Got Health Questions?

Hey, girls! As we prepare to launch New Moon's Online Experience this spring, we're gathering girls' questions for a health column. Questions can range from silly ("Why are boogers green?") to serious ("What's the difference between sadness and depression?") You can submit questions about . . . .
-physical health
-mental health
-spiritual health or
-sexual health

Send your questions to laceyl@newmoon.org so that I can pass them on to our advice columnists. If we decide to post your question on the site once it launches, we can post it anonymously if you prefer. Also, if our columnists answer your question, we'll send YOU a response as soon as it's ready so that you don't have to wait until the launch. Hope to hear from you soon!

Susan G. Komen's 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer

Keep this in mind while reading:: Every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed with Breast Cancer, every 13 minutes a woman will die from Breast Cancer. In 2007, 200,000 women as well as men were diagnosed and 40,000 lost the battle.

This summer, I had the opportunity to witness one of the most powerful events I have ever attended, the 3-day walk for Breast Cancer in the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, I did not participate in the walk, but my idol and role model did, my mother. After being cancer-free for 13 years, she decided this was her chance to give back to her community of supporters. The event takes place in 12 cities across the country (today, September 28th, marks the beginning for the walkers in Michigan) and touches peoples lives along the way. Over a 3-day period, at 20 miles a day, 60 miles are mapped out and ready to be walked . This commitment includes training and raising money. In order to participate in the walk, you must agree to raise at least $2,200. This may seem like a lot but there is still a lot that needs to be done in the fight against breast cancer. According to the 3-Day website, in the 2006 walk, $86 million were raised through donations, sponsorship and contributions. Not only is this event physically challenging in every way, but the emotional challenge is just as difficult. The walk includes those who are currently battling cancer, those who won their battle, and those who want to support the fighters. Although women were the majority, there were also men walking in support of those battling this disease! The walkers are encouraged to form teams as a way to support one another. This is extremely inspirational, not only are they helping a good cause but they are forming bonds with people that they will never forget. There are also what is called "Cheer stations". These are designated areas where the walkers families and friends can gather to cheer them on while they continue their triumphant walks. It's incredible to see their faces, all with smiles, because they know what their doing is bring inspiration to everyone around them.

The walk gives support to those with cancer, hope for the cancer survivors and inspiration for the supporters.

I think this opportunity is something everyone should strive to accomplish at some point in their lives. Next summer I hope to walk, if not for me, then for my mother.

For the Love of the Sport?

This morning, I elbowed my way through throngs of spectators, huddled in the early-morning hours to observe one of the zaniest, most phenomenal events my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin ever witnesses: the annual IRONMAN triathlon.

For the uninitiated, the triathlon is the glory of all endurance athletics. It is a competition in which mostly-buff athletes swim their guts out, run out of the water, strip out of their wetsuits and throw bike gear on their still-wet bodies, jump on a bike, attack miles of hills and other geographic formations that discourage biking, and finally abandon their bikes for the final leg of the triathlon: the run.

Full disclosure: I am a triathlete myself, and it is one of the loves of my life. I don't know if there is any sport more thrilling, exuberant, or mind-boggling. Racing is an incredible adrenaline rush.

But I am not an Ironman. Or an Ironwoman. I race at the sprint- and Olympic-distance lengths, which usually include something like a 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run (sprint distance) or 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6 mile run (Olympic).

The Ironman, on the other hand, is a race of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a full marathon-length run (over 26 miles). It's a killer.

I loved watching the Ironman athletes as they raced out of the water, stripping out of wetsuits as they padded past the cheering throngs. I felt sorry for the athletes more than anything else: here they had just finished a grueling 2.4 miles of swimming through waters so crowded they resemble a literal sharkfest, and yet they were just beginning the day. (The fastest finishers complete the race in about 8 hours; many barely make the midnight cutoff.)

For all the enthusiasm in the crowd, the competitors didn't look particularly happy. As a triathlete, that really bothered me--when I race, I don't think I ever stop smiling. I guess the adrenaline had already worn off their faces (or maybe it was the embarrassment of waddling past thousands of people half-naked).

But why, I wondered, do people practically kill themselves to finish an almost-impossible race? Why do they devote a year's worth of training for a single day, which will not be experienced with utter joy but mainly fatigue and discomfort?

I know that many elite sports are hard to understand until you've experienced them, and I admire the Ironmen (and Ironwomen) who come from all parts of the world to brave the unknown, to challenge inner resolves they barely knew existed. But why?

What do you think...

When it comes to sports, how much is too much? Would you sacrifice hundreds of hours of your life to achieve something as superhuman as an Ironman finish? If people devote themselves to athletics because that's one of their passions, is their life fulfilling, or crazily unbalanced?

Would you be up to the Ironman challenge?

