By women, for women.

April 5, 2018 8:08 PM

Farewell to “Our Bodies, Ourselves.” A groundbreaking, powerful work for women young and old, the authors of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” have announced that they will no longer be updating their life-changing publication. (Boston Globe)
posted by Melismata (17 comments total)

One of the coolest things my awesomely cool mother ever did was give copies of one of the earliest editions to my sister-in-law and me, saying "I wish they had something like this when I was young."
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 8:16 PM on April 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

It will still be in print, will it not?
posted by ocschwar at 8:49 PM on April 5, 2018

FTA: "The most recent edition of the book will be its last."
posted by Lexica at 9:32 PM on April 5, 2018

The mom of a friend of mine in high school - we were in Boston - is one of the founders of OBOS and boy howdy did that book (and later, Changing Bodies Changing Lives, about puberty and adolescence) make the rounds in our group. One of our friends was a peer educator in her UU youth group and they used these as foundational texts, and she used those skills and materials to peer-educate all her friends who were not in her UU youth group.

It's hard to overstate how revolutionary this book was and what a huge ripple effect it had (continues to have). You can read the background on their site.

"As of fall 2017, “Our Bodies, Ourselves” has been reproduced in 31 languages, reaching millions of women around the world. New adaptations are underway in Farsi and other languages."

Wow.
posted by rtha at 9:59 PM on April 5, 2018 [17 favorites]

I am so sad about this! ‘Our Bodies Ourselves’ helped me diagnose that my mother had hit menopause early. She’d had some puzzling symptoms and actually was really worried about herself. She was actually glad she’d hit menopause early. Knowing she could soon dispense with birth control and would be free of periods made her very happy. Worry about pregnancy was a serious challenge because of some iffy genetics in my step-father’s family.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 3:48 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

Well that sucks. This is a really important book. The article cites financial pressure as the reason for stopping publication; is there really nobody willing to take on funding this? If I were a gazillionaire philanthropist I'd be on top of that in an instant.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:26 AM on April 6, 2018 [10 favorites]

I'm a past donor to Our Bodies Ourselves (the organization, not the book). Here's an excerpt from a letter I got from Bonnie L. Shepard, current Chair of the Board of Directors (any typos are mine):

Earlier this year, board members, staff, and founders of the original Boston Women's Health Book Collective held a retreat to determine the way forward for our historic organization. We took a clear-eyed look at the realities facing nonprofits today, at the changes in the publishindustry, in ways our audiences seek reliable health information, at the proliferation of new feminist initiatives and organization, and, most importantly, at our current financial and organization limitations.

We came to the painful conclusion, after several years of struggling financially, that we don't have the resources and infrastructure to continue our main programs using paid staff. On October 1st, we will transition to a volunteer-led 501(c)e that will mainly advocate for women's health and social justice -- adding our voices to important political and cultural converstions as we have done through our history.

Our retreat resulted in unanimous agreement on a number of difficult decisions. As of Octover 1st, we will stop publishing updated print and digital health information; scale back technical assistance for global translations and adaptations of Our Bodies, Ourselves; and transfer ownership of Surrogacy360.org, our website on international commercial surrogacy, to a trusted partner. We have no plans to update our signature book, Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Last year we focused on a new strategy to fulfill our mission in the digital age but did not raise sufficient funds to move beyond building a working model. We are exploring handing over the prototype, and the content completed so far, to another feminist organization.

Our website will transition from publishing updated health information to showcasing Our Bodies, Ourselves excerpts, including adaptation in 31 languages produced by our global partners, and an archived blog covering more than a dozen years of reporting and analysis. The website will also celebrate the history of teh organization, document the work we have done for the past 48 years, and chronicle our ongoing advocacy efforts and impact.

Following these decisions, we are in the process of reorganization and transfer of leadership, which will be completed by October 1st, when a new Board of Directors is reconstituted. I will step down as Chair of the Board on June 1st, and Judy Norsigian, Our Bodies Ourselves co-founder and former Executive Director, will succeed me. The Board has accepted Julie Childer's resignation, also as of June 1st, with deepg gratitude for her executive leadership over the past two years, her strategic vision, and her management of the organization through this transition.

Starting this fall, our volunteer board and founders will focus their advocacy on health policy, in alliance with other organization, leveraging the trust that Our Bodies Ourselves has earned over almost 50 years of education and activism. We are also committed to providing limited support to organizations that wish to translate or adapt selected content from our books or website. You'll hear more from Judy Norsigian about our plans going forward, including opportunities to get involved as a volunteer

We take great pride in the transformative impact that our publications and advocacy have had in the lives of milliosn of girls, women, and their families in the United States and around the world. We thank the foundations, corporation, and, most of all, you - our faithful donors, allies, and volutneers - who have supported us over the years and contributed to these achievements. We hope you'll join our advocacy efforts in the next iteration of Our Bodies Ourselves.

posted by rmd1023 at 4:37 AM on April 6, 2018 [17 favorites]

It sounds like they're making a graceful stand-down rather than imploding like some organizations have done.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:43 AM on April 6, 2018 [10 favorites]

.

