary Clinton may be the status quo to Obama's change, but she's also a woman. If that isn't change in the Oval Office, I don't know what is.

New Year, Same Old Outlook

Isn't it just so like human nature that we start off on New Year's Eve with resolve to do better, bigger, smarter in the next year, and then kick off the very first day with a hang over?

Not that I drank in the new year, since I'm still recovering from a nasty cold. But that didn't exempt me from having a sense of dread around coming up with resolutions, or intentions, as a friend suggested as a kinder, gentler alternative.

No matter what I do with my life this year, I can definitely look good compared with the world. Like Pakistan. Kenya or Iraq. (So much for the flowering of democracy and an end to ethnic conflict.) We're no closer to peace on earth and good will toward men (or women) than we were last year. On the other hand, we've got our work cut out for us. So let's get to it.

Babes Having Babies

It's one of those weird art imitating life imitating art things. I just saw the definitive movie of a cool, indy girl keeping her baby (and Papa didn't preach). Juno is the latest in a series of movies starring women who decide to keep their babies: Waitress, Knocked Up, now Juno. (Is pregnant the new fat suit for women stars?) And in real life -- or maybe it's the surreal life -- Britney Spears's sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, is knocked up at 16. This is really inconvenient because she's touted as kind of a role model on a kids' show called Zoey 101. Well, in the Hollywood era of Lindsay Lohan, I don't think any parent should hope their kids think teen stars are exactly virginal, but there you go.

But here's the thing: Despite the cinematic baby boom, teen pregnancy has been declining, not rising, in the last decade. Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land, although it is more difficult for minors to get abortions without some parental involvement. (Studies also show that when a parent is informed, they are more than likely marching their kid down to the clinic themselves.) So I don't know what to be shocked by: the fact that kids have sex -- not a surprise. The fact that Britney Spears's sister is having a baby, well, also, no surprise. The idea that a kid would get knocked up and decline to even seriously consider an abortion (see: Juno) -- especially a smart, young woman who knows there are options -- that's weirder to me.

OK, yes, I get that in Juno, who gets pregnant after one sexual encounter with her long-time friend, there would be no movie without the gestation period. But. Does that mean no discussion of abortion? Juno tries to go to the abortion clinic but changes her mind because of some superficial details. She chooses adoption. And this, we're shown, is the harder path. She has to go through pregnancy while still in school. She misses prom. She has a complicated relationship with the adoptive parents. So by implication, abortion is the easy route. Is that truly the message our younger sisters and friends have picked up? Then the younger generation better wake up, because as this right gets whittled away, there will be new movies about young women sneaking across state lines or to Canada in order to take care of her problem. And it really won't be easy.

My Fair Lady Without Singing

It is impossible to watch Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw's play named for the Greek myth, now on Broadway, without certain show tunes popping into your head at just the right moment: he really is getting married in the morning. She could have danced all night. He did it!

But instead of making me miss the musical (which I really do hope gets revived now that Pygmalion has shown to be such a show stopper) I appreciated the play even more. It's on Broadway. It stars Claire Danes. But none of that should make you think it's pandering to the populist element that is everywhere as soon as you step onto that garish street competing with shows like Mary Poppins. Eliza Doolittle does much in those two hours. She demands to be noticed. She demands to speak like a lady. And she demands love. It's in anyone's grasp. And it could be in yours, if you go see the play.

I Am Man, Hear Me Roar

Maybe it's on my mind more than usual because I'm doing a radio essay for B-Side on bra burners. Or the lack of them. You see, on the way to protesting the 1968 Beauty Pageant in Atlantic City, women almost burned their bras outside City Hall. Problem was, the famous Atlantic City boardwalk is wood. So they couldn't get a permit. Now, I hate to be a traitor to my gender, but, c'mon, would you see a man doing that? Politely putting safety over a stupid act just to make a point? Exactly. Well, maybe not exactly, but that's how today's Onion sees it. You'll see what I mean. And extra points for reading through to the Smith College reference.

America's Most Wanted

Check out my post on the CREDO Action blog today on this show at the NYPL. It's contemporary prints and the library was shocked, shocked to see how much publicity their show was getting. Seems that as part of the show there's the Bush gang posed in lineup pics. Love it. Love it even more because Fox doesn't.

They're In It to Win It

I don't know if this is a tipping point, but it's a pretty big deal. 11 girls were finalists in this year's major science competition for high school students, the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Yah, they swept the competition. This isn't a fluke. And it's not tokenism. They made history and damn good science projects, too. Lawrence Summers, eat your puny-sized boy brain out.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Tamara Keith, host extraordinaire of B-Side, also happens to be married to an Ira. She's in radio, she's close to someone named Ira . . .you do the math. It was only a matter of time till her worlds collided.

