Voices of the Women’s Health Movement, Volume One

One of the nation’s most tireless health advocates, BARBARA SEAMAN (1935-2008) co-founded the National Women’s Health Network and pioneered a new style of health reporting that focused on patients’ rights. Her groundbreaking investigative book, The Doctor’s Case Against the Pill (1969), prompted Senate hearings in the 1970s that led to a warning label on oral contraceptives and the drastic lowering of estrogen doses due to dangerous health effects. Dedicated to reaching a wide audience, Seaman wrote columns for Brides Magazine, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Ms., inspiring women around the world to take control of their own health. Seaman was a founding advisory board member of and key advisor to Seven Stories Press.Co-editor LAURA ELDRIDGE is a women’s health writer and activist. She is the author of In Our Control: The Complete Guide to Contraceptive Choices for Women and the co-author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause.

An unprecedented and definitive collection of rabble-rousing writings on women's health, Voices of the Women's Health Movement explores a range of provocative topics from reproductive rights to sexuality to motherhood. Trail-blazing advocate Barbara Seaman and health activist Laura Eldridge bring the revolutionary ideas of several generations together in this powerful new book celebrating women's bodies, and women's voices. The more than two hundred contributors include Jennifer Baumgardner, Susan Brownmiller, Phyllis Chesler, Angela Y. Davis, Barbara Ehrenreich, Germaine Greer, Shulamith Firestone, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Erica Jong, Molly Haskell, Shere Hite, Susie Orbach, Judith Rossner, Alix Kates Shulman, Gloria Steinem, Sojourner Truth, Rebecca Walker, Naomi Wolf, and many others. With Voices of the Women's Health Movement, for the first time, every woman and girl can experience in one place the powerful history of stirring words and strong female perspectives that have inspired countless women to take control of their health and their lives. Volume One highlights include influential writings on birth control; menstruation; pregnancy and birthing; motherhood; menopause; abortion; and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender health.