Sacrificing Our Selves For Love: Why Women Sacrifice Health and Self-Esteem and How To Stop

Authors: Jane Wegscheider Hyman and Esther Rome, in cooperation with The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective

Publisher: Crossing Press

Publication Date: 1996

Status: Out of print. Some used and new copies can be found online.

Excerpts

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Accepting Ourselves
• The Costs of Physical Love

About

Many women and girls risk health and well-being in order to please others. In an unflinching look at this pervasive problem, “Sacrificing Our Selves for Love” explains society’s role in promoting this sacrifice and provides exercises to counter societal pressure.

Translations and Adaptations

In 2001, Shokado Women’s Bookstore in Japan, which had previously published a Japanese adaptation of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” adapted “Sacrificing Ourselves for Love” into Japanese. The book addresses issues around body image and identity, including dieting, eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, violence and rape — all of which are also serious problems in Japan. To learn more about the project, read the preface, which has been translated into English.

The book has also been adapted into Romanian by Moldova’s Center “Partnership for Development,”  but unfortunately we do not have access to the book.