Norsigian is a co-author of the landmark book Our Bodies, Ourselves, which helped launch the women鈥檚 health movement. She speaks and writes frequently on a wide range of women鈥檚 health concerns and has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs, including 鈥淥prah,鈥� NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday Show and ABC鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning America.鈥�
She is a founding member of the Boston Women鈥檚 Health Book Collective, a non-profit, public interest women鈥檚 health education, advocacy, and consulting organization, which is now known as Our Bodies Ourselves.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to emphasize the timeliness and importance of Judy Norsigian鈥檚 visit. Access to accurate information about women鈥檚 health is a critical issue these days, in part because the federal administration has removed information about teen-age sexual activity, condom use, and abortion from government websites,鈥� says Karen Stein, director of the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Studies Program.
Norsigian鈥檚 talk will mark the 25th anniversary of the Schweers lecture series, and is part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Women鈥檚 Studies Program at 溏心vlog免费B站.
In the late 1960s, Norsigian was one of a dozen women sitting in a church basement in Watertown, Mass. The women gathered there to discuss how they had been treated by some medical practitioners —hysterical and hypochondriac– and to examine the ways women鈥檚 biology and health had been largely unexplored.
Recognizing that there was an astonishing lack of clear, specific information available to women about their own bodies, Norsigian and the others began collecting expert opinion, medical facts, and personal perspectives and sharing them with other women.
Their work ultimately resulted in the book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, which was published in 1970, and became an instant bestseller. The book, a medical reference and wellness guide that incorporates personal experiences with factual information, has sold more than 4 million copies and has been translated into 17 languages. Norsigian contributed to an updated version, Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century. It was published in the late 鈥�90s and provides new information and reflects the concerns of women of diverse ages, ethnic and racial backgrounds and sexual orientations. The newest edition of this 鈥渂ible鈥� of women鈥檚 health is expected to hit the bookstores this May.
Norsigian鈥檚 interests include reproductive health concerns, the media and women鈥檚 health, genetics, tobacco and women, women and health care reform, and midwifery advocacy.
She has served on the board of the National Women鈥檚 Health Network for 14 years. Other board commitments include membership in the Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, the Consortium for Industrial Collaboration in Contraceptive Research, and the Committee on Women, Population and the Environment. She is on the editorial/advisory boards of The Journal of Midwifery, Women and Health, and Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care.
溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Food and Nutrition Department and College of Nursing are co-sponsors of the event.