Table of Contents

2005 edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves

1: Body Image
Introduction - Beauty for Sale - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not- The Media Lies - Do I Look Fat? - Girl Power? - Our Bodies Growing Older - Taking Back Our Bodies

2: Eating Well
What is a Healthy Diet? - The Macronutrients - Different Models of Healthy Eating - Making Changes - Vegetarianism - Nutritional Supplements - Helping Kids Eat Well - Dieting - Other Diet-Related Health Issues - Weight and Health - Eating Problems - Making Changes

3: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Mood-Altering Drugs
Drugs Women and Girls Use - How Substance Abuse Affects Our Health-Influences On Our Use and Misuse of Substances - Reducing the Risks - Recognizing a Problem-Finding Help for Harmful Use and Addiction - Working Together on Prevention, Treatment, and Policy - Promising Policy and Treatment Initiatives

4: Our Bodies in Motion 
The Health Benefits of Exercise - How Exercise Makes Us Feel-Getting Started - Team Sports - Caring What Other People Think - Exercise, Age and (Dis)Ability-Injuries and Safety - Too Much Exercise? -  Who’s On the Wheaties Box?:The Politics of Sports

5: Complementary Health Practices
Introduction - Traditional Healing Practices - Why We Choose Complementary Health Therapies - Traditional and Complementary Approaches - Choosing Therapies, Self-Help Groups, and Providers - Social and Political Awareness - Access to Care

6: Emotional Well-Being
Introduction - Therapy as an Option - Finding a Competent, Caring Therapist - How to Know if a Helper is Really Helping You - Is It All in Our Brain Chemistry? - Concerns about Psychotropic Medication - Challenges for Consumers - Social or Political Action an Often Overlooked Source of Help

7: Environmental and Occupational Health
Connecting Occupational and Environmental Hazards - Public Health and Responsibility - Shared Risks, Unequal Burdens - Working Conditions of Women - Types of Hazards - Reducing Our Exposure - Action Strategies - Organizing for Change

8: Violence and Abuse
Understanding Violence against Women - Race, Class, Prejudice, and Violence Against Women - Common Reactions to Experiencing Violence - Regaining Our Lives - Intimate Partner Violence - Safety Planning - Rape - Incest and Sexual Abuse of Children - Sexual Harassment - Prostitution and Sex Trafficking - Defending Ourselves - Ending Violence Against Women

Relationships and Sexuality 

9: Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
Introduction - Challenging Sex and Gender - Gender Identity: What We Call Ourselves - Transgender - Transsexual - Sexual Orientation: What We Call Ourselves - Bisexuality - Coming Out To Ourselves - Coming Out To Family, Friends, and the World - Homophobia, Heterosexism, and Transphobia

10: Relationships with Men
 “The Personal Is Political” and Feminism’s Third Wave - Being Single - Personal Power and Relationships - Intimacy: Understanding Some of the Barriers - Commitment, Monogamy, and Marriage - Making It Work: Shared Power - Creative Tension

11: Relationships with Women
Finding Love - Building Healthy Relationships - Seeking Equality with Our Partners - Honoring Our Differences - Creating Supportive Communities - Navigating Homophobia and Heterosexism - Getting Support Raising Our Children - Making a Commitment

12: Sexuality
Social Influences - Sexual Pleasure - Variations in Desire - Sexual Arousal and Response - Orgasm - G-Spot and Female Ejaculation - Masturbation - Medications, Hormones, and Sexuality - Sexual Expressions - Virginity - Communicating About Sex - Sex and Disability

Sexual Health 

13: Sexual Anatomy, Reproduction, and the Menstrual Cycle
Sexual Anatomy: The Self-Guided Tour - Stops On the Tour - Our Breasts - Menstruation and Reproduction - Broad Strokes - Menarche to Menopause - The Basics of Eggs and Bleeding - Menstrual Cycles as a Vital Sign - Fertility Awareness - Using the Fertility Awareness Method for Natural Birth Control or Pregnancy Achievement - What Do We Do With Our Menstrual Flow? - It’s Your Period - How Do You Own It? - Menstrual Changes, Including PMS

14: Safer Sex
Why Safer Sex? - Talk the Talk - Safer-Sex Guidelines - Activity-Specific Safe Sex Tips -Condoms 101 -  Can’t I Just Use My Diaphragm or My Birth Control Pills? - Challenges to Using Protection - I Had Unsafe Sex: What Should I Do?

