A former Shameless teen-collective member tipped me off to this article about a new niche-market women’s spa opening in New York. Here’s the gimmick: it’s a spa for your vagina.

As Radar explains:

Is your vagina lazy and out of shape? You’re in luck: The Times today reports that New York City’s first spa “wholly dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman’s genital area” is slated to open this month!

It’s called “Phit,” which is a made-up, medical-sounding acronym that means “pelvic health integrated techniques.” The spa’s flagship service is its $150 for a gynecological exam, in which a client contracts her pelvic muscles around a doctor’s fingers in order to determine “whether the muscle tone is weak, moderate, or strong,” but for additional fees you can also get your cooter hooked up to an electrostimulation machine, train with a private Kegels exercise coach, or even undergo “nonsurgical labial conturing” to “restore labial and vulvar contour to a plump firmness.”

(The original New York Times article is here.)

Now, in a world where many are still raised to believe you shouldn’t touch, talk about or (heaven forbid) be fond of your body below the belt, it’s cool to think about women proudly and comfortably approaching vaginal health the way they might approach sit-ups. Too bad it’s in a venue that sells labiaplasty*, vulvar recontouring, vaginal tightening and a dozen other creepy crotch makeovers. (I don’t even want to know what “The ‘Other’ Face Lift” means.) Sounds like this “uniquely feminine Medspa destination” has found just another way to make us feel bad about our bodies and then sell us a cure.

* Speaking of labiaplasty, if you haven’t already read it, check out Zoe Cormier’s insightful article Making The Cut, which ran in the Fall 2005 issue of Shameless.

Good Morning Shameless readers! Thanks to our reader Nikita for alerting us all to the fact that Morgentaler has been among those named to Order of Canada. Good morning indeed!

Now 85, Morgentaler, a Polish Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Montreal after the war, opened his first abortion clinic in 1969 and performed thousands of procedures, which were illegal at the time.

Morgentaler, a trained family physician, argued that access to abortion was a basic human right and women should not have to risk death at the hands of an untrained professional in order to end their pregnancies.

Morgentaler’s clinics were constantly raided, and one in Toronto was firebombed. Morgentaler was arrested several times and spent months in jail as he fought his case at all court levels in Canada.

His victory came on Jan. 28, 1988, when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s abortion law. That law, which required a woman who wanted an abortion to appeal to a three-doctor hospital abortion committee, was declared unconstitutional.

This is a huge victory, one that Shameless has believed in for a long time, and such a wonderful piece of Canada Day good news.

Feminist and author Judy Rebick told the Globe and Mail on Monday that it is about time Morgentaler is honoured for his long battle.

“Dr. Morgentaler is a hero to millions of women in the country,” she said. “He risked his life to struggle for women’s rights … He’s a huge figure in Canadian history and the fact that he hasn’t got [the Order of Canada] until now is a scandal.”

Agreed. Now go read this Feministing community blog piece, “Juno Lied,” written by a teenage girl in the US about trying to find out how to get an abortion for her best friend. It really does emphasize how important it is to honour people like Morgentaler in this country.

Photos by SMN.

Joanne Byfield, president of Life Canada, said many people will be offended and appalled if Dr. Morgentaler is honoured.

From: Outrage brews as Ottawa set to honour Morgentaler

Well jeez, many people will also be offended and appalled if they have to deal with abortions performed by shady types at midnight at the local laundromat. So I guess we’re at a bit of a stalemate here eh?

This is a sad story to read on Canada Day.

Comments are closed on the G & M article (oh I wonder why?). So register your feelings here or send a letter to the G & M editors. I am especially troubled that the piece ended with a quote from a pro-life group, and nothing from someone who supports the award. Judy Rebick is great, but she’s buried in the middle of the article.

I have a lot of stress. I have a day job, a secret identity as the editor of this very fine magazine, a whack of hobbies (some of which, like making wedding cakes, are a lot of work), a ton of great friends, a fantastic relationship, and at the end of the day, I still have to find time to cook, do laundry, and, once in a while, sleep. I’ve always been a “workaholic”, and so have many amazing, super-accomplished women I know. Leisure time, what’s that?

Of course, society has taught us all to believe that stress is harming us: it makes us more likely to get sick, and less likely to get a good night’s sleep, conceive a child and all kinds of good, healthy things. Which is why I enjoyed Peggy Orenstein’s column in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine. It makes the case that some of what we believe about stress is anti-feminist crap.

(more inside…)

Oh, Sarah Haskins. I crush on you.

Canadians for Choice Toronto crew at the International Women’s Day rally

Yep, it’ll be a full six months that we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of abortion legalization in Canada tomorrow, June 28th!

20 years and 6 months ago, Dr. Henry Morgentaler won the Supreme Court of Canada case striking down the abortion law that criminalized women who exercised their inherent reproductive rights.

And since it’s Pride weekend in Toronto, what better way to go out and PARTAY for our bodies to be with whomever we want, than to honour and remember the hard-fought battle that now legally guarantees women the right to choose what we want to DO with our bodies in Canada! (Actually accessing abortion services and quality of care though is a whole other story, you need look no further than at the 2006 REALITY CHECK report we did at Canadians for Choice to see that.)

We are one of the few nations in the world with no legal restrictions on abortion, and we should be damn proud that choice is an important matter generations young and old are continuing to fight for. It’s estimated that approximately 80,000 women die every year around the world due to complications from botched illegal abortions.

It’s been one helluva year defending choice in this country that I’ll actually detail when my latest Rabble article comes out soon, but for now I’m going to march with Pride this weekend that I live in Canada, and that I’m pro-choice.

(We’d love to have you join us at Canadians for Choice marching at the Dyke march, click here for the Facebook listing!)

Some Shameless self-promotion, I’ll be doing an interview on CIUT Radio 89.5 FM in Toronto this Thursday, June 26th in regards to the 20th anniversary of abortion legalization this year and what this means for young activists involved in the pro-choice movement now.

I’m on at 9:40 a.m. You can listen live here.

Wish me luck!

Quick link: A Time story on access to birth control, babies for unconditional love, “fierce” Catholicism, economic depression, and over a dozen (no older than) 16 year-old girls who made a pact to get pregnant at the same time: Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High

Women on Waves, the amazing Dutch abortion activism group, has hit a snag, but isn’t letting that stop them. We wrote about WOW in the last issue: the group captains a ship called Harmony, which drops anchor in international waters off the coast of countries where abortion is illegal, and gives women access to safe, medical abortion. In doing so, they have been successful at getting reproductive rights back on the public agenda (and Portugal, where Harmony was met by warships four years ago, finally legalized abortion last year).

After dealing with bureaucratic mess where the ship lost its Dutch license, Harmony was back on the water, headed this time to Ecuador, where the World Health Organization estimates that 95,000 illegal and dangerous abortions take place every year. Unsafe abortion leads to 30,000 hospitalizations and is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Ecuador.

Unfortunately, the ship ran aground in a tropical storm. But they’re not letting that stop them. (more inside…)