The originator of the term "body literacy," Laura Wershler, introduces us to the concept and kicks of this new blog series.
"The concept of body literacy occurred to me after I read a novel illustrating the disempowering impact of illiteracy. The inability to read diminishes self esteem and opportunities to participate in the exchange of ideas. The connection to the lives of girls and women is obvious—the education of girls is a key strategy in all international development work. It struck me that most educated women in developed countries live with another kind of illiteracy—they are not taught to“read” or understand there own bodies. On the contrary, they are taught to distrust their bodies and accept various artificial means to “manage” them." - from "Femme Fertile" - Fall 2005
I acquired body literacy long before I thought of calling it such a thing.
From the moment I got my period back in 1980 when I was 27 years old, after months and months of post-pill amenorrhea, I started the journey to learn how my female body worked. I read everything I could get my hands on about the pill and it’s ill effects, and was influenced especially by Barbara Seaman’s "Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones." I knew I would never take hormonal contraception again.
I borrowed information from a friend about the Billings Ovulation Method, taught myself fertility awareness, and used it effectively, with one planned pregnancy, right through peri-menopause, a time when most would think menstrual cycle changes would make it ineffective. But by then I’d had so much practice observing, charting and interpreting my menstrual cycle events that the transition to menopause proved no match for my fertility awareness skills. It’s like riding a bicycle: once you understand your menstrual cycle, you never forget.
At 62, I remain an ardent fan and champion of body literacy.
I believe learning to observe, chart and interpret one’s menstrual cycle events is a life skill that every girl, preferably from the time she starts to menstruate, should be taught. It is absolutely as important as learning to swim. Without body literacy a girl or woman of any age, is not able to make fully-informed decisions about her sexual and reproductive health.
I welcome the attention that writers like Holly Grigg-Spall and the growing number of menstrual cycle health-care providers, educators, advocates and entrepreneurs are bringing to the concept of body literacy. Young women today are no different in their thirst for knowledge about how their bodies work than I was, but, thankfully, they have so many more options for acquiring this knowledge than I did.
I learned fertility awareness the hard way—on my own. When "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler came to my attention in the late 90s, you cannot image the disappointment I felt that this book had not been available when I craved and needed the knowledge it contained. Now there are books, charting apps, period coaches and cutting edge technologies like Daysy available to help young women acquire body literacy.
Has “body literacy” reached critical mass?
Three years ago, in a post for re:Cycling, the blog of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, I wrote about how “cool” it was to see this phrase, which I starting using in 2005 and had championed already for seven years, “infiltrate the language, be taken up and used by others.” Now three years later, references to body literacy keep piling up. It’s a thriving hashtag on Twitter, and Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein mention body literacy when they talk about their current documentary project, Sweetening the Pill.
It is my privilege to introduce this series on body literacy on the Daysy Planet blog. Here’s to expanding the reach and understanding of the life skill that is body literacy.
Laura Wershler is a veteran pro-choice sexual and reproductive health advocate and women’s health critic who has worked for or volunteered with Planned-Parenthood-affiliated organizations in Canada since 1986. She blogs regularly for re:Cycling, the blog of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research for which she is Editor-in-Chief. Follow her on Twitter @laurawershler
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