I felt especially strongly about the topics we read about and discussed dealing with female health and reproductive rights. My health and reproductive rights are extremely important to me and I feel like this topic was the most controversial in my own point of view. .
.
The book had many facts and percentages dealing with women's health today. In our society, health is basically a requirement for happy living. We as women are important when it comes to health care because we are both providers and consumers of health care. This means that it affects us in many different ways. It has affected me in many different ways for sure. The level of health care that I get first depends on my insurance status and my ability to pay. I really liked reading the article by Harvard Women's Health Watch, called "How Far We've Come". Our society has come a far ways when dealing with the female gender. There has been many studies done with menopause, heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, and mental health. My favorite was the topic of breast cancer. I have had a couple of past relatives die of breast cancer so this was a sensitive subject to me. The likelihood that a women will die of breast cancer is decreasing steadily (Shaw, 262). There are many breast cancer activist groups that support people with this disease. This was very comforting to read about and changed my attitude about this killer cancer I have heard so much about. .
Then my gender is taken into consideration, with males as being the norm, I am instantly un-normal. I have to go to a "special" doctor to deal with my "special" body parts. I find this kinda cool. I get to have a doctor that specializes in something that only I as a female am concerned with. After having the discussion in class about this, I felt pretty good about being a female. Just because I am different doesn't mean that I am abnormal or wrong in body composure. I now feel that I am just special, instead of weird.
