---
title: "It was on the bookshelf of every hippie, woman-loving communal house in college"
date: 2016-04-19T17:30:38-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/it-was-on-the-bookshelf-of-every-hippie-woman-loving-communal-house-in-college"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
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[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# It was on the bookshelf of every hippie, woman-loving communal house in college

By Marigo • April 19, 2016

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

![Marigo2](data:image/png;base64,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)

![](https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/wp-content/uploads/Marigo2.jpg)When I was ten years old, my childhood best friend read me passages from “Our Bodies, Ourselves” in a bedroom in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It was her mom's copy. Years later, I saw it on the bookshelf of every hippie, woman-loving communal house in college. It was a cultural icon for my generation, and it harked back to a to a prior era that was inspiring for us.

  
  
Each year, when it's time to decide what to be for Halloween, I think about ways to celebrate my culture. It's important to me to not culturally appropriate, and this leads me to spend a good amount of time thinking about my own origin stories. Other criteria for my Halloween costume: I want it to be political -- or at least consciousness raising -- to be unexpected, and to make people laugh.  
  
This year, I landed on the idea of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" as the perfect costume to meet those, and even more criteria (such as a major thumbs up from the queer community). The Halloween before, I was a Diva Cup.  
  
What's next?  
  
*In this series, readers [tell their stories](/history/reading-our-bodies-ourselves/ "Reading Our Bodies, Ourselves") about their experiences with the book and its impact on their lives. [View more stories.](/category/our-bodies-ourselves/readers-stories/)*

---

#### 2 Responses

Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments.

**Nadine Post** on Apr 19, 2016

Respect to our bodies and to ourselves. Yay, Marigo.

**Sher Hooper** on Apr 25, 2016

This was my "bible" in the early years. I also had a young daughter who grew up listening to my rants on equal rights for woman and learning at a very young age some of the challenges we faced as woman. So happy to say she's very respectful and in-tune with her own body and has turned out to be a wonderful woman. Keep up the good work. Should be mandatory reading.

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)Topics

- [Our Bodies Ourselves](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/our-bodies-ourselves)
- [Readers' Stories](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/our-bodies-ourselves-readers-stories)

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)### *Why You Can* **Trust Us** 

- We rigorously evaluate all content
- We embrace a reproductive justice framework
- We don’t accept ads or sell products
- We reject funding from the pharmaceutical industry
- We counter misinformation and disinformation
- We address the social, political, and economic factors that affect health and sexuality

[read more](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/why-you-can-trust-us)

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