The Risks of "Fitting In"

Breast enhancements. They are now the most popular of all surgeries (in the U.S.) followed only by liposuction and eyelid surgery. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 329,396 enlargements were performed last year; up 13% from 2005. So why are those numbers scary? Recently, a new study* came out showing that women who got these surgeries were more likely to commit suicide. The study followed 3,527 Swedish women from between 1965 and 1993. (Breast cancer patients who had reconstruction surgery were not included.)

Scientists then documented the women for as long as 29 years after the surgery. At first, the risk of suicide was the same. But from 10 to 19 years after the surgery, the risk jumped to 4.5 times higher and 6 times higher after 20 years. Other studies have shown us that, sadly, many of the women (15%) who get plastic surgery have body dysmorphic disorder. People with this disorder have rarely benefited from enhancement surgery.

Researchers also said alcohol/drug dependence and deaths related to mental disorders increased 3 times. However, some researchers discredit the study, saying that the results aren't appropriate for women today because breast augmentation is more "acceptable now than it was 40 years ago"(L.A. Times). Right. If anything, we have even more pressure to look perfect today. 80% of women in the U.S. are unhappy with the way they look (Love Your Body); so the danger is very real.

It was only last year that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted the 14 year ban on silicone-filled implants because there wasn't enough evidence that they were unsafe. Still, the FDA has called for a 10 year study (on 10,000 women who receive the surgery) to look for long-term side effects. Hopefully, they gather enough research to, once again, place a ban on the silicone-filled implants.

What's your opinion on plastic surgery? Is it good or bad? Should women be screened to see if they have body dysmorphic disorder before the surgery? Send in your answers.

*The study was published in the August issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery.

Peace, friends.

8-08-08: Olympic Equality

This time next year, the 2008 Olympics will start in Beijing, China. It was only about 100 years ago that women gained the right to participant in the Olympics. Even then, it was a confused effort and women could only compete in select "leisure" sports. Historically, women have never had as many events as men and they have always had less participants. Last time, in Athens, women made up 40.74% (4306 participants) while men were 59.26 (6262 participants). Those numbers are improving every year, though. (click here to see a chart)

Originally, doctors "argued that because of the amount of energy women expended on reproductive functions, minimal energy was left for physical, psychic or intellectual endeavors." (National Women's History Museum) But soon women were allowed to participate in sports like archery, skating and crochet. By the end of the 18th century, some middle and upper class women were playing sports like tennis and golf. Then in the 1900 games in Paris, women got to compete for the very first time. Because of all the confusion with the Paris World Fair happening at the same time, the first American woman to win an Olympic game (Margaret Abbot) didn't even know it. It was only recently discovered that the golf event was registered as an Olympic game.

Gradually, women were allowed to participant in more and more events like swimming, gymnastics, basketball and skating. At the last Olympics women competed in 26 of the 28 sports and 135 events (about 45% of events). That's a huge improvement from the days when women only had 6 sports and 25 events (1952 games).

Then in the 1980's and 90's women were finally allowed to hold positions on the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic charter. In 1991 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that if a new Olympic game was introduced there had to be men's and women's events. In 1994 the IOC had a rule that required them to promote women in sports of all levels and "act with a strict application of the principle of equality of men and women.” To help them achieve this standard they formed a "Women and Sport" group to advise their decisions.

For the first time, the Olympic games included wrestling as a women's event in Athens. Now "with the introduction of women’s wrestling, there will be few events at this Olympics in which women are not participating." (National Women's History Museum) It seems now that events and participants are becoming equal for women, the largest hurtle is the countries. In the last Olympics in 2004, 9 countries had absolutely no women athletes. (compared to the 2 countries who had no male athletes). A women's group from Europe called Atlanta Plus, says that gender discrimination is just like racial discrimination and that countries who ban women from the Olympics shouldn't be allowed to participant at all.

Women aren't equal in the Olympic yet, but at the rate we are traveling it won't be much longer. Now we can participant in 26 sports and 135 events, almost every country allows women to compete in the Olympics and gone are the days when doctors thought we had little energy for anything but babies. As the the 2008 Olympics draw near, every woman can look back and be proud at how far we have truly come.

Read about the whole journey and some amazing firsts for women athletes here.

The official website for the Olympics has some interesting facts about the involvement of women.

Statistics regarding gender from the 2004 Athens games.


Facts about women in the Olympics:

• In the first Olympic Games in which women competed (Paris 1900) women represented 5 countries - USA, France, Great Britain, Switzerland and Bohemia.


• The Games of the New Millennium, the XXVII Olympiad, took place in Sydney between 15th September and 1st October, 2000. There were 28 sports altogether and women took part in 25.


• Between 1928 and 1956 the women’s 800 metres was only held once, it was declared unsafe for women and was banned until 1960.


• The first woman to light the Olympic flame was Enriqeuta Basilio of Mexico in 1968. The first woman to take the Olympic Oath was Heidi Schuller in Munich, 1972.


• British Equestrian, Lorna Johnson, became the oldest female Olympian in 1972 at 70 years.


• The first married women competed in the Olympics of 1900.


• A 17 year old Dutch swimmer, Wihemina ‘Rie’ Mastenbroek, was the first woman to win 4 Olympic medals. Rie won 3 golds and a silver in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Peace, friends.

We are girls; not adults.

Teen models. For years the battle to keep them off the catwalk hasn't been successful. But now, London's Fashion Week said that it will not let girls under 16 onto the catwalk. However, they didn't say that 'underweight' models would be banned. Back on July 11 a panel of experts for the Model Health Inquiry set out to investigate health problems in 17 and 18 year old models. "There was also strongly expressed concern that it is profoundly inappropriate that girls under 16 under the age of consent should be portrayed as adult women. The risk of sexualising these children was high and designers could risk charges of sexual exploitation," said Baroness Kingsmill a member of the Model Health Inquiry. The Inquiry board is now calling for more research to be conducted on eating disorder in the young models. They also want a Union to be formed to protect underage models. The British Fashion Council said that it will accept the Inquiry's recommendations in September (the month London Fashion Week is held ) when they are published. While this is definitely good news, will it be enough? Girls have been exploited for so long; trying to fit into an adult profession. A few studies might not have the power to totally prevent young girls from getting on the catwalk, but maybe this little event will snowball into more secure laws protecting these girls.


You can read the full article here.

Click here if you want to learn more about eating disorder misconceptions.

Here are some tidbits I found about models:

• In January, a 14-year-old Brazilian girl who dreamt of being a model died, weighing only 38 kilos or about 83 pounds.


• A recent study has indicated that 40% of young fashion models have developed an eating disorder.


• "So if you're a 14-year-old girl working as a professional model, you can pretty much bet nine out of the 10 jobs you'll go for you'll be rejected. So I don't know if rejection to that extent is something that is very healthy for a girl of that age." - Zoe Edquist, manager of the Australian Fashion Council


• Studies have shown that while 25 years ago the average model weighted 8% less than the average American woman, today's model weighs 23% below the national average.

Peace, friends.

'What Kills One Woman Every Minute of the Day?'

Don't mean to start off the day with too much of a downer of a post, but I'd been meaning to share this for a while...

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Kudos to Newsweek for some hard-hitting journalism on women's health (something that the mainstream media doesn't touch too often, unless they're politicizing the abortion debate). Newsweek ran an article in their last issue with the title "What Kills One Woman Every Minute of the Day?" Your choices:

A. Heart Attack

B. AIDS

C. Childbirth

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The answer? Childbirth, aka "the leading killer of women" (Newsweek's words, not mine). To many of us living in industrialized countries, this might come as a surprise. While just 1 in 30,000 women die in childbirth in Sweden, 1 in 7 Afghan women die in childbirth. On average, a whopping 1 in 16 women die in the developing world while giving birth. Yet rates of maternal mortality (how many women per 100,000 die giving birth) are one of the best measures of the overall health of a society. What does that say, then, about global health issues?

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The saddest part is that it's often so simple to prevent maternal death in childbirth--antibiotics and medications can make a huge difference.

35 Years of Title IX

Last month, women and girls across the country celebrated the 35th anniversary of the landmark law called Title IX, which read, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Written by Congresswoman Patsy Mink, who wrote the law as a response to her experiences with discrimination in college.

Title IX was controversial, but also revolutionary. Says New Moon founder Nancy Gruver: "Title IX, which outlawed gender discrimination in education...[is] a somewhat invisible thing that has brought more positive change in gender equity for girls and young women than anything else I can think of, leading to massive change in our society."

A common myth about Title IX is that it only applied to athletics; Title IX also affected issues like math and science education, sexual harassment in schools, standardized testing, and education opportunities for pregnant teens. But Title IX proved most revolutionary in sports: over the last 30 years, Title IX has helped increase girls' participation in high school sports 800%, and women's participation in intercollegiate sports 400%! Women also have gained more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues.

As girls, we've grown up in a world where sports are a regular part of our lives (although we still face plenty of sexism). But here's what the pre-Title IX world looked like:

"Things were different. The primary physical activities for girls were cheerleading and square-dancing. Only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports. There were virtually no college scholarships for female athletes. And female college athletes received only 2% of overall athletic budgets."

Unfortunately, Title IX has been under attack in recent years. But it's still so important. According to http://www.titleix.info/:

Girls make up only about 42% of high school and college varsity athletes, even though they represent more than 50% of the student population.

Each year, male athletes receive $137 million more than female athletes in college athletic scholarships at NCAA member institutions.

Women in Division I colleges are over 50% of the student body, but receive only 32% of athletic recruiting dollars and 36% of athletic operating budgets.

In 2001-02, only 44% of coaches of women's teams were women. In 1972, the number was over 90%.

