LSU Women's Center @lsuwc - Tumblr Blog

Margaret Hamilton, lead software designer for the Apollo space mission flight software (the code for which can be seen in the picture on the right) was recently awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hamilton was the first person to coin the term “software engineer,” and was a luminary in the field.

During the same ceremony, President Obama also awarded a medal to the late Grace Hopper, Navy software genius who invented the compiler. Hopper died in 1992.

For more info: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-medal-of-freedom-margaret-hamilton-grace-hopper/

rejectedprincesses

She turned her Mrs. Universe crown into a megaphone, championing First Nations issues and challenging Justin Trudeau to keep his campaign promises. But that’s just the start.

“Did you really think I was going to just sit there and look pretty? Definitely not. I have a title, a platform and a voice to make change and bring awareness to First Nations issues here in Canada.”

(thanks to Jessica for sending this in!)

rejectedprincesses

She is not a book-inspired environmentalist. She did not go to school or get any formal education. She worked as a labourer and like most voiceless Indian women, took life head-on for survival. Thimmakka was born in the Hulikal village in the Magadi taluk of Bangalore Rural district. After doing back-breaking work from dawn to

Once she found out that she was unable to bear children, “Saalumarada” Thimmakka turned to planting trees and looking after them as her children. She’s planted close to 300 of them.

From the article:

Although she has received scores of awards, according to Aljazeera, she wonders why people give her certificates but no money. Living a poverty ridden life, she even suspects that some people may be using her to get funds, but do not share them with her. “I have been wanting to start a hospital, but no one seems interested. But I will keep trying,” she adds.

npr

On the mission, she's projected to once again become the U.S. astronaut with the most time spent in orbit.

positivitystatements

whatmountains

TRANS WOMEN: HERE'S SOME SHIT YOUR DOCTOR WONT TELL YOU ABOUT HRT

1. Progesterone: not for everyone, but for many people it may increase sex drive and WILL make your boobs bigger. Also effects mood in ways that many find positive (but some find negative). Most doctors won’t prescribe this to you unless you ask. Most trans girls I know swear by it.

2. Injectible estrogen: is more effective than pill or patch form. Get on it if you can bear needles bc you will see more effects more quickly.

3. Estradiol Cypionate: There is currently a shortage of injectible estradiol valerate. There is no shortage of estradiol cypionate. Functionally they do the same shit.

4. Bicalutamide: This is an anti-androgen that has almost none of the side-effects of spironolactone or finasteride. The girls I know who are on it are evangelical about it.

naidje-deactivated

@euryale-dreams

joyeuse-noelle

Are there HRT medications that don’t increase blood clot risk? I’m already at risk because of my blood pressure, and my doctor won’t prescribe HRT that increases clot risk while I’m on the medication - and I may never not be on the medication.

euryale-dreams-deactivated20201

Absolutely.

The concerns surrounding venous thromboembolic events as a side-effect of hormone replacement therapy can mostly be traced back to one particular study known as the Women’s Health Initiative. This study was an enormous undertaking which, unfortunately, demonstrated significant adverse effects of the hormone therapies studied. As a result of this the use of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal cis women was dramatically reduced as the medical community began to question whether or not the therapy caused more harm than good.

Naturally, trans women have been suffering from this fall-out ever since.

What physicians seem to fail to recognize is that the study examined a very specific hormone regimen which was, arguably, outmoded at the time the study was conducted: It examined the use of conjugated equine estrogen (Premarin) with or without the use of medroxyprogesterone acetate. Neither of these drugs is regularly used for the treatment of transgender women.

The estrogen most commonly used to treat transgender women nowadays is 17β-estradiol either in pill form or in the form of a sticky patch that you apply to your skin. Esters of estrogen (e.g. estradiol valerate) are also sometimes used either in a pill form or as an intramuscular injection.

Transdermal estradiol patches are the gold standard when it comes to treating women who are at high risk of a venous thromboembolic event. It simply does not increase the risk of developing a venous thromboembolism. The only thing you should keep in mind is that patches are not always well tolerated because of the lifestyle changes required to keep them from falling off and the fact that they tend to irritate the skin.

Fortunately, oral 17β-estradiol appears to be safe, regardless of the increased risk. At least one large study has shown that the use of oral estradiol in trans women is not associated with venous thromboembolic events. An individual woman’s risk would need to be substantial in order to contraindicate the use of oral estradiol.

For those who have significant risk of venous thromboembolism because they have had a previous thromboembolic event, because they are paralyzed, or because of some other factor it is good to know the relative risk between oral and transdermal estrogen. The latest research indicates that the use of transdermal estrogen lowers your risk of a thromboembolism to 80% of what your risk would be using oral estrogens.

It’s difficult to find hard numbers regarding the relative risk of venous thromboembolic events with regards to hypertension. The best I could find after an hour or so of searching was this study regarding VTE in lung cancer patients. Hypertension increased the risk by a factor of 1.8.

