Our Bodies, Ourselves

Although the content of the book is good, the cover on the book is all torn up. Caution, beware of this seller.

This 1998/1999 edition is lavishly illustrated with drawings and photographs (including an iconic one by Tee A. Corinne of a disabled person making love in a wheel chair). This is the kind of book you can flip thorough and start reading on any page and find something of interest. They even have their own internet site containing information about this book and related books. Truly a wealth of information and a treasure to have found. I just got this book and wished I'd had it in my teens, twenties, thirties, but thankfully now in my 40's I do. Now after reading the reviews for the 2005 edition I am going to get that new. The 2005 edition is the 8th edition and in 35 years has never gone out of print. The subjects in the 2005 edition cover every issue that a woman can encounter - Taking Care of Ourselves Relationships and Sexuality Sexual Health Reproductive Choices Child-Bearing Growing Older Medical Problems and Procedures Knowledge is Power From the publisher's website - 1969 Twelve women meet during a women's liberation conference in Boston. At a workshop on "women and their bodies," they talk about their own experiences with doctors and share their knowledge about their bodies. The discussions at the conference are so provocative and fulfilling that the following summer, each woman researches a health topic close to her heart. They decide to put their knowledge into an accessible form that can be shared with others and that can serve as a model for women who want to learn about themselves, communicate their findings with doctors, and challenge the medical establishment to change and improve the care that women receive. 1970 A 193-page course booklet on stapled newsprint entitled Women and Their Bodies is published by New England Free Press. 1971 The authors change the name of the book to Our Bodies, Ourselves, to emphasize women taking full ownership of our bodies. Republished by New England Free Press, the book puts women's health in a radically new political and social context and quickly becomes an underground success. It sells 250,000 copies, mainly by word-of-mouth. 1973 Simon & Schuster publishes the first commercial edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves. 1976 A revised and updated version of Our Bodies, Ourselves is published. A national bestseller, it is recognized by the American Library Association's Young Adult Service Division as one of the best books of the decade. 1979 An update of Our Bodies, Ourselves is published and becomes a bestseller. 1984 A revised version of the original classic, The New Our Bodies, Ourselves, is published. 1992 The New Our Bodies, Ourselves: Updated and Expanded for the 90s is published. 1998 Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century is published.

This book is a necessary guide for all females, regardless of age and culture. It explains fully and concisely every question that I or any or my friends have ever asked or wondered about silently; even if you think you know it all, chances are you can still learn something. (And, it might not hurt for some men to read this, also!)

When a friend bought me my first copy, I scoffed...until I desperately needed info one morning at 4 a.m.! This new edition is truly the most valuable, informative and comforting resource a woman can own. Like a 24-hr health helpline, it gives you complete, easy-to-understand info on even the smallest question you have about your body - often including "trade secrets" that many women have known and used for successfully years, but that doctors forego in lieu of relying solely on prescription meds. Written by women, OBOS not only tells you "what's normal" for most women's bodies, but also provides a quick guide to warning signs, technical terms, healthcare options - anything and everything you want to know when your body is at stake. Common cures; Herbal supplements; Preventative Care; Prescription drugs (and side effects); Support Groups; Diagrams; Photographs; Web sites ... it's all in here. And it's all about YOU.

A good summary of health care for women. The text includes descriptions of conditions which women should be aware of (e.g., breast cancer, depression) as well as treatment options. In addition the text includes sections on women's mental health and on environmental sources of health problems (job, stress, cleaning solutions). One very nice feature of _The New Our Bodies, Ourselves_ is that each chapter ends with a listing of resources. If, in reading a chapter, you find something on which you would like more information, several sources will be listed at the end of the chapter. I have used this text in my "Psychology of Gender" course and the female students have all reacted _very_ positively to the book. This is high praise considering the students are quite conservative in their thinking