Unfortunately, the Department of Education issued a new Title IX policy that threatens to reverse the progress that women and girls have made in sports on March 17, 2005: Title IX is under attack. Do you think girls and women deserve better? Visit http://www.savetitleix.com/ to sign a petition to the Secretary of Education and take action!

You can also check out some cool Title IX-related stuff:

• Listen to soccer star Julie Foudy, former Captain of the US Soccer Team, explain why Title IX needs to be saved


• See some common myths about Title IX


• Check out the Women's Sports Foundation


• View Active.com's tribute to Title IX, with great articles on women's struggles in sports

Then tell us: Do you play sports? What do you wish was different about the girls and women in sports?

P.S. What do you think of this: Last month, Rags to Riches became the first filly in more than a century to win the Belmont Stakes, the prestigious annual horse race in Elmont, N.Y. The last time a filly beat the boys at the Belmont was when Tanya surged to victory in 1905.

Both genders of horses race together. What about humans? Do you support single-sex sports, or do you think girls and guys should play sports together?

Courtney E. Martin on Food, Body Image, and Eating Disorders

More than half of American women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five would prefer to be run over by a truck or die young than be fat. More than two-thirds would rather be mean or stupid, writes Courtney E. Martin in her new book on food, body image, and eating disorders, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: the Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body.

As we all well know, eating disorders are skyrocketing—some ten million Americans now suffer from them, and 90% of high school-aged girls think they are overweight. Courtney E. Martin, the 20-something writer extraordinaire (check out her bio at the end of this post), set out at age 25 to figure out the WHYs on food, body image, and eating disorders—Why did all of her friends suffer from a full-fledged eating disorder or, at least, struggle with food and fitness? Why are eating disorders still claiming the lives of so many young women? Why is it that when girls are told, “you can be anything,” they hear, “you must be everything”?

As she wrote, “I set out asking: How did we become so obsessed with perfection, so preoccupied with food and fitness, and what can we do to reclaim our time and energy?” Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, published by Simon & Schuster in April, is her answer.

It’s an incredible book. I don't hesitate at all in telling YOU, the New Moon blog reader, to read it, then share what you've read with your friends, your sisters, your cousins, your teachers, your parents… Not only because the book is so compelling, but because it’s so important that we as girls and women finally get to the bottom of our obsessions with our food and our bodies.

Courtney was nice enough to answer New Moon’s questions on her book, eating disorders, body image, and feminism. First, a teaser from her Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters:

“There is a girl, right now, staring in a mirror in Des Moines, scrutinizing her widening hips. There is a girl, right now, spinning like a hamster on speed in a gym on the fifth floor of a building in Boston, promising herself dinner if she goes two more miles. There is a girl, right now, in a London bathroom, trying not to get any vomit on her aunt’s toilet seat. There is a girl, right now, in Berlin, cutting a cube of cheese and an apple into barely visible pieces to eat for her dinner…Our bodies are the places where our drive for perfection gets played out. We demand flawlessness in our appearance—the outer manifestation of our inner dictators.”

Perhaps you don’t have an inner dictator, but don’t all of us have that lurking desire to be the supergirl? As Courtney writes, “Our mothers had the luxury of aspiring to be 'good,' but we have the ultimate goal of ‘effortless perfection.’”

Read on for Courtney’s fascinating responses to New Moon’s questions.

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NM: What inspired you to write Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters?
CM: Through out high school and college, I felt surrounded by brilliant, beautiful friends who were obsessed with food and fitness, perfectionist, and often self-hating. When I asked older women about this phenomenon, they would often essentially respond, “Get used to it. This is just part of being a woman.” I refused to believe that. The book grew out of the outrage that I felt over my friends’ pain and what appeared to be the general acceptance of it as a natural part of femaleness.

What audience is your book intended to reach—the perfect girls and starving daughters themselves, or their greater society?
I wrote this book for the 16 and 17 and 18 year old me, the girl who ached for something familiar and fiercely honest, the girl who really needed a call to action to stop settling for self-hate. So in essence, I wrote it for sophisticated teenagers and college students, primarily, and secondarily, for their mothers and fathers, educators, and coaches.

Describe a typical day in the life of Courtney E. Martin.
Almost every day is different for me, depending on whether I am conducting interviews or meeting with my agent or colleagues. Here’s what a day spent writing is like:

I wake up in my Brooklyn apartment which I share with my big brother, Chris, and do a little yoga or meditation. I make a cup of coffee and some toast with peanut butter and then settle in front of my computer. I try not to check email for a couple of hours so that I can get some focused writing time in before the onslaught of the outside world. Sometimes I’m working on a book, more often an article on feminism, politics, or pop culture.

