the digital giraffe

All About Women
Our Woman of the Month Award for August, 2026, goes to E. Jean Carrroll, THE Jean Carroll, for her extraordinary courage in facing insurmountable odds. 5 million USD seems trvial in the face of the bully billions awash today but she did finally get paid.

A new study suggests that further attention needs to be paid to the mental health of high-risk pregnant women with placenta accreta spectrum. These patients face morbidity and mortality as well postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder. The study found increased fear and isolation during the antepartum period, and grief, anxiety, and trauma in the post partum period. Patients expressed a need for cooperation between obgyn and psychiatric professionals. Update: the study has just been favoably peer-reviewed. Note: the lead author of this important study, Dr. Natalie Feldman, is my granddaughter.

A European fertility group is calling for an international cap on sperm donations. The group's concerns center on the prevalence of donor-conceived individuals who are finding they have hundreds of siblings. Children should know their biological relatives: one woman who discovered she had at least 25 half-siblings said, "It does make you feel a bit mass-produced."

At a music festival called Menopunkapalooza, women's health during midlife commanded center stage. About 750 festivalgoers protested the taboos still prevalent about women's sexual health during menopause and perimenopause and the help offered by HRT (hormone replacement therapy). A 10-point hormonal justice Bill of Rights was read aloud as participants discussed the failures of government and the medical community to inform and treat menopause.

Mercury 13 was composed of women who could have been NASA's first female astronauts but were rejected because of their gender. The testing was vigorous: physical exams including x-rays, electrocardiagrams, electroencephalograms, a gynecological exam, pulmonary and neurological tests, oxygen capacity and more. 3 of the women successfully passed the second stage of testing and 1, Jerrie Cobb, passed all phases. It was later determined that NASA had no intention of even considering women as astronaut candidates.

Dr. Sally Greenwald has achieved some renown in Silicon Valley with her motto "Sexual health is health". Her target audience is women in their late 30's to mid-50's who were taught "fake it till you make it" and now support "make it better and better". These women are not satisfied with good health: rather they are obssessed with "optimization and innovation", nicknamed healthmaxxing. Dr. Greenwald's particular focus is health and well-being through orgasms. Working on the Stanford University campus, she rejects the bro science that often excludes women.

TED Women suggests that "In uncertain times, think like a mother". This idea is meant to counter the impulse to feel overwhelmed when crises occur. It can apply not only to mothers but to those, female or male, who could benefit from stepping back and considering what could be. (They might also read our new book, "The Maybe Tree").

The Council on Criminal Justice has found that keeping women in prison can be 75% more costly than incarcerating men. Noted also is the 600% increase in the number of women emprisoned in the U.S. since 1980. Cutting women's time behind bars has had no impact on crime rates in the communities that have tried it and has saved substantial amounts of money.

Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Defense Secretary, has announced that the military will start testing and treating testosterone levels in servicemen during their annual fitness exams. The implications, and motivations, behind this policy should be of deep concern to us all, male and female. Health, attitudes, biases, and outcomes lie deep within such a troublimg demand.

Be sure to email giraffe@giraffe.com with your suggestions, be they articles, videos, images, cartoons, music, or comments, so that we can share our celebrations and our concerns with each other.

Last updated August 1, 2026 - 32 years of monthly Web publication

Corinne Whitaker - Artist, Editor, Author, Poet, Sculptor, Publisher, Composer, Betaphysician, Chief of the Newanderthal Tribe

Best of Foster City 2016
Best of Palo Alto 2013

Golden Web Award, 2001 and 2000

Artist of the Month, Artisan Bazaar, 2000

Best in Cyberart Award, 1999

winner of BATech's "Catch of the Day"

winner of Fractal Design's "Artist of the Month"and "Image of the Day"

Featured Master Artist, Shadowart Galleries, 1997 and 1998

Guest Artist of the Month, Hampton Click Salon Online
Exhibit below from Virtual Gallery online