Friday, April 11, 2014

FA in the Media (And the Return of an Errant Blogger)

Greetings, good people. It's been a long time! Graduate school was a fantastic experience, but as you know, I had to stop teaching FA, for the most part. I just didn't have the mental energy to spare. I'm happy to say that I am once again working with women (and sometimes their partners) to help them manage their fertility naturally. If you are interested in obtaining instruction, either for the first time or to extend your education, my brain is once again available, and I hope you will get in touch!

Graduate school was also not good for this blog. I was happy if I could shave my legs once a month, forget about whipping up a decent blog post. When I finally got my MSW (master of social work) in August of 2013,  I wasn't sure if I'd come back to the blog. Compared to other social media, blogs are pretty old school. All those words! I post on Facebook about 2x a month, and last month, even though I said I never would, I began tweeting (@fertaware) But people do still visit the blog, every day, and every once in a while my writing wants to stretch out a bit, which isn't really possible on Facebook or Twitter. So here we are, blogging again.

And what brings me back to you today? Zeitgeist. A change in the national conversation around contraception. Everyone, it seems, is talking about Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABM)! Fertility tracking app sales are through the roof. And we are finally getting some decent media exposure.

Let's start with the most recent: Lisa DeBode wrote an unusually well-researched piece about FABM  for Al Jazeera America. (And I got to say "labia" in international media.)
Birth Control Bitter Pill - Al Jazeera

About 6 months prior, a similar article regarding barriers to widespread use of FABM was published in the Atlantic. It contains a couple of inaccuracies, and fewer people are interviewed, but it does present a more sophisticated view than one usually finds. Note how both articles talk about unmet need, i.e. the desire on the part of women to learn these methods and the limitations to their being able to do so.
New Old School Birth Control Atlantic

And finally, a book. Have you read Sweetening the Pill? It came out in 2013, and it definitely set tongues-a-wagging. Now a movie is in the works (I'm in conversation with the producer) and even before the movie has been made, there is backlash & controversy. It's still considered anti-feminist to question the primacy, safety, and desirability of hormonal contraception. If you've ever been unhappy with hormonal contraception, but couldn't articulate why, or if you knew why, but couldn't get anyone to take you seriously, this is for you. Needless to say, it makes a strong case for FA.

It's great to be back, and I look forward to connecting with new readers and old ones, in this context and in others. FA is moving forward, and I'm thrilled to be part of the journey.