I take my lunch break and read something—maybe a book I’m incorporating into an article, a magazine I’d like to write for, or the New York Times. Then I might take a walk in Prospect Park, which is right near my house. When I get back I’ll shower and then get right back to the computer. Email, email, email. Maybe a blog post or two. Pitching to editors. Trying to make contact with those I’d like to interview for a story. IM with my boyfriend, who works in film editing. Maybe a quick chat with my writing partner, Jennifer. More email, email, email.

I try to always stop working around 5 or 6 regardless of where I am in a process. I think freelancers can have two tendencies—underworking or overworking. I’m always in danger of the latter so I have to be vigilant with myself about stopping when the sun goes down.

At night I do a range of things—meet with my amazing writer’s group (www.crucialminutia.com), go to the movies, attend a friend’s reading etc. I always get eight hours of sleep. I’m a total nerd in that way.

What is the link between, as Arianna Huffington wrote in your book's advance praise, the need to “stop counting calories and start changing the world”?
The amount of time, energy, and willpower being displaced into dieting and fitness obsession is enormous. I get giddy just thinking about all of the amazing work we could do in the world if we spent that energy focusing on ways in which we can make the world more fair, and experience more joy, and fully embrace who we are and what we have come here to do with our lives. There is so much incredible potential locked up in counting calories and churning away on the exercise bike.

You focus on girls and women whose perfectionism drives their disordered eating and low self-esteem. What about girls and women with just plain bad body image, who don't necessarily have issues with perfectionism-how do they fit into the equation?
Not all women with eating disorders or disordered eating are perfectionist, certainly. I think that group of women is less prone to trying to fit into an unattainable ideal, and more prone to processing their emotions through food or a lack thereof. Though arguably all women struggling with these issues are having trouble healthily processing their emotions, perfectionist women tend towards anorexia as opposed to bulimia. There are plenty of nuances.

When it comes to body image and eating disorders, who is being an 8- to 14-year-old girl today different than it was for earlier generations?
I think that eating disorders have existed for earlier generations, but they were far less common and far less extreme. This generation of young women has been socialized to think that if they have enough will power and/or money they can look like anyone—Nicole Ritchie, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry—regardless of what their genetic body type is. Young women today often have no idea that we each have an innate set point within which our body’s metabolism will naturally adjust. That’s why diets fail 95% of the time (and we still pump $30 billion a year into the industry!) We live in such an extreme makeover culture nowadays.

I also think we are dealing with a whole new world of opportunities—thanks to feminism—that can be paralyzing. We’ve watched our supermoms strive for super-achievement, and so often, their own health and care were sacrificed in the process. As a result, so many of us associate femaleness with exhaustion and self-sacrifice. Our mothers told us “You can be anything” and somehow we heard “I have to be everything.”

What will it take for more girls to start eating healthily-and start loving their bodies?
So, so much. To start with, each young woman can make the radical commitment to heal her relationship with her own body. That means reconnecting with your authentic hungers—when are you hungry? For what? When are you full? What does your body crave? (Usually, your body’s signals are smarter than your mind’s intellectualization of what you need.) How can you move in ways that make you feel happy as opposed to feeling trapped in joyless fitness regimens?

It also might take some outrage. Does it incense you that there are multiple markets making millions off of your insecurities? ($30 billion diet industry, $28 billion plastic surgery industry, $26 billion skincare and cosmetics industry) If we can externalize some of that anger instead of taking it out on ourselves, that can be hugely transformative.

If you could pinpoint the single best solution for improving girls’ body image and self-esteem, what would it be?
Focusing more on joy!

For a generation of girls that, in the words of Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, have grown up with feminism “in the water,” why is body image still such a huge issue? Why are rates of eating disorders still skyrocketing?
I think that the Second Wave of feminism [1960s-70s] did a tremendous job of creating institutional change, but wasn’t terribly effective at internalizing their own ideas. We’ve inherited that unfinished business.

As Susie Orbach wrote, ‘fat is a feminist issue.’ Why has thinness, in relation to the topics of eating disorders and low self-esteem, become one of the focal points of third wave feminism's work with girls?
It’s so insidious. Seven million girls and women in this country have textbook eating disorders and countless others are struggling though not diagnosable. The sheer numbers are horrifying. And then when you consider how powerful and successful young women are, in general, the contradiction is too glaring not to notice.

You call perfectionism "feminism's unintended legacy." Overall, do you think feminism has helped or hurt girls, especially in terms of long-term effects on self-esteem?
There is no question that feminism has made girls’ lives better in huge and profound ways. We are safer, more educated, and more liberated than any generation of women before us, and that is in large part due to the vigilant and enlightened work of our feminist foremothers.

Having said that, I do think that the lack of internalization of feminist ideas (equality, self care, etc.) has been a real problem, as has the misinterpretation of Feminism for “superwomen feminism”—that not only do women have opportunities, but they have to take advantage of ALL of them and excel perfectly. Not possible and truly unhealthy.

