An haute couture Fall 2012 ballet-look in footwear.
The photo: With pleated toes, drawstring bows and straps suggesting ribbons a pointe-shoe inspired look by Dior for the well-heeled set. Chanel tried something similar years ago and it didn’t catch on, but this style looks like it might be more comfortable to wear if fitted correctly. In the Chanel design the vamp throat was a problem for many wearers. Regardless of how expensive or fashion forward this style is wearing actual pointe-shoes in a formal social setting and staying on ones toes while wearing them is far more fashion forward. Of course the problem is that few women have the physical ability and fewer still the audacity and talent to pull it off flawlessly as I can.
Student slit-kits and contraception: Part of the orientation for students who have reached menarche and are new to St Lucy’s is to give them each a kit fully stocked with the sort of contraceptive supplies she will need for the semester. Returning readers will remember the students call them slit-kits. Exactly how the kit is stocked can vary depending on the student’s primary method of birth control and it also includes a selection of different size male condoms and the FC2 female condom to protect against STIs, spermicide/biocide (DiveGel+) which also provides vaginal pH balance to minimize the likelihood of yeast infections in women who wear tight fitting nylon or rubber catsuits. There is also a place to put the student’s individually fitted diaphragm or cervical cap (needed for flood insurance during dive-sex classes) and room for a small number of miscellaneous items. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts the cervical barriers have RFID chips in them that give the students name and basic medical information about her so the teachers can easily check that every student who is attending a course requiring a cervical barrier has it inserted before being allowed to participate in the class.
In the brochure given to parents of prospective students 16 y/o and older the need for contraception is stressed and the fitting of a cervical barrier, specifically a latex flat spring diaphragm or FemCap is required if the student will be participating in the SCUBA recreational package being offered. Even 14 y/o boarding students at St Lucy’s enrolled in my Contemporary Sexual Health class learn the importance of cervical barriers for upper reproductive tract protection and are fitted with diaphragms to use for menstrual flow control. That way when they are old enough to have penetrative sex they will be familiar with how to insert, remove and care for it when they need it for contraceptive protection.
The need for contraception and the benefit of an enrolling student being already sexually active (but free of STIs) is addressed in the brochure and well known to most mothers sending their daughters to St Lucy’s. Even so it still surprises some parents. Why that should be when the liberal views of the school and the Progressive nature of the courses taught are well known by families wanting to enroll their daughters, is a mystery to me. Immediately upon arrival every student is given a thorough pelvic exam and all students are given a pelvic at the first of each semester and more frequently if needed to make certain we know the reproductive health status of every student. New students are asked to bring prescriptions from their family GP or Gyn for any medications they are taking.
We recommend students have an IUD (preferably a stringless GyneFix copper IUD) inserted at menarche if possible. If an IUD can’t be placed then the single rod implant Nexplanon should be implanted. This year only two incoming students needed Nexplanon and they are still adjusting to the hormone, etonogestrel, the same one used in NuvaRing. Nexplanon, the newer version of Implanon, is radio opaque so if the rod migrates (which is rare) it can be located by x-ray.
