Our Bodies Ouselves, the book that millions of women turn to for information they could not get elsewhere. With 4,000,000+copies in print in 29 languages worldwide, it has become the saving grace for countless women across the globe. This book made women safe through the power of information.
It was the 1960s, and hard as it is to believe, birth control was illegal in Massachusetts, medical information scant and doctors women could trust were hard to find. There was a small group of young women in Boston, Massachusetts who were, as they discovered through sharing intimate information with each other, dissatisfied with the medical care available to them.
They wanted better doctors; doctors who listened to them, doctors who took them seriously, doctors who were never dismissive. These women were gripped by the desire to change things, so change things they did. As part of the MIT academic world, these women were educated, motivated and knew how to do the research needed. First step? Listen and find out.
Vilunya Diskin, talks about how this book, motivated by grievance, burst forth from a small first meeting of women who tackled a subject totally taboo. This was a meeting of women who shared information, a meeting of women who wanted to change the world of not just medical care but how women see their bodies. And, change it they did!
It is worth noting that Vilunya Diskin, with a complicated life journey of her own, has, since childhood, always been one to make others feel safe, welcome and comfortable with just who they are. Our Bodies Ourselves, as well as Vilunya’s professional life, first her MA degree and her work in public health and then as an expert and dealer in folk art, seems to be an extension of her desire to keep people out of harm’s way.