However, to put that into perspective being of African descent increases your relative risk for deep vein thrombosis by a factor of 1.3 when compared to Europeans. Europeans are, themselves, at increased risk when compared to Asians and Pacific Islanders by a considerable margin: a four-fold increase.

I should point out that being ‘male’ is also a risk factor for developing a thromboembolism and hormones are likely to be a contributing factor. Also, menopause is another serious risk factor. Given this information it is likely that the use of transdermal estradiol will lower your risk of thromboembolic events significantly.

As far as the anti-androgen is concerned: The primary use for spironolactone for cisgender people is as an antihypertensive.

Even if the risk of thromboembolism was truly significant with modern hormone replacement therapy it wouldn’t justify what your doctor is doing to you. The fact is that mortality in the transgender community from suicide–caused in part due to the lack of access to hormone therapy–is substantial. The quality of life lost when a trans woman is denied hormone therapy is substantial. The fact that your doctor does not appear to be taking this into consideration when they weigh the risk of thromboembolism against not receiving necessary medical care is deeply concerning.

I strongly recommend that you seek a doctor who is more sensitive to your medical needs as a transgender woman.

Edit: Fixed a minor, but embarrassing, error.

whatmountains

oh wow this is so helpful & good info

blackthorn-and-iron-deactivated

Everyone who cares about transfem people please reblog this

thetolerantleft-deactivated2017

this was really fucking helpful

rejectedprincesses

Married at 14, Selvi escaped from an abusive marriage and went on to become South India’s first female taxi driver.

Selvi is now advocating for other girls in similar situations, to the extent where she threatened to call the cops on her brother if he tried to marry off his young daughter.

(content warning: abuse, rape)

theslaybymic

Watch: F*CK DV. Here’s what you can do to fight domestic violence in your own community.

follow @this-is-life-actually

evanspetres-deactivated20201015

humansofnewyork

“I covered a lot of Trump rallies as a journalist. I didn’t feel any hatred. People were more curious than anything. I was never assaulted. I felt like most people were just supporting him because he wasn’t part of the establishment. Or because they were tired of politics. But it was confusing. Because even though I didn’t feel like they hated me, these people were supporting someone who said I should be banned from the country. Even the father of one of my best friends supports Trump. This man had me over to his house. I went to Thanksgiving with him. My friend asked him: ‘Dad, how can you support that man? Our friend Zahra is a Muslim.’ He told her: ‘Don’t worry. He won’t do everything that he says.’ Today has been difficult. These last few weeks, it was mostly speculation. There was suspicion that most Americans supported him but I could hope that it was wrong. But now that hope is gone. And I have to feel differently. I have to feel like maybe most Americans don’t want me here. And I feel like no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be part of the community. And even if they’re friendly to me, or if they invite me to Thanksgiving, deep down they believe that America is a country that belongs to white people.”

huffpost

Words to live by.

refinery29

Watch: Amber Rose just had the most revealing take on what’s really going on when men like Donald Trump harass women

Amber Rose doesn’t have any patience for Donald Trump and his “locker room talk.” That’s because she knows firsthand just how real the offensive sexual actions he described in a leaked 2005 tape from Access Hollywood actually are. She also emotionally reveals that Donald Trump’s type of behavior is why she started working with Slut Walk.

Gifs: Yahoo

WATCH THE VIDEO

mattymybaby

I love this. As someone who has experienced sexual assault, it’s hard enough to talk about it when it was a “normal” person who did it, I can’t imagine trying to “tell on” someone who is wealthy and well known.

hustleinatrap

whomst

What’s her name

fakegamerboii

Her name is Theresa Kachindamoto and here’s the article x

coolchicksfromhistory

If you want to say “Hey” to a suffragette tonight

Bronx, NY: Woodlawn Cemetery: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, Mary Garrett Hay, and Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. They ask you put your stickers on the posters, not the graves. Posters will stay up through Sunday.

Rochester, NY: Mount Hope Cemetery: Susan B. Anthony. Open until 9pm.

Fayetteville, NY: Fayetteville Cemetery: Matilda Gage

Cinnaminson, NJ: Westfield Friends Burial Ground: Alice Paul

Philadelphia, PA: Fairhill Burial Ground: Lucretia Mott

Chicago, IL: Oakwoods Cemetery: Ida B. Wells

Battle Creek, MI: Oak Hills Cemetery Crematorium: Sojourner Truth

Buffalo, NY: Forest Lawn Cemetery: Shirley Chisholm. (Not a suffragette, but worth visiting today for her historic run for the presidency)

Washington, DC: Congressional Cemetery: Belva Lockwood

Brooklyn, NY: Holy Cross Cemetery: Lucy Burns

Lewis, NY: Lewis Cemetery: Inez Milholland

Boston, MA: Forest Hill Cemetery: Lucy Stone

Council Bluffs, IA: Fairview Cemetery: Amelia Bloomer