Our Bodies Ourselves on Tight Lipped

In their episode, “Embodied Knowledge,” the Tight Lipped podcast spoke with Our Bodies Ourselves co-founders Judy Norsigian, Jane Pincus, Pamela Berger, and Kiki Zeldes, as well as other scholars and medical professionals about the growth of the women’s health movement. 

In the late 1960s, women did not have much knowledge or agency around their bodies, and they became disillusioned with and distrustful of the white male doctors who weren’t taking their pain seriously. It was during this time that the women’s health movement began to develop and the Doctor’s Group, the forerunner to the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective which would evolve into Our Bodies Ourselves, was formed. The Our Bodies Ourselves founders and feminist doctors like OBOS collaborator Dr. Alice Rothchild, changed the course of history and empowered women with the knowledge they needed to advocate for themselves. 

Hannah Barg, Tight-Lipped co-producer, emphasized:

Jane and the Doctor’s Group started a conversation fifty years ago and it’s our job to continue their work today. We need to talk publicly about things that are considered private, just like they did. We need to ask critical questions about our relationship to doctors, medical knowledge, and the care we’re receiving. And we need to build community and break down stigma and silence. Just like Jane and so many others did in the 1960s and 70s. We stand on the shoulders of giants and now it’s up to us to continue the work.