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Stories and Conversations

Pregnant woman
You see it on TV, the women have a baby and they’re wearing this frilly little nightgown and their hair looks beautiful and they’re breastfeeding their baby, but it just doesn’t look like that… you are drenched, and your hair is a mess, and it's like so physically intense
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I think we often neglect the mental health of women of color, and I’ve experienced that firsthand with how I was treated in regards to my mental health and my issues.
My Story: Finding the Right Contraception
I’ve been calling it reverse puberty [perimenopause]...your hormones go crazy…it just feels very out of control...I don’t understand what’s happening with my body, and I don’t understand how to make myself feel better.
I began to see myself for who I truly was: a beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, and valuable individual who just happened to contract an infection.

Women and gender-expansive people are experts on our own lives. While we learn from professionals and experts, we also learn from what we live through. We invite you to explore these powerful, diverse personal testimonies. 

Learn more about why Our Bodies Ourselves includes personal stories.

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Our Bodies Ourselves integrates the voices and perspectives of women and gender-expansive people from all walks of life.

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Jennifer’s Uterine Fibroids Journey: Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE)
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At age 45, Jennifer found herself at a turning point in dealing with her uterine fibroids. In this story, she discusses her process for seeking treatment.

Sharing Their Stories: The Challenges of Preparing for Retirement
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Jackie, Christine, and Tineaka talk about their challenges to planning retirement, from barriers to saving, to the challenges of handling child care and elder care.

Muslim South Asian Writer Fariha Róisín Shares Her Abortion Story
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Fariha Róisín discusses how she worked through feelings of shame around her abortion experience.

How Being Undocumented Affects Mental Health
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Jill Damatac reflects on how immigration shaped her mental health and that of her Filipinx family.

Living with PCOS
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Ash discusses her personal journey with PCOS, from experiencing symptoms to getting a diagnosis and the range of feelings that followed.

Dating as a Woman with a Disability
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Parvathy Gopakumar shares the dating challenges she faces as a person with a prosthetic hand.

Loving Relationships and Vulvovaginal Pain
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In this podcast episode, a married couple shares how they navigate their sexual and emotional relationship when penetration causes vulvovaginal pain.

Artist Clarity Haynes on Art, Humor, and Healing from Sexual Violence
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Artist Clarity Haynes reflects on how her work has been shaped by the sexual violence she has experienced throughout her lifetime. She discusses her choice to laugh in the face of violence and trauma.

Thoughts on Reading and Re-reading the “Lesbian Chapter”
Inés I. reflects on the enduring power of "In America They Call Us Dykes," from the 1973 edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

Capturing My Healing: A Virtual Exhibit on Healing from Gender-Based Violence
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In this interactive exhibit, forty-six survivors of violence reflect on one week in their journeys toward healing.

Stories on Gender, Aging, and Care Work
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These personal essays reflect on feminism, ageism, social inequalities, and care work. Essayists Joan Dizion, Phyllis Mitzen, Connie Goldman, and Nancy Hooyman write about their personal journeys, and call for more feminist work on women and aging.

In Control: Our Stories, Our Lives, Our Birth Control
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Why do people use contraception and what happens when they cannot afford it? These first-person stories testify to many different experiencesl, and show why reproductive access is so important to our bodily autonomy.