B-Side on Your iPod

If the writers' strike is leaving you with no TV shows to download to your iPod, consider the B-Side podcast that's now part of the NPR's alt.npr site. You can go directly online to in your ears. You'll get oodles of great shows that are the quirkier side of public radio. Plus, the coolest thing about downloading podcasts is you get to decide when to push the button. You listen when you want, where you want. I know, I know, it's shameless promotion. But I can't help it: I'm also a fan.

Diamonds or Pearls?

I know this is old news, but I've been meaning to comment, and what's a news cycle to stop me?

Hillary Clinton was asked this question during a debate: which do you prefer, diamonds or pearls? And no, the male candidates didn't get that question. It was sort of the female Clinton answer to boxers or briefs that Bill got during his now infamous MTV interview when he was first running for president. So jewelry is the question, not underthings. And what would the woman's equivalent be, anyway? underwire or sport bra? tummy control or stay ups?

Anyway, it was a question that was supposed to show a lighter side. It's a tough call, if you ask me. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but they're also funding warlords in dirty mines in Africa. And pearls, well, they are from oysters, so you know there's gotta be some lobby somewhere against that. Or for it. I haven't a clue.

Which way did Hillary go, without time to poll? She played it safe, and in my book, she got it right.

She answered, "both."

I Hate Holidays

I know that sounds totally Scrooge. And I don't mean it that way. It's not that I'm not for goodwill toward man or peace on earth. But the problem is, that has nothing to do with the American version of the holidays. Here's how I know this. First off, as a Jew, much of the merrymaking around X-mas leaves me cold. On the other hand, Christmas used to be a great day to eat Chinese and catch the blockbuster movie that nobody bothered to see on Christmas Day. You had the streets to yourself, the movie theater barely had a line, and the Chinese food was never better. But then a funny thing happened. Everyone else figured out that the Jew's Christmas is the way to go, so we no longer cornered that market.

Christmas also used to be a great day to fly. I think that's still true, but who the hell cares anymore, since flying is miserable every day of the year now. It's not like when I used to fly with a row to myself with a bottomless glass of chardonnay by my side.

Another problem: presents. Now I enjoy shopping, probably more than the average person. But that is not what you're doing around the holidays. You're shopping with a plan. With a competitive marketing agenda egging you on. And you probably have heard this before, but it's really not like this anywhere else.

I spent one Christmas in Nairobi, Kenya, and it was all about church and a big meal. Then I spent another Christmas in Paris, and basically, same thing, with worse weather. It's only in this country where we just got nuts for stuff. And here's the real kicker. We are going down, friends. I mean, this country is sinking faster than Titantic. We're polluters, we're consumers, we're up to our ears in debt, and we're at war. The dollar isn't worth much more than a peso. But do we care? No, you hear people who have barely digested their Thanksgiving turkey salivating at the idea of a 4 a.m. wake-up call to stand outside some big-box store on some strip off some highway to buy some piece of lame crap from some other country that we didn't make but are happy to buy up as long as the price is way, way low.

So, hooray for the holidays. Now let's gird our loins and get it over with.

I Want My Stephen Colbert

Look. Haven't we suffered enough? Through the endless primary campaign season, a president who gets dumber by the day and a media that's more attune to the starlet du jour than the war of the century? Haven't we? But no, on top of everything, we have to also make do with this grim reality they called life, without The Daily Show or the Colbert Report. It's too much. We're going to crack. Without all those late-night fake news shows that actually bother to watch C-Span so that we don't have to, I have lost my gallows humor and am just ready for the gallows.

Look, let's get Hollywood on the line. I'm ready to deal. Give Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert whatever they want. It's what us "kids" watch anyway, not any of your poor-excuse-for-a-TV- lineups. Yah, you were worried we wouldn't notice if your dumb shows went away, and we didn't. But our fake news shows? That's a travesty. It should be illegal. So pay these people and deal with the rest of the writers later. We'll all thank you.

35 Is the New Ms.

Unbelievable but true: Ms. Magazine has its 35th anniversary issue coming out. And in the spirit of feminism, I will say that she does look her age: this is what 35 looks like.

I have known Ms. for most of my life. And I have my mom to thank for that.
She'd stash her Ms. Magazine along with her trash magazines in the bathroom. We'd run hot bubble baths and have a read while we were having a soak.

So this was my introduction to what I should call bathtub feminism. Given Ms. Magazine’s thirty-five year status, I thought it natural to ask my mom if she remembers when Ms. first hit the newsstands. And how.

She told me she remembered reading about the ‘click’ — like an epiphany, but one realized by many, many women during this time. Ms. magazine brought to her isolated home the news that women everywhere weren’t buying the line that they were considered second-rate for carrying on the role of “women’s” work. She realized she wasn’t alone. Click!

I found the article on the “click." The article is titled, “The Housewife’s Moment of Truth,” by Jane O’Reilly, printed originally in the spring of 1972. The article starts, “It is the click! of recognition, that parenthesis of truth around a little thing . . .the moment that brings a gleam to our eyes and means the revolution has begun.”

Well, I may be late to the revolution, but I’m glad Ms. is still fighting the good fight.