Inspired and Outraged: Dr. Alice Rothchild Talks about Her New Memoir

Dr. Alice Rothchild reads from her new memoir, sharing moments along her journey from being a 1950s "good girl" to an irreverent, feisty, feminist physician. After her reading, she is joined in conversation by Dr. Amy Agigian, executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves.  Our Bodies Ourselves co-sponsored this event at the Sawyer Library Poetry Center, Suffolk University, in February 2025, in partnership with the Ford Hall Forum and the GBH Forum Network.

"Inspired and Outraged" is the intimate memoir of Alice Rothchild from her adolescence to her mid-40s and the experiences that contributed to her passion and power as a doctor, an activist, and a woman. Compiling stories of her life in verse, Rothchild explores the events of her childhood, her training as an obstetrician-gynecologist, and her discovery of feminism as a guiding force in her life.Rothchild’s voice encapsulates her perseverance in the face of the male-dominated medical world and the shifting sexual politics of the late twentieth century. This memoir is both a record of the past and an urgent call to action.

Alice Rothchild developed an interest in progressive politics in the 1960s and 1970s starting with campus opposition to the Vietnam War and moving on to her discovery of feminism and health reform movements while in medical school and residency. She contributed to the first edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves," joined women’s consciousness raising activities, and worked for health care reform on the grassroots level. Political analysis thus increasingly informed her understanding of the world. She also became active in a number of social justice organizations and began speaking and writing on topics ranging from childbirth to menopause to caring for underserved populations.

Amy Agigian, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Suffolk University (Boston), where she is the founding director of the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights. She also serves as executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves at Suffolk University.