history

🎉 TODAY IN 1960: BIRTH CONTROL APPROVED–A BRIEF HISTORY🎉

/ Victoria / Leave a comment

On May 9, 1960, the FDA approved the birth control pill. Happy birthday, birth control! 🎂 Here’s a brief history of The Pill and how it came to be.

From 1914 to 1921, Margaret Sanger, amazing pioneer of women’s health, coined the term “birth control,” and opened a women’s health clinic in Brooklyn. Sanger is famously known for starting the American Birth Control League, which is a precursor to Planned Parenthood.

In 1951, Sanger met and teamed up with endocrinologist Gregory Pincus, persuading him to start work on a birth control pill. Just a year later, Pincus tested progesterone in rats, finding the hormone to work adequately at preventing pregnancy. In 1953, activist Katherine McCormack wrote a check for $40,000 for Pincus to continue his research. Drug trials began in 1954–and they worked. 🙌👏😏

In 1956, larger scale studies were conducted in Puerto Rico, where there was a high effectiveness rate despite a large number of side effects. In 1957, the FDA approved the pill but only for serious menstrual disorders, not as contraception.

(An abnormally large amount of women reported serious menstrual disorders that yearÂ đŸ€”đŸ€”đŸ€”)

And then, on May 9th, 1960, the FDA approved the pill for contraceptive use.

After two years of being approved as a contraceptive, 1.2 million women in America were using birth control pills. Five years after approval, 6.5 million women were on the Pill. That’s certainly something worthy of celebration!

Now in 2017, there’s more than just the Pill on the market. Vinas have more choices than ever before; from pills, to patches and injections, to implants and IUDs. Planned Parenthood, which rose out of Sanger’s American Birth Control League, is still providing low-cost, accessible birth control to all those who need it.

Happy birthday, birth control! Here’s to many more years of being awesome! 🎊

Tag a vina below and celebrate birth control’s birthday! Need some more vinas in your life? Join the community on Hey! Vina. 

WOMEN FROM HISTORY WE’D SWIPE RIGHT ON (PART 2!)

/ Lindsey / 1 Comment

Now more than ever, we need to look to our historical sisters for comfort and encouragement. Below are some of my favorite vinas from history (my dream BFF list, if you will). If any of these ladies faces could appear on my matches I would swipe right on them- twice for good measure! Don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this series here.

FOR VINAS WHO NEED A SYMPATHETIC EAR: SYLVIA PLATH

Sylvia, or Syl as she used to sign herself in her letters, is that emotional friend every vina needs. This author from the 1960s penned classics like “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” along with the must read novel “The Bell Jar.”

She struggled with a public and messy marriage, but she was always in touch with what she thought and felt. On those rough weeks when you just need a pal to commiserate with over a drink, or you need a friend to put things in perspective, Sylvia would be the vina of choice. For those of us that are work at home moms, she would also be a must need connection –  we could maybe swap child care for a day, get some advice on some writing, or borrow a good book from her. I’d swipe right on my girl Sylvia any day of the week.

FOR VINAS WHO KNOW HOW TO RULE THE ROOST: ABIGAIL ADAMS

If you want to talk about an ambitious, intelligent, and unmatched behind these scenes operator, then Abigail Adams is your woman. In so many cases, she literally brought home the bacon (running the family farm, of course) and fried it up to feed the family’s five children.

And then, you know, in her free time, she advised her husband, second President John Adams, in some of the most amazing letters in history on all things political. Pick up a copy of her letters to her husband and you’ll be in awe, seriously. During the Continental Congress John Adams would ask her advice on everything from political bargaining to the plight of soldiers on the home front. She ran in the most influential circles overseas, and was such an active First Lady that she was often called Mrs. President.

You need a vina to help you get your life together, advise you on that promotion, or give you pointers on your next speech before the town council? You need to swipe right on Abigail.

FOR VINAS WHO WANT TO GET OUT AND EXPLORE: SACAJAWEA

This vital and impressive member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Sacajawe, a is a woman like few others. Having been captured, traded, and enslaved she became a valued and crucial member of the expedition that traveled across the American West.

