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Book Reviews
Celebrating Our Bodies, Ourselves
by Radhika Chandiramani
 Here it is, the new OBOS,
on my desk, calling me to open it and dive in. OBOS? Yes, 'Our
Bodies, Ourselves', a book that was first written by a group of
women in 1970 for other women. It was the result of 12 women regularly
meeting around their kitchen tables to discuss their bodies, health, and
sexuality as a result of being fed up of being paternalized, spoken down
to and treated as morons by doctors and by men. Since then, it has gone
on to become a classic and has been published in 29 editions in
different languages around the world. It has touched thousands of
women's lives, be they individuals or groups of social activists. It
helped create a women's health movement and changed the way many people
think about health care.
So it is not surprising that 12 years ago, on my first trip abroad, OBOS
was on my 'important books to buy' list. I can clearly recall the
excitement of reading it, the joy of knowing that everything (well,
almost everything) I wanted to know about women's health, sexuality and
well-being was there between its covers, and the wonder of experiencing
the 'voice' of the book. The book spoke clearly to me as an equal. It
made me proud of my body and my sexuality, and assuaged my fears (silly
ones, but all of us have them!). It was honest, compassionate, at times
funny, and at others stern - a bit like a conversation about an
Important Matter with a beloved friend. I had never read anything quite
like it. Imagine reading that "an orgasm can be mild like a hiccup or a
sneeze". That certainly put it in perspective!
The bottom line message of OBOS is that our bodies are our own. The body
you have is the only one you have got. The book offers a wealth of
easy-to-understand accurate information on how our bodies work, what
makes them sick, what to do to feel better, and importantly, how all of
this plays out in the larger context of the politics of health and of
sexism.
In keeping with its feminist underpinnings, the latest updated 2008
special edition for South Asia, retains the spirit and much of the
content of the earlier editions and begins with, "For women, life can
often seem like a beauty pageant", going on to say "Being born female
automatically makes us contestants, whether we like it or not." From
Brazilian bikini waxing to hysterectomies, it's all about how we make
decisions about what to keep and what to rid ourselves of. We can
describe facts about our bodies and our experiences, but each of us
experiences these in different ways, and that is fine. OBOS affirms and
celebrates these differences. Literally hundreds of people (including
men) have contributed to this book, sharing their own experiences and
stories.
It is an especially important book for us in this region. In countries
where matters of sexuality are not openly spoken about, many young women
do not know that the vagina is different from the urinary opening or
that they possess a clitoris. If you are one of them, using this book,
you can take a self-guided tour of your sexual anatomy and make friends
with hitherto unexplored parts of your body. Women who are not aware of
the lines between an act of consent and one of abuse, will find a friend
who patiently defines these along with providing markers of what to look
out for in a relationship. For those worrying about ageing, please note
that sexual well-being definitely does not end at menopause, and there's
a lot to look forward to. For women with disabilities, there is useful
information integrated right through the book.
There is something for each of us - the woman who wants a baby but can't
conceive, the woman who doesn't want one, the woman who might have just
lost one, the older parent dealing with the fact that her kids are too
busy dealing with their own lives to pay too much attention to her
needs, the lesbian trying to build supportive relationships, the woman
dealing with the possible loss of a breast or her uterus - we're all in
the book.
Because sexuality is one of the ways in which women's lives are
controlled, the book gives it a lot of attention, teaching us not only
to love our body but also how to make love to it. Refreshingly, however,
it does not follow the mantra of 'the more the better'. In fact, it even
advises, "If masturbating doesn't bring you pleasure, trust your own
preferences and don't do it". Nowhere does the book degenerate into a
series of prescriptions.
OBOS has sections on a range of issues: Taking Care of Ourselves,
Relationships and Sexuality, Reproductive Choices, Childbearing, Growing
Older, Medical Problems and Procedures, and, Knowledge is Power. The
book includes material relevant to the realities of women in South Asia.
Don't be daunted by its size. At around 800 pages it is a hefty tome,
but remember you don't have to read all of it at once. Dip into it as
you like - each section can stand alone and you don't have to proceed in
a linear manner. Another advantage is that there is an accompanying
website that you can go to for additional information on specific topics
that interest you.
The clean white pages of the latest OBOS smile at me. The older OBOS is
yellowing, its pages are brittle, but it still has a 'most loved books'
smell and will always be cherished. Twelve years ago, I bought it in
London for 17 pounds, a fortune well spent. Today, you can get your
copy, right here in India for a special price of Rs 450. Buy it for
yourself, your partner (regardless of gender), your teenaged daughter,
your mum, your granddaughter. Each will thank you for it.
The publishers of this special South Asia edition hope that by making
women readers of this book into well-informed health consumers, they
will become catalysts for social change. There is every likelihood of
that happening. This is one of those books that even if it doesn't
change your life (though it well might), will definitely change the way
you look at your body and yourself.
('Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New
Edition for a New Era', Women Unlimited and The Boston Women's Health
Book Collective, 2008, Price: Rs 450, Pp: 800)
October 12,
2008
By arrangement with
WFS
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