15: Sexually Transmitted Infections
What Are STIs? - How Are STIs Transmitted? - What’s the Connection Between HIV and Other STIs? - What Are the Symptoms of STIs? - Can STIs Be Cured? - How Likely Am I to Get an STI? - STIs and Female Genital Cutting (Circumcision) - What Can I Do if I Think I Have An STI? - Getting Care and Treatment-  Obstacles to Overcome - STIs and The Law - Pregnancy and STIs  - Living With Herpes - Living With HPV and Genital Warts - Other STIs - Social and Political Issues - We Need Better Protection - We Need STI Education and Services

16: HIV and AIDS
The HIV/AIDS Epidemic - Women and HIV/AIDS - Taking Care of Ourselves - HIV Transmission - Protecting Ourselves from HIV - HIV - Safe IV Needle Use - HIV Symptoms and Testing - Living With HIV/AIDS - Treatment Options - HIV and Pregnancy - Personal Issues
 
Reproductive Choices

17: Considering Parenting
Making a Decision - Considering the Question - Common Challenges - If You and Your Partner Disagree - If You Decide Not To Have a Child - Paths to Parenthood - Conceiving A Child - Adoption - Families and Parents Need A Lot of Support

18: Birth Control
Introduction - Reproductive Rights Not Guaranteed - New Research - Some Obstacles to Getting Birth Control and Using it Well - Birth Control - Who Protects Our Interests? - Men and Birth Control - How Pregnancy Happens - Choosing a Method of Birth Control - Teens and Birth Control - Dual Protection - Woman-Controlled Methods for Birth Control and STI/HIV Prevention - Effectiveness and Safety - Barrier Methods - Male Condoms (Rubbers, Prophylactics, or Safes) - The Female Condom - Diaphragm - Cervical Cap - Spermicides - Hormonal Methods - The Pill - Oral Contraceptives - Mini-Pills (Progestin-Only Oral Contraceptives) - Contraceptives Patch - Vaginal Ring - Injectable Contraceptives -  Monthly Injection (Lunelle) - Three-Month Shot (Depo-Provera) - Implants - IUD/Sterilization - Tubal Ligation (Female Sterilization) - Vasectomy - Experimental Male Contraceptives - Abstinence - Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) and Other Natural Methods - Breast-Feeding as Birth Control - Withdrawal (Pulling Out) - Emergency Contraception

19: Unexpected Pregnancy
Signs of Pregnancy - Finding Out - The Test - It Is Confirmed: You Are Pregnant - Deciding What to Do - Whom To Turn To - Abortion - Carrying To Term

20: Abortion
Finding An Abortion Provider - Abortion Methods - Medication Abortion - Vacuum Aspiration Abortion - Second-Trimester Abortion - Dilation and Evacuation - Induction Abortion -Aftercare - Symptoms to Watch for After Any Abortion - Abortion Outside A Medical Context - History of Abortion in the U.S. - When Abortion Was a Crime - Making Illegal Abortion Safer - Organizing to Change the Law - Legality and Accessibility - Reproductive Freedom Vs. Population Control - Taking Action

Child-Bearing

21: Pregnancy
Creating a Climate of Confidence For Pregnancy and Birth - Your Pregnancy - Choosing a Practitioner and Place For Your Birth - Finding A Provider - Birth Places - The First Trimester (Weeks 1 to 14) - Taking Care of Yourself - Substances to Avoid - Learning About Pregnancy - Tests During Pregnancy - Second Trimester (Weeks 14 to 28) - Third Trimester (Weeks 28 to Beginning of Labor) - Preparing For Labor - Special Considerations - You Are Ready for Birth

