Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
@larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
910 followers 750 following 16 posts
Historian of Reproduction, Health, and Parenting in America www.larafreidenfelds.com Current research on history of complicated pregnancies book: The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy: A History of Miscarriage in America Regular contributor @ Nursing Clio
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
If the right *truly* believed Charlie Kirk was a defender of free speech and someone who was fine with dissenting opinions, they wouldn't be engaged in a massive campaign to punish anyone who didn't "mourn him properly."

They clearly know all of that is bullshit. Only the media was conned.
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
nursingclio.bsky.social
We are so excited to have @larafreidenfelds.bsky.social back writing with us! Lara is one of our new writers-in-residence. She will be publishing a series of articles over the next year for NC.
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
discipline and control other women's childbearing. But it sure seems like it would get us better health care and better cultural and economic support for childbearing.
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
romanticizing menstrual seclusion and "moon huts" -- but it did present this thought experiment, of what our culture might look like if female bodies were normal/normative.
I don't think it would solve everything, since women have proven plenty willing to
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
people normally go through menopause, and people need treatments appropriate to that life transition.
I was recently telling a reporter about 1970s cultural feminism, which celebrated (and often essentialized) women's physical and psychological differences from men. Some of it got kind of silly --
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
easy to take for granted. But think about it for a minute: what if women's bodies were normative, and men's were deviations from that norm? We'd say that people menstruate, and people get pregnant and give birth, except for some people who don't have the capacity for those processes. We'd say that
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
if we don't, we can't address any body parts or processes that men don't have.
Medical textbooks have traditionally used male bodies to represent "people" and women's bodies only when they need to talk about female reproductive anatomy. This way of thinking is a core theme of patriarchy, and it is
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
The NIH just cancelled funding for research on how menopause affects the brain and can make it more vulnerable to Alzheimer's. Because Trump's people think it's unfair to study "women's health." Maybe we really do need to be talking about "menstruating people" and "pregnant people," since
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
randalljstephens.bsky.social
"You read books, eh?" A 1949 red scare Herblock cartoon about pressures on teachers that hits hard once again.
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
ryanhamilton.bsky.social
Working out of the Mobile Studio today. Got a new drummer. She’s young, but she’s solid 🥁😉
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
jimmykimmel.com
I’m proud to join the great Cyndi Lauper in the fight for women’s rights & healthcare. Go to www.bonfire.com/girlswantrights2025 to get a shirt and learn more about the #GirlsJustWantToHaveFundamentalRights Fund. @tidescommunity.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
washingtonpost.com
The final honor guard for Pope Francis included migrants, prisoners, transgender people, the homeless and others selected by the Vicariate of Rome as a symbol of the late pope’s mission of inclusion and outreach.

Read more from the funeral: wapo.st/3YdDGqM
“That they should be the ones to welcome Pope Francis’s coffin in the basilica is because these people are those who represented the focus of his mission,” said Father Giulio Albanese, head of missionary cooperation and communications for the Vicariate of Rome. “They are those who live on the peripheries, geographical and existential peripheries.”
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
That's so awesome :). So many things can be exciting when the world's so new to you! Such a cutie.
Reposted by Dr. Lara Freidenfelds
ryanhamilton.bsky.social
New song. Godspeed? Angels In The Ashes? Feeling a little rusty, but wanted to share.🤘🏻💙
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
Thank you so much! Can't wait to read your history of the female body when it's published!
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
"The historian Lara Freidenfelds made a similar argument in her excellent book, The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy... The process of creating new life is fragile, and reversible; it can be heartbreaking to attach so much meaning and hope to something so tenuous." www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Erin Maglaque · Frog-Free: Conception Stories
I can take a home pregnancy test only eight days after ovulation and discover that I have conceived, the wondering...
www.lrb.co.uk
larafreidenfelds.bsky.social
In 2017, in NJ-11, we started "Fridays Without Frelinghuysen" outside his office every week b/c he wouldn't hold a town hall or stand up to Trump. He still didn't show. We canvassed hard for Mikie, and voted him out. We need to do this all over the country right now.