SisterSong founder Loretta Ross’ closing keynote from OBOS’ 40th anniversary symposium in 2011 provides a great firsthand examination of why this book & its affiliated initiatives are so powerful & desperately needed. [cw incest, rape, state sanctioned misogynoir]
posted by sutureselves at 5:36 AM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry to read this. In my anecdotal experience, it was an amazingly important book for so many people.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:02 AM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine is a collective member. Thanks to her, I participated as a reader, giving feedback on some sections of the most recent published edition. I met her many years after the first publication of the book, and getting to participate in even such a small way in the project meant a lot to me.
posted by Orlop at 8:12 AM on April 6, 2018 [3 favorites]

My sister gave me a copy of one of the revised editions when I was in seventh grade and I really cite it with my awareness of safe sex as well as a general sense that my body could absolutely exist for my pleasure and no one else's. I remember being amazed at the diagrams of older folks having sex--something I hadn't even considered at that age. So different than anything I got in mainstream media. Sad I won't be able to pass an updated copy down to my kid.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:22 AM on April 6, 2018

I am very sad about this; these women did so much good in the world.

UUs were mentioned upthread. I'm an educator in their Our Whole Lives program, which is consent- and fact-based sex ed tailored for all age levels, and if you want your kid to have a good grounding, absolutely find them a class in your area. You don't have to be a UU; the class I'm teaching now is largely from a Methodist youth group in the area that has nothing similar on offer. It's free.

On a more basic level, great info can be found at Scarleteen, and I send kids there all the time.

But still OBO holds a unique place and serves many people that might not see a website or get to a class. There are more resources now but I think we still need these books.
posted by emjaybee at 9:42 AM on April 6, 2018 [6 favorites]

OBOS had an enormous impact on me at a formative time of my adolescence. It helped me realize I was a feminist - and this was at a time when Cosmopolitan magazine was among my favorite things to read. It also played a part in helping me come out as bi when I went to college.

I need to thank my mother for having a copy of this book. I'm not sure she knows how much it influenced me, and how grateful I am that she had it.
posted by velvet winter at 11:11 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

I wish they gave a more precise date for the first publication by a mainstream publisher (Simon & Shuster) because I remember buying a new copy from The Jabberwock bookstore in Boulder @1970.

I read it from cover to cover, and I couldn't help feeling a little shamefaced at an admonition -- as I dimly recall -- that men should not use it as a sex manual or guide to seducing women.
posted by jamjam at 8:52 PM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

The letter RMD mentions is also on their blog.

Count me among the many for whom this book was vital. I first read my feminist mother's copy when I was a kid in the 70s. Thanks to her and the group, I never knew a world in which I couldn't readily access women's health information. The same was not true for her generation. The impact can't be overstated.

It sounds like they're making a graceful stand-down rather than imploding like some organizations have done.

Even as I pause to be grateful and recognize the end, from a leadership perspective, my feelings are complicated, and disappointment in the organizational planning is one of the feelings. I do agree that ending an effort that's no longer thriving is the right thing to do and something too many organizations fail to do, out of sentiment. It's best to free up energy rather than pump it into keeping stuff on life support.

At the same time, this could (will) serve as a textbook case study in nonprofit vision and leadership. The commitment the group had to working in book form prevented them from a future they could have owned - being the best, largest, and most vocal source of and advocate for women's health information, online and in the world. The narrowness of the vision and the commitment to fulfilling a dated mandate, I believe, prevented the forethought that would have allowed them to develop a more powerful future. It really says something that in the day of the Women's March and #metoo and rise of women in comedy and so on and so on, this group could not see and articulate a mission beyond "we publish a compendium of women's health information" or a vision that could take them beyond that largely functional view of the difference the organization made.

And now they're down to a small board that's all volunteer. This is an especially miserable irony, given the messages it sends about the value of women's labor and information vital to women. They are looking to fold into a larger and healthier organization, which is probably the best possible option - being part of some group with the interest and capacity to preserve the archive and the legacy, but also with the vision and skills to reframe the purpose of a project so as to engage new supporters in its vision.

Too late for this org, but a great demonstration as I work with other organizations of what can happen when you don't stop to ask whether what you're doing now is what you should do forever, and re-imagine the ways you can create the world you believe in.
posted by Miko at 7:10 AM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ouch. This 990 history says it all. They've been running on fumes for a long time.
posted by Miko at 7:15 AM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]