New Moon was one of the first publications you ever wrote for. Can you share any advice for girls who aspire to be writers or journalists?
Read and write as much as you can. I learned so much from writing for my high school and college newspapers—not just from the faculty advisers, but from my peers. Read authors you respect and write them emails expressing your gratitude and seeking mentorship. Don’t think that you have to be an English major once you get to college, although that’s fine too. The best writers and journalists are those who are totally fascinated with all sorts of quirky facets and subcultures. Cultivate your interests, as varied and seemingly strange as they may be. Eavesdrop, observe, write it all down. And finally, try to cultivate a group of peers who are interested in writing. I have been so enriched and supported by my amazing writer’s group, who are not famous, fancy writers but just my friends who are in the same boat, trying to make our way in the world.

You're definitely an author (and activist) to watch. What's next on your horizon?
I'm working on a few book projects, including an anthology on interracial relationships, a memoir by an amazing young woman from Nashville who is HIV positive and spreading the word about this devastating disease, and a book about “what matters now.” I’m blissfully all over the place!

Anything else you'd like our blog's readers to know?
Please check out my website (www.courtneyemartin.com) and feel free to write me emails. I love hearing from girls and I try to answer every email I get.


***

ABOUT COURTNEY

Originally from Colorado Springs, Courtney now lives in Brooklyn. She writes for an amazing range of national publications, including Newsweek, Newsday, Alternet, The Christian Science Monitor, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Utne Reader, Women's eNews, Poets & Writers, Publisher's Weekly, BUST, Bitch, and ReadyMade, among others. Courtney is also a contributing blogger for Crucial Minutiae and Feministing.

Courtney has an M.A. from New York University in writing and social change [very cool!] and a B.A. from Barnard College in political science and sociology. She spent six months studying in Cape Town, South Africa. She is currently an adjunct professor of gender studies at Hunter College.

When she isn't working, which is not nearly enough of the time, she is daydreaming about playing the blues harmonica, cooking dinner with her big brother, or making video documentaries with her boyfriend in Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. Oh, or conspiring to create unselfconscious dance parties.

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Some RESOURCES

• Visit Courtney's website


• Buy Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters


• Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness


• National Eating Disorders Association


• Body Positive


• Adios Barbie

Toyna Chin on Growing Up

Chances are, you've heard your share of the usual set of horror stories on growing up (embarassing periods! untimely acne! killer mood swings!) Toyna Chin has heard them, too--and she's out to make them a thing of the past. Toyna, now 38, is on a mission she began at age 19, when she first decided she had to do something about the way that companies sold women feminine hygiene products (no choices! bulky boxes! uncomfortable pads!) Best of all, she wants to make sure girls enter puberty armed--with knowledge, that is.

In college, Toyna pitched her ideas to top companies, only to receive stacks of rejection letters. But she never gave up. Three years ago, she launched Hygeia, a new company offering girl's kits called Petite Amie. Five different Cycle Kits, designed with a chic sense of style (no more ugly plastic packages!), offer girls both tips on their period and the tools they need for it--a range of tampons, pads, pantyliners, and other products, depending on the kit.

Petite Amie is still new on the market, but it's already received great feedback--from girls relieved to find something that makes growing up a little more fun, from moms who wish they'd had Petite Amie kits when they were growing up, and from educators who care about girls' health. Gloria Feldt, the former President of Planned Parenthood, has called them "a blessing." And Sylvie Lemaire, the President of the leading Canadian feminine care brand, declared of Petite Amie, "It's brilliant!"

New Moon caught up with Toyna yesterday to chat about her life, work, and why it's important to make girls' experiences in puberty more positive.

New Moon: What's a typical day on the job like?

Toyna Chin: We're a small company, so each day is different. I usually go through emails, check orders, and work with interns and staff. Everything else really depends on what comes up--I work with retailers, manufacturers, marketers, distributors, and lots of other people.

NM: What would you tell girls interested in starting their own business?

TC: I would remind them to really look at what they're interested in, and to pursue that. I tell girls: Go into whatever you're doing with passion; don't go in it for the money. That way, if the money doesn't happen, you're still doing what you love.

NM: What is the biggest success you've had in your work?

TC: Definitely bringing Petite Amie on the market--I've been working on this since I was 19! It's been a long journey.

NM: How does Petite Amie empower girls (one of your company's goals)?

TC: Through giving them the knowledge they need to understand the issues they're facing (each kit includes a Q & A booklet), and by encouraging them to embrace different cultural beliefs, whether or not they believe in them. For example, we make different kits tailored to girls of different cultures. Asian and Hispanic girls are less likely to use tampons, so we make special kits for them that mainly include pads. However, we still encourage girls to use the products that are most practical.

NM: What do you think is most challenging for teen girls in puberty?

TC: The embarrassment about what they're going through--it's hard for them to be confident and see that what they're going through is normal.

