The XX Factor

Know More, Screen Less

2009-11-20T19:58:00Z

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...(read more)

The Mammogram Mania

2009-11-20T17:17:00Z

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 .)...(read more)

Home for Thanksgiving

2009-11-20T16:55:00Z

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,...(read more)

Time Magazine Prematurely Applauds an End to Hover Parenting

2009-11-20T16:14:00Z

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 D oubleX...(read more)

It's Time For Some Competition, Yoginis!

2009-11-20T15:40:00Z

sponsorship placeAd2(commercialNode,'120x90',false,'') A post from DoubleX writer Kerry Howley: 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...(read more)

Why Oprah Is Giving Up the Mic

2009-11-20T15:14:00Z

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...(read more)

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

2009-11-18T21:08:00Z

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...(read more)

A Brief Defense of Sarah Palin

2009-11-18T20:36:00Z

Make no mistake, my main response to Sarah Palin's book is teeth-gnashing , because 1) she lies and never admits it. And her death-penalty lie mattered. And 2) she never acknowledges her debt to feminism ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX )....(read more)

Women Need a Pap Smear for Breast Cancer

2009-11-17T19:31:00Z

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...(read more)

The New Mammogram Guidelines Smell Like Rationing

2009-11-17T17:39:00Z

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...(read more)

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

2009-11-17T17:10:00Z

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...(read more)

Going Fake: Sarah Palin's Book Rewrites History

2009-11-17T16:12:00Z

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...(read more)

Sarah, Go Away

2009-11-16T22:15:00Z

Emily, Hanna, Jess, Rachael, if Sarah Palin were Sam Palin, would anyone still be interested in her? Dan Quayle was a good-looking, young, conservative, politician who, in his roll-out as a vice-presidential candidate, impressed everyone as being a dope who was in over his head. After his vice presidency, he blessedly slipped from public life. Palin has shown that she doesn't think a mastery of—or even much of a familiarity with—the issues of the day is a requirement for highest office. I hope her...(read more)

DoubleX News

2009-11-16T20:36:00Z

After some deliberation, we have decided to fold DoubleX back into Slate . The site will now become its own section, with our XX Factor blog, articles, and special projects already in the works. Our aim is to create a more intimate version of the community we have built, with many of the same voices and passions ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX )....(read more)

Daughters Devalued

2009-11-16T18:10:00Z

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...(read more)

Palin: From the Nursery to the White House

2009-11-16T16:51:00Z

Emily, I think Palin means this as one of her folksy nuggets of wisdom, and you are supposed to chuckle as you imagine her mediating toddler disputes over frozen moose pops. And of course it's not that. But you have to admit that this is a thoroughly radical and maybe even weirdly feminist notion, particularly coming from a conservative woman. ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX )....(read more)

Palin: The Ever Lovin' Mother

2009-11-16T16:45:00Z

I would really like to drive a stake in the heart of the argument, repeated once again by Sarah Palin in her book, that “there’s no better training ground for politics than motherhood." At first glance, it’s oh-so unobjectionable. But in Palin's hands, the demands of motherhood aren’t a form of preparation that complements other kinds, like learning about the rest of the globe before you run for vice-president. Nope, the motherhood version of the can-do ethic makes it OK to have a know-nothing ethic...(read more)

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

2009-11-13T19:29:00Z

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...(read more)

The Supreme Court Is Afraid of Gossip Girls and Boys

2009-11-13T18:17:00Z

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?...(read more)

Would You Take a Pill That Prevents Cancer? Unlikely.

2009-11-13T18:03:00Z

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...(read more)