Marcia G. Yerman

“When I left the Navy,” said Zapf, “people had negative ideas of women in the military.” In steps to re-calibrate those perceptions, Zapf has been speaking around the country at conferences. “I want to make sure that the American public gets a comprehensive view of what women experience.”

If you're considering an IUD, now is the time to get it.

Full Disclosure: Donald Trump is impacting my mental health.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos, looks at one of America’s most contentious debates through the prism of personal stories.

When recounting that Mildred didn’t like that Gayle was flat-chested at 15, we learn how Mom stuffed her daughter’s bathing suit top with foam. It escaped and floated away during a swim lesson. Rather than express regret at the incident, Mildred offers the response, “Your boobs grew, and your nose grew.”

“The online community has been one of my most valuable resources,” Quinones-Fontanez emphasized. “It's made our journey a little less lonely, knowing that I have people in my life who understand. I have built a community that can provide me with advice and hope.”

“Every day is Veteran’s Day,” says a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) team in

The stated mission of the organization is “to increase women's presence in the public debate, emphasizing those who are least often heard, including women of color, low-income women, lesbians, youth and older women.”

Thanks to social media, consumers are able to reach out to brands and directly express their pleasure — or displeasure — with a company’s product. I frequently react to advertisements that annoy my sensibilities via Twitter (I give shout outs, too!), using the hashtag #fem2. This summer’s Schick ad, with three bikini-clad young women standing behind bush-type trees in front of their pubic area, irritated me to no end.

So what does it all mean for women candidates past and future? (I won’t even include Sarah Palin in this discourse because she has become more of a performance artist, as evidenced in her slam poetry endorsement of Trump). I do wonder why Fiorina was able to get away with delivering her points of view in ways that often struck me as spiteful, condescending, or harsh to the ears. I didn’t attribute it to her gender. Rather, I don’t find her terribly sympathetic.