Quaker Wendy Sanford on Our Bodies, Ourselves

In this special interim episode of Quakers Today, host Peterson Toscano (he/him) talks with Wendy Sanford (she/her,) one of the original creators of the groundbreaking book Our Bodies, Ourselves. Wendy shares her role in writing the first edition and reveals how each subsequent edition reflected the input from diverse voices.

She discusses the importance of addressing issues of race, class, sexuality, and gender identity in the evolving landscape of women’s health and activism. This episode also includes insights from her memoir, These Walls