NM: What's your advice for girls entering puberty?

TC: It's going to feel very confusing; at times, it might feel like you're the only one in the world experiencing the things you're experiencing, but it's something we all go through. Embrace the experience, and ask questions of whomever you can--parents, nurses, teachers, friends. We even offer an "Ask the Expert" section on our website, where you can submit a question about puberty to receive a private, emailed response within 24 hours.

Now here are a few question for our readers: Have you used Petite Amie's products? Or have you seen their website?

Do you think there's a need for a new approach to getting your period and going through puberty? If you could change an aspect of going through puberty, what would you change? What do you think the world needs to know about puberty and periods? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!

Girl Climbs Mountains

Have you heard about Samantha Larson? On May 17th, 2007 she became the youngest American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. You can read about her adventure on her blog.

Not only has Samantha climbed Mount Everest, she’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount Elbrus in Russia. In fact, she’s climbed all of the “Seven Summits,” the highest mountains on each continent.

Congratulations Samantha!

Girls Walk to Stand Up

Eleven-year-old Asmahan Mansour wore a red hijab all year on her Nepean, Ontario girls soccer team. But she was ejected from the Canadian indoor championships when the referee claimed it was a safety hazard. Saying that hijabs are less dangerous than other things players wear (like eyeglasses), Asmahan’s teammates walked off the field together, choosing team solidarity over their chance for a national crown. Other Ottawa-area teams also quit in protest. Asmahan said, “ I was very proud of my teammates for having my back.”

Do you agree with the team walking off the field? Have you ever done something similar to show that you disagree with a decision or rule? We want to hear your stories!

Closing the Wage Gap, one Tennis Player at a Time

Last year, when French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo won Wimbledon she made 1.17 million dollars in prize money. That's an amazing amount of money! But what shocked me was that she received $53,000 less than the men's Wimbledon winner, Roger Federer. Why? Just because she's a woman. In the January/February 2007 issue of New Moon, 12-year-old Sylvie wrote about the Wage Gap in America. On average, women make only 69 cents for every dollar a man earns. "That means that over my lifetime, I'll probably earn at least $700,000 less than boys my age, just because I'm female!" Sylvie points out in her article. "We need wage reform NOW," Sylvie adds. Well, I'm here to announce one small victory for women, and for Sylvie. Today, Wimbledon announced that it will pay women and men tennis champions equally! Go Brits! I hope companies across the world listen to message Wimbledon is sending--women deserve equality, and that means equal paychecks. Thanks for speaking up, Sylvie, and thanks for listening, Wimbledon!

Championships

Here's a true story from Emily(age 10) in Massachussetts. I'm not a swimmer, but I really felt like I was right there with her as I was reading this. Way to go, Emily! Congratulations!

Championships

Splash!

Water hits my face as the swimmers dive into the water.

I can do this! I can do this!

It’s approximately 9:15 on a freezing cold morning. Goosebumps
have officially invaded my body. I look at my hand, shaking and blue.
I’m so nervous. The day I’ve looked forward to and dreaded all year has
arrived. Championships.

But my coach, Tim, turns to me. “You can win this easy. This is
your race. And y’know what? You’ve worked hard this year. I bet you
can beat your old time.” He smiles.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Swimmers step up.”

Quickly I snap on my goggles and step onto the wet, slippery
diving block. Help me! I scream in my head.

“Take your mark…”

I bend down and squeeze my eyes shut.

Beep!

I push off, soaring long and far. I dive nice and shallow. The
water feels warm and comforting on my bare legs.

I feel a surge of speed and kick my legs hard, a fierce geyser
sprouting behind me. I tune out everything I hear, everything I see,
except the wall. The wall. It seems so far away. But I will reach it.

First.

My arms scoop over the water, pulling, pulling. Water fills my
goggles and every thing becomes a blur. But the wall, dark and solid,
remains ahead of me. I picture myself with a shimmering, glittery
trophy. I scoop harder, kick faster, and breathe less and less.

My arm reaches out. My fingers feel the scratchy prickle of the
wall. My heart is ready to burst. My head sprouts out of the water like a
flower. My knees straighten and I pull myself out of the water.

A wave of relief, triumph, and a pinch of worry wash over me. What if I didn’t
win? What if all the other racers finished first? I search for the timer to
find out if I beat my old time. I find him and ask him my old time.

“19.47.”

“My new time?”

“16.23.”

My jaw hits the ground. 16.23? A sensation of excitement hits
me hard. I stand there, utterly amazed. I smile to myself. I reached the
wall first.

The End

Thanks for sending this, Emily! If there's something you would like us to post on our blog, send it to us at blog@newmoon.org.

Body Worlds!

