WOMEN'S

HEALTH

THOUSANDS OF LETTERS HIT FEMININE

HYGIENE

over

New York (LNS) The National Advertising Division has been swamped with letters -4,700 -since Dear Abby suggested in her advice column that people send in their complaints about feminine hygiene TV advertising.

Advertising Age reports that this is a record number of complaints on a single subject sent to the ad complaint center of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

Feminine hygiene products have been big time advertising since 1970. Profits hit an estimated $53 million in 1971, and today a reported 24 million women use vaginal deoderants. Most complaints questioned the propriety of TV advertising of the gyna-cosmetic, which the ads call a now solution. to that age-old female problem.

Safety was another issue. When the spray first surfaced, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classified it as a cosmetic and therefore extensive testing for safety was not required. Questions were first raised in November of 1970 when a Montreal gynecologist reported in the Journal of Obsteterics and Gynecology that he had treated about 20 to 25 patients with itching and burning in the vulva area. All had used the sprays daily.

As the irritation reports increased, the FDA began to look into the matter and pinpointed hexachlorophene as the cause. That chemical was eventually eliminated from vaginal sprays, but the sprays are still on the market and still causing irritation.

"Some women spray these deoderants directly inside the vulva or on menstrual pads or tampons instead of the surface of the genital area," writes Carol Horos in her book Vaginal Health.

"Spraying any chemical on the vaginal areas fragile membranes can cause irritation and inflamation of the vulva. Swelling, itching or even allergic skin reactions are typical problems...If a woman uses the spray before sexual intercourse, the chemicals may irritate the male genitals as well."

"If undocumented reports that the propellant in the spray works well on roaches turn out to be true," continued Horos, "women might do better to aim it at the kitchen floor.

Women(Lenox, Mass.)/LNS

DOCTORS TO BE NOTIFIED OF RISK, WOMEN MAYBE

Washington (UPI) The government says doctors and druggists who distribute birth control pills must now be told the pills can cause birth defects and other disorders.

But the government is still deciding whether to give the information to women who use the pill.

Last December, the Food and Drug Administration ordered manufacturers to include the information in "physician labeling" for the pill effec: tive April 6. The labeling is intended for use by doctors and pharmacists, and governs advertising claims drug companies may make.

Since 1970, FDA has required manufacturers to provide doctors with a brochure on the pill for patients who request it.

Under the December proposal, the updated information would be required in this brochure

and it would have to be given to patients, most likely by the druggist. This aspect still is under study, FDA says.

The new labeling says the pill is the "most effective method of contraception" except for sterilization. But it then lists potential hazards and precautions.

Higher risk of heart attack for women over 40, who should be advised to use some other method of contraception.

While there is no confirmed evidence of a cancer-pill link, women should be monitored by

their physicians for abnormal uterine bleeding and breast lumps.

The pill should never be taken by pregnant women because it may damage the fetus.

If women who have used the pill want to become pregnant, they should switch to another contraceptive for three months to be sure estrogen from the pill is out of their system. Otherwise, the FDA said, there is a risk the fetus may be malformed.

There appears to be an association between the pill and benign liver tumors, although that is

rare.

Birth control pill use should be discontinued at least four weeks before any surgery that may involve an increased risk of blood clotting. Pill users are four to six times more likely to suffer post-surgery blood clots.

Women just starting to use the pill should take the type with an estrogen content of 50 micrograms or less and doctors generally should prescribe pills with the lowest estrogen levels.

Jesus was a Feminist

by Victoria Lee

Forget the church and the pope and the misogynists who hide in minister's robes; consider this: The entire Bible points to the coming of Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of our faith". So it would apear, that if you are a Christian, the basic source for your opinions should be Jesus. And Jesus was a feminist.

He treated women as human beings at a time and in a society where holy writings would be burned if a woman touched them, women were forbidden to teach, touch, speak to a man in public, one fourth of her life she was considered ritually unclean.

Jesus, however, told Martha to stop worrying about her housework and told Mary she was doing right by learning new teachings. (Luke 10:38-42) This was 2000 years ago. The church, however, still tends to put women in the kitchen.

In a day when rabbis refused to teach women because they were supposed to be incapable of understanding anything so lofty as God's truth, Jesus openly and publicly taught women.

The first time Jesus admitted he was the Messiah was to a woman, the Samaritan at the well in John 4.

When other men wouldn't count change into a woman's hand, Jesus made a point of publicly announcing that he had healed a woman by touch. (Luke 13:10)

Another woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years and, therefore, has been ritually unclean all that time was healed by Christ's touch. (Mark 5:25)

The woman who broke the jar of rare and costly perfume over Jesus' feet, taking down her hair to wipe them, was looked upon by the others present as a sex object, a spendthrift, a disgusting slut off the street. But Jesus saw the purity and love in her action and instead reprimanded the men pre-

sent for their lack of compassion. (Luke 7:36-50) When Christ was resurrected, he appeared first to a woman, a woman who mistook him for the gardener and said to Him, "Where is His body, I will take it away." Jesus didn't laugh and say, "Stupid broad, you couldn't lift Him," but said her name so she would know it was Him. (John 20:14-18)

Women were the first to be presented with the central fact of the Bible, the Gospel, the good news of the resurrection and the first to be asked to spread the news.

These are just a few examples. many more.

There are

The church often forgets that the whole purpose of the Old Testament was to point to things that didn't work and were not right and which did not get one closer to God--namely the law.

The New Testament shows Jesus fulfilling and simultaneously replacing the law with logic, loving, and self-respecting alternates for human behavior.

Unfortunately, when talking to women, the church tends to quote the Old Testament, parts of the New Testament, always leaving out the balancing statement inevitably included, which reverse the meaning of the verse or else boldly misinterpret verses meant for a certain culture at a certain time. For example, the old marriage vow of "love, honor and obey" for the woman only never came from the Bible, as some people think.

Women who are interested in reconciling Christianity with feminism, please read All We're Meant To Be by Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty. They are the first people to look at the Bible with no preconceived notions and show how it is not anti-

women.

Letha and Nancy are honest, open-minded,educated and intelligent. One is married, one is single; they present a many-sided view. This is not a book directed to a small segment of women or society but to all people. Any person should be interested to know that God does not hate women!

May, 1977/What She Wants/page