22: Childbirth
Labor and Birth - Approaching Labor - What Causes Labor and When it Begins - Signs of Labor - Labor Begins and Early Labor - Active Labor - Giving Birth - Your Baby Is Born - Suckling - Cutting the Chord - The First Hours and Days After the Baby is Born - Situations That Require Medical Resources - Meeting the Challenges of Labor and Birth - Strategies to Ease Labor - Routine Medical Procedures and Interventions During Childbirth - Pain and Pharmacological Methods of Pain Relief - Two Mechanical Ways To Assist Birth - Birth By Cesarean Section - Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Birth (VBAC) - Afterward

23: The First Year of Parenting
Becoming a Mother - For Women Who Have Given Birth - For Women Who Have Adopted - Breastfeeding Your Baby - The Health and Well-Being of Mothers - Thoughts and Feelings - Conclusion

24: Child-Bearing Loss
Miscarriage - Ectopic and Molar Pregnancies - Multiple Gestation Pregnancies - Loss After Prenatal Diagnosis - Stillbirth - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - Coping With Loss - Subsequent Pregnancy

25: Infertility and Assisted Reproduction
What Is Infertility? - Getting Started When You Have Concerns About (In)fertility - Causes of Infertility - Changing Diagnosis and Treatments - Diagnosis - Treatment - Donor Insemination - High-Tech Assisted Reproductive Technologies - Drawing the Line

Growing Older

26: Midlife and Menopause
The Middle Years - Exploration and Growth - Menopause: Our “Change of Life” - What Happens During Menopause - Hormone Therapy - Other Medical Options - Is Menopause Really a Medical Issue? - Hormones and Bone Density - Hormones and Mood-Hormones and Eyes - Finding the Right Health Care Provider - Sexuality and Aging - Taking Care of Ourselves: Preventive Health - Social and Political Issues

27: Our Later Years
Introduction - Feminization of Aging - Retirement - Loss of a Partner - Getting Medical Care - Physical Impairments and Chronic Conditions - Caregiving and Needing Care - Living Arrangements - Elder Abuse - End-of-Life Decisions - Survival Skills

Medical Problems and Procedures

28: Unique to Women
Routine Physical Exam and Basic Tests - Diagnostic Tests and Treatments - Benign Breast Conditions - Screening for Breast Cancer - Breast Lumps - Breast Cancer Risk - Breast Cancer: Treatment - Benign Uterine Conditions - DES - Endometriosis - Fibroids (Leiomyomas, Myomas) - Ovarian Cysts - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - Cervical Cancer - Ovarian Cancer - Uterine Cancer - Hysterectomy And Oophorectomy - Other Pelvic Conditions -  Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - Pelvic Relaxation and Uterine Prolapse - Vagina and Vulva - Vaginal Infections - Vulvitis - Vulvodynia - Vulvar Cancer - Other Vaginal Infections

29: Special Concerns for Women
Anemia - Arthritis - Autoimmune Disorders - Chronic Fatigue Immunodeficiency Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - Chronic Pain Conditions - Cardiovascular Problems - Colorectal Cancer - Diabetes - Multiple Chemical Sensitivities - Surgery -  Trichotillomania - Urinary Conditions - Von Willebrand Disease

Knowledge is Power

30: Navigating the Health Care System
Our Rights as Patients - How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet - Barriers to Getting Health Care - A Female or Male Provider? - Enforcing Our Rights

31: The Politics of Women’s Health
The Politics of Women’s Health In the United States - Emerging Biotechnologies - Women’s Health Around the Globe

32: Organizing for Change
Introduction - Getting Together - Principles of Successful Organizing - Resources and Tactics - Examples of Organizing For Change - Moving Forward 

Glossary
Production Team, Authorship and Acknowledgments
About the Contributors
Index