I’m stoked when all my laundry gets put away while my toddler naps – she traveled the county on foot. With her knowledge and experience in the wilderness, along with a keen sense for trade and diplomacy, she helped keep the expedition alive and on track. And she did all of this with a newborn on her back. Yeah.

Her accomplishments were so impressive that she was taken on as a symbol for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, had her portrait put on coins, and probably has more statues in her honor than any other American woman.

FOR VINAS WHO WANT TO GRAB SOMETHING TO EAT: JULIA CHILD

Julia was a woman who knew how to cook, eat, and love. On an afternoon out with her you might find yourself in the kitchen, eating the best tasting cheese in town, or wrapped up in her L’Ă©cole des trois gourmandes with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.

These three did what few others had done: make French cooking accessible to American women. Then Julia pioneered cooking on TV, something so many of us and our vinas are addicted to right now. Oh, and she traveled the world working for the government (her kitchen is on display at the Smithsonian!). Basically, Julia is a B.A. and I would drop everything to hang out with her if she swiped right on me in return.

Now get swiping! Who knows, maybe you’ll connect with the next Sylvia Plath…

(Feature image via @alpha.whiskey_)

WHICH VINAS FROM HISTORY WOULD WE SWIPE RIGHT FOR?

/ Heidi Sigua / 2 Comments

Class is in session! While we have some A+ vinas in app, there are a few women from history that we would swipe right for – if time travel was possible. These are the pioneering women who were leaders in some of history’s most important movements, but also embody traits that we’re looking for in a new friend. Let’s be honest: Jane Austen for high-noon tea at historic downtown Palace Hotel would be ideal.

FOR FEARLESS VINAS: ELIZABETH I

No, we’re not talking about the current matriarch of the Royal Family, but we do love her and her corgis. We’re talking about OG Elizabeth the First, who embodied what it means to shine through imposter syndrome. Considered to be the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII, she succeeded to the throne at the age of 25 – during a time when her country was tearing itself apart in religious strife. In spite of subtle and not-so-subtle doubts on the legitimacy of her rule – not only as a royal, but as a Protestant and an unmarried woman, she ushered in a glorious age of arts and exploration for England. YOU GO, GLEN COCO.

FOR VINAS SEEKING WISDOM: JANE AUSTEN

Jane Austen, not to be confused with her spunky fictional character Elizabeth Bennet, is every bookbabe’s spiritual icon. Every writer’s hope is to live by her pen, and Jane did just that, a feat uncommon for her female contemporaries. Unlike some of her literary peers, she strayed away from the Gothic novel and focused on social realism and a comedic spotlight on courtship and socioeconomic and societal pressures. If you’re looking for a vina who will guide you through introspection, Jane would be the perfect friend to help you define your own personal version of womanhood.

FOR VINAS WHO WANT TO BE INSPIRED: SOJOURNER TRUTH

Abolitionist, women’s rights advocate and former slave, Sojourner Truth was a voice for movements for civil rights and women’s equality in the 19th Century. Her most stirring speech was at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, which came to be known as “Ain’t I A Woman?” For the intersectional feminist vinas out there, Sojourner Truth was passionate about seeing a world that opened up to both civil and women’s rights, understanding that both movements could not be successful without the other. For vinas who want a positive influence in your life, Sojourner would have given you a reason to believe in change.

FOR VINAS WHO BELIEVE IN SELF-EXPRESSION: FRIDA KAHLO

FridaKahlo1.jpg

Via Bust

As the ultimate Queen of cool and contemporary artist, Frida Kahlo, her life, and art are intertwined. She expressed her long history of physical suffering and fluid identity through her art work, her creative space, and personal style, adopting her iconic skirts to hide a leg impairment due to childhood polio. In spite a life colored by lows, Frida managed to turn her life inside out and expressed it vividly through her art as a form of healing and coping. If you are seeking a fellow creative whose self expression is a core part of connecting with the world, look no further than Frida.
(Featured image via fuckyouverymuch.stfi.re)