Are you one of the 20 million people who’ve seen the Body Worlds exhibit? Writing is my first love, but secretly I’m a science junkie. I often compare scientist to writers—we’re all trying to observe the world and learn something about it from what we see. Body Worlds is a science exhibit that’s been touring the world since 1995 and it features actual human bodies that have been “plastinated,” which means the water and fats in the body are replaced with plastic. The bodies look completely preserved, and you can see all the systems and organs of the human body. I’ve seen pictures in books, on television, and even plastic models of the human body, but I’ve never seen the insides of a real human being. I think it will be amazing!

Of course, maybe you’ve heard the exhibit can be pretty controversial. Some people say that it’s disrespectful to display people’s bodies after they’ve died, even if they’ve given their permission. Also, a lot of the bodies are “in action” and some of the actions are pretty stereotypical of women and men—a pregnant woman lying down, a ballerina, and a woman who looks like she’s wearing stilettos, while the men are featured as strong, smart, and active: “The Runner,” “The Swordsman,” and “The Chess Player.”

The Body Worlds exhibit in Saint Paul, Minnesota closes this weekend and moves to Dallas. The exhibit is so popular that the Science Museum will be open 24-hours a day until it closes on Sunday night. So, this Saturday morning I’m not sleeping in. I’m going on a 4am field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota. If you’re there, look for me in my pajamas, carrying a notebook in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other—and feel free to give me a nudge if I’m snoring during the Omnitheater movie.

Have you already seen the Body Worlds exhibit in your city? What did you think? Will I wish for my beauty sleep, or will I be glad I braved the wee hours to see the 200 plasticized bodies? What do you think about the controversy around the exhibit?

Winter Wonderland

Winter is on it's way! Week by week the air is getting colder and I have had to dig out my mittens, scarf and hat before going outside. Here in Minnesota, it gets very cold and the lakes freeze over with ice from November through March. Snowstorms blow through and drop lots of snow on the frozen ground.

One of my favorite Winter activities is sledding. When I was younger, I would spend hours sledding down the hill at my parents' house and running back up and doing it all over again. I also loved going ice skating on the frozen lake and pretending that I was a figure skater in the Olympics. I always won Gold!

Does it snow and get cold where you live? What kinds of Winter activities do you like to do?

Size 00 ???

Ever wonder about clothing sizes and how some name brands sizes seem to differ from other brands? The sizes, although they say they are the same, never seem to be the same. Now there is a trend to have size 00 ! Does this seem right to you? Do you and your friends worry about what size you wear? Or are you happy with your body whatever the size? Check out this interesting article about the new size 00 and what some young women have to say about it.

http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/77620.html

Collage of YOU

Do you ever have those days when you just can't put a finger on how you are feeling? Not really sad, but not quite happy, not scared, but have a strange feeling in your tummy? Or just so happy and excited, but you're not sure why? Here's an idea that may help you to sort some of those feelings and discover something new about yourself:

Make a Collage of YOU. Get old magazines, articles, (anything you can cut out that has pictures and words), a large piece of poster board, glue or tape. Look through the magazines, focus on pictures, single words or phrases, or even colors that have some meaning to you - happy, sad, zany, funny, serious, adventurous - whatever strikes you. Do the same with the pictures, put them in a random order all over the poster board. Make drawings if you love to draw, write your own poem if you love to write. Whatever expresses your feelings and thoughts - who you are. Post this on the back of your door and when you're having one of those days - sit and look at the many things that make up the special person you are AND BE PROUD!!

Write all about it!

Have you ever had an experience that you just wanted to hold onto forever? Have you ever been so upset with someone that you couldn't even talk to them about it? You should think about keeping a journal!

The first time I ever wrote in a journal was the first day of 5th grade. My teacher announced that we would be spending the first 20 minutes of every school day writing in our own personal journals. We were each given a small notebook to decorate and personalize as our own. She said that there were many benefits to putting our thoughts into writing. Many of her students, including me, thought that journaling would be boring and a waste of time.

Each morning, I dutifully wrote about things that I had done the day before or what I was going to do that day. By the end of the school year, I realized that I looked forward to writing in my journal every day. Somewhere along the way, I had started writing about my own thoughts, feelings and dreams for life.

After that school year, I began to keep my own journal at home. I would find a spot outside under a tree or curl up next to a window. Finding solutions for my problems was so much easier when I wrote things down. I saved some of the greatest memories from middle school, high school and later on in life. Keeping a journal helped me get through some tough things in school and later in life.

What do you think about journals? Do you keep a journal? How did you start? Click here for tips on starting your own journal. Email blog@newmoon.org to let us know what you think!

Gridiron girl

Speaking of sports, check out this interesting story about a sixth grade girl in Oregon who's playing her third year of football. I have a friend who played football in middle school--her coaches, family, etc. convinced her to quit when she reached high school, partly because the boys kept getting bigger and she had quit growing. I think she later regretted dropping the sport.

I really enjoyed flag football the few times I played, but the regular game is a little too violent for my taste. Do any of you play football, on a team or just for fun?