Books to Bone Up on Reproductive Health
While Obamacare may be sticking around for a little longer, the fight for healthy bodies continues everywhere, especially for women. As the war against affordable services provided by Planned Parenthood and the like soldiers on, and we have yet to see any actual women included in this administration’s policy discussions regarding women’s healthcare, we found some reading that could shed some much needed light on the state of women’s healthcare and reproductive rights and what exactly is at stake. For more, join us March 27 for a panel on Reproductive Rights and the Politics of Women’s Health in the Era of Trump to get into the nitty gritty.
Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt
Investigating the way lawmakers have moved to erode the rights upheld in Roe v Wade, Pro focuses on the argument of personhood of the mother in this bold, unapologetic defense of the right to an abortion. Pollitt applies her graceful skill as a poet with vigorous research, working to address the public and politicians need to control pregnancy and abortion, taking decision making out of the hand of the women it affects most.
The Means of Reproduction by Michelle Goldberg
Taking a broader look at women’s rights, Goldberg shows how women’s health is directly related to the stability and success of a society. Addressing overpopulation, global health crises, and world poverty, The Means of Productions argues policy regarding women’s health and autonomy are inextricably linked to our success in these areas.
Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
This groundbreaking book details the incessant and deliberate attacks on black bodies in America, specifically black female bodies. From coerced sterilization to the denial of benefits to mothers on welfare, Roberts details the history of legal and economic abuses and builds a case for the consistent state-level degradation of black motherhood. Her arguments and the details amassed behind them are as searing and unsparing as they were on the book’s first publication two decades ago.
The Birth of the Pill by Jonathan Eig
No discussion of women’s health would be complete without a history of the pill. Former Wall Street Journal reporter Jonathan Eig tells the story of the monolithic, mononymic ovulation suppressant from the beginning, detailing the crusade of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to find a safe and legal method of birth control and the others who shared her goal. Eig’s historical perspective covers the scientific, social, and cultural dimensions of the quest for birth control, and brings us up to our modern conceptions of “the pill.”
America and the Pill by Elaine Tyler May
The introduction of this little pill into American society in 1960 was, on the surface, a way to prevent unwanted pregnancy — but it turned out to be more than a contraceptive. No one predicted that the empowerment and liberation felt in this new generation of women would spur the feminist movement. This political and cultural history shows that the pill has functioned as a symbol and tool of empowerment for American women since its introduction more than fifty years ago, and examines how it’s functioned in economic and social debates of all sorts.
Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein
Examining our relationship with sex is the precursor to addressing our country’s expectations of and access to women’s healthcare. This book draws on dozens of interviews with young women to tell their complicated stories, and delves into the background of their lives, from the changing nature of relationships (beyond the sensational headlines of “hookup culture”) to the influence of porn. Orenstein refuses to simplify, and reports on a territory foreign to those outside it, and often baffling to those traversing it — young womanhood in America.
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
Fessler details the circumstances that made women, such as her birth mother, put their babies up for adoption in pre-Roe v Wade America. Between the 1950s and 1970s countless pregnant women, usually too young and/or out-of-wedlock, temporarily disappeared from their schools and jobs and “went away” where, with help from Christian faith workers, came to term, had their babies, and gave up their children for adoption. In a post-WWII era with limited access to services and a focus on traditional Christian family values, this quiet epidemic shows how deeply affecting these solutions were for hundreds of women, their children, and their families. Fessler makes a strong case for bodily autonomy, here, arguing women should get to decide how to handle their bodies and their pregnancies.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
In this classic dystopian world, soon to be a series on Hulu, women with reproductive capabilities, known as handmaids, are held and used for the state. In this near-future world, the US Constitution has been suspended as a coup takes hold of the government and reorganizes society into different classes. Women quickly lose many of their rights as individuals and for those that are able, having babies, or when and how, is no longer their choice. Atwood’s story is intriguing and an unsettling version of a world where women have lost the rights over their bodies.
The Healing of America by T.R. Reid
Lets look at the big picture here. American healthcare is far from comprehensive, and women’s health, unfortunately, still falls under a list of services not seen as a priority to cover. The Healing of America details successful, affordable universal health care systems around the world in countries like Britain, Japan, France, Germany and more. This book is a great reminder that comprehensive universal healthcare is not some far-fetched fantasy. It’s real, and it’s attainable!
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