Our Bodies, Ourselves: Reading the Written Female Body (March 11, 2009)

Susan Wells, Ph. D. (Professor of English, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) traced from 1970 to the present (2009), the transformation of the popular womens health publication entitled, Our Bodies, Ourselves, which now also has a website. The editions of this book illustrate movements from ignorance to knowledge; objective to subjective; and the autonomous to communal. Dr. Wells pointed out that women became more active in wanting to understand, accept, and champion their personal health and wellness. Our Bodies, Ourselves began with an emphasis on female genitalia/sexual behavior and the reproductive cycle and then encompassed other areas such as menopause and aging in later editions. JoAnn V. Pinkerton, M.D. (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director, Midlife Health Center, University of Virginia) commented on how the womens health movement has continued to have an impact by encouraging natural birth deliveries, questioning hysterectomies and estrogen replacement, and dispelling menopause myths. Miriam A. Bender, J.D. (CEO, Women's Health Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia) reflected on female reticence in the 1970s and the lack of an Internet. The book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, transmitted important messages and became a powerful tool for women. Bender, challenged, that this book had and has several limitations, the largest one being an education gap for women who are less educated and less self-motivated with their health and health information.

Co-presented with the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series, the Midlife Health Center, UVA Health System; and Women's Health Virginia, Charlottesville VA

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