Our Bodies, Ourselves (40th Anniversary Edition)

Description

This 2011 edition — the most recent one — focuses on women’s reproductive health and sexuality. It includes dozens of personal stories and essential, up-to-date information about gender identity, sexual orientation, birth control, abortion, pregnancy and birth, perimenopause, menopause, health issues such as breast and ovarian cancers, and sexuality and sexual health as we age. 

The book also features stories from OBOS’s Global Network partners who engage in public health outreach and advocacy, often at great risk, using materials they developed based on Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Hundreds of writers and reviewers collaborated to ensure the book’s accuracy and comprehensiveness, resulting in an essential text that provides evidence-based information and addresses the political, economic and social forces that shape women’s health.

 

This updated edition contains vital new information on such issues as the HPV vaccine, changes in the healthcare system, cosmetic surgery, violence against women, healthcare activism in the 21st century, and much more. It will tie in closely to the group's Web site, one of the leading online women's health resources.

Reviews

If only every little girl were born with a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves in her hands, we would raise a society filled with healthy, confident women. And if women could have only one book on their shelves, let it be this classic tome filled to the brim with practical and empowering information. -- Toni Weschler, M.P.H., author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility

OBOS is the most important resource on women's health ever written by and for women. It teaches every woman how to take charge of her own body and helps us all become well-informed health care consumers.-- Loretta Ross, founder and the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective

The new edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves offers a relatable voice to help make the very confusing reality of health and sexuality as a girl easier to navigate. In a word that doesn't always offer girls such honesty, the new edition of OBOS makes me optimistic about the awareness and attitude of this generation of women and girls. My brain was fist pumping the whole way through. -- Tavi Gevinson, thestylerookie.com and editor-in-chief of Rookie Magazine

 

Author description

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective (now known as Our Bodies Ourselves) is a non-profit organization founded in 1969 whose board members include Teresa Heinz Kerry, Susan Love, and Gloria Steinem. Their mission is to empower women by providing information about health, sexuality, and reproduction. Our Bodies, Ourselves is the organization's core vehicle for driving their mission. While OBOS is famous for its voice in policy, advocacy, and educational efforts related to women's health, they see their role as a global content provider as paramount. Judy Norsigian is the Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves.