Female Body

Women’s Health IssuesMarlene Christenson

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

Becoming familiar with your body, not only to understand what it is capable of, but you can detect signs of illness or infection.

Having normal sexual organs is hard

to come by, seeing as each woman’s organs will be different from each others.

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

The Vulva- The vulva houses all the external reproductive organs that can be seen without having to go inside.

Pubic Hair can be found on the vulva. All of the following are apart of the vulva:-mons pubis.-labia majora.-labia minora.-clitoris.-external openings or urethra and vagina.

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

The clitoris- This gland is made up of more than what we can see. The hood can be slid back revealing the shaft of the clitoris which is part of the bone.

The clitoris divides into two parts that is called the crura.

Farther down the crura, you can find the bulbs and vestibule.

Similarites

The clitoris or a woman and the penis of a man, hold the same job for each gender.

When developing, you can not tell whether or not the fetus is a boy or a girl until after the first 6 weeks, because they are exactly the same.

The scrotum of a man is similar as the labia majora for a woman.

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

Breasts: Glands that produce milk for babies, which provides nutrition and helps against germs.

Breasts are recognizable characteristics for differentiating a woman from a man.

Society has highly influenced the way women think about their breasts whether it be good or bad or what's ok and what's not.

They aren’t so much looked at as parts of the body with certain functions, but sexual objects.

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

Breasts are all different, even the two a woman has.

One can be bigger or smaller than the other. Some can have different shapes or colors. Weight loss of weight gain causes breast

size to change. On the area around the nipple known as the

areola, sebaceous glands that produce a coating for protection while breastfeeding, take the shape of small bumps.

Female Anatomy: Reproductive Organs

Over time, breasts can change shape from firm to loss because of the skin and because of the glands that hold the milk start to shrink.

Breasts start to develop in girls when their ovaries receive estrogen.

The glands the generate milk start to get bigger as sex hormone numbers, expand.

Breasts are made up of connective tissue, fat, milk producing gland, sebaceous gland, nipple, and areola.

Self Examinations

Cervix Exam-Cervix exams can be done by your doctor, or you

can do then yourself with a tool called a speculum. A speculum has two ends and a handle. It is used to open up the vagina.

What you see varies by each person. The time to call a doctor is if…

-you have green, gray, or yellow discharge.-change in amount/consistency of discharge.-Odor.-Foamy discharge.(Our Bodies, Ourselves, pg 11)

Self Examination

Self Breast Exam-Women have been told that feeling

your breasts for lumps can help catch any early signs of cancerous lumps. Scientist have now stopped advising women to do so, because the study of breast self examinations have yet to find that if you perform a BSE you will not die of breast cancer opposed to those who don’t do a BSE.

Menstruation

Each girl born has about 2 million cells in her ovaries, but only half are excepted. From there, half of that number will turn into eggs.

Every month, one of the hundred of thousands of eggs we have will completely develop.

During ovulation, the egg is released which some can physically feel through a cramp in their lower body.

Menstruation

A menstruation cycle will be different for every woman.

Some can have a cycle that happens once every month, others can have one that are for longer or shorter times.

If you are taking contraceptives or nursing, this can alter your period length.

The average period lasts for about 4 to 6 days.

Menstruation

The uterine lining makes up a lot of the fluid we see during our period.

We see it clotting most of the time. Other fluids we see during

menstruation are cervical fluid and vaginal secretion. (Our Bodies, Ourselves, pg 21)

Average amount of fluid released 2 to 5 tablespoons.(. (Our Bodies, Ourselves, pg 21)

Menstration

Many women have experienced different mood changes while having their period.

Becoming sad and emotional about small things or being irritable about situations is common in women.

Depression has also been found. Participating in exercise, taking

certain vitamins, and herbs can alter help with your mood and depression.

Quote

“I don’t menstruate, and I have actually always felt kind of alienated by the way in which female experiences are sometimes centered around menstruation- the idea that menstruating makes someone a “real” woman, for example, or that menstruation is such a quintessential experience that if you haven’t menstruated, you don’t know what its like to be a woman.”

Quote

This quote really stuck with me when I read it. Being told, if you don’t have a period you are not a real woman, has to be very hard to hear. It makes you think, well what makes a woman a woman? I look at the commercials on T.V. and the ads in the magazines and if you study them, you see that they do push that idea. This person is probably sitting on the couch, watching these ads, thinking to herself, “well I don’t get a period, so what am I? Apparently I’m not a woman.” I made me think that we must be more sensitive to this issue. Making someone feel like they are not a woman because they don’t menstruate is disgusting and wrong. Being a woman is a very special thing, and taking that away is not right.

Women and Their Bodies

Not all cultures allow or except the terminology and pictures that are used to teach female anatomy.

They are seen as fowl and scornful. This idea pushes women in these

cultures to keep quite about their health issues and questions along with suppressing their liberty.

Women and Their Bodies

Women and Their Bodies was created by Jewish and Arab women in Israel.

The group has worries about women feeling obligated to continue to have children when they don’t want to, because it is looked at as a great gift, and an utter let down if you can not produce them.

Women and Their Bodies

They also hold concern for women that are not given a choice on having children or not as well as for women who are no longer young enough to produce.

The organization uses terms that are regardful and commemoratory for everyone and holds support for women that are under pressure to have children.

Discussion Question

If you do not menstruate, does that mean your not a woman?

Sources

Our Bodies, Ourselves, October 2011 print