“Write a Chapter and Change the World” How the Boston Women's Health Book Collective Transformed Women's Health Then—and Now

Abstract

Working together informally, the core group of women who would later form the Boston Women's Health Book Collective wrote a book that would become the bible of women's health, selling more than 4 million copies. They also created an organization that would carry their mission forward. From the first newsprint edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves, which became an underground sensation, to the brand new book, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth, released in March 2008, the group has educated women and men, critiqued the medical system, examined inequalities based on gender, race, sexual orientation, class, and other categories, and urged readers to move from individual self-help to collective action promoting social policies that support the health of women and communities.