"Please Include This in Your Book": Readers Respond to Our Bodies, Ourselves

This paper focuses on those ordinary women who responded to editions of Our Bodies, Ourselves in the 1970s and 1980s, illustrating how readers played a crucial role in the development and articulation of health feminism. By analyzing the exchange between writers and readers of the most popular and influential women's health text of this era, it reveals the process by which feminists translated and interpreted medical information about women's bodies. The personal stories of readers challenge us to consider the role of ordinary women in shaping the development of the women's health movement.