Ehrenreich writes an introduction for this reprint of a 1973 classic, and as she says
…we have to remind ourselves that WMN was written in a blaze of anger and indignation.
This book was contemporaneous with Our Bodies, Ourselves, the feminist text on the female body. It enlightened a generation of women who until then had taken elective hysterectomies and automatic mastectomies for granted, both money-making procedures for the mostly male doctors who populated the medical profession by design. Ehrenreich sounds a little rueful above, but I’m still pissed.
Five years before this second edition was published, Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC, with a female doctor lead and a large, mostly female supporting cast who are all doctors, too. I wonder if Ehrenreich and the authors of Our Bodies, Ourselves watched it, and what they thought if they did.
Book Review Monday Chatter barbara ehrenreich witches midwives nurses womens history month womens studies
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I’ll have to find this and read it. And I’m still pissed too. I wish I still had my tattered copy of Our bodies, Ourselves. The title means even more to me now. I live in SC, and that simple title ignites despair and revolution.
Right there with you, Kimberly.
I still have my copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves. I’m almost 70, and I’ve been angry since I was 15 and realized I was a second-class citizen. Now the rights we fought for are being stripped away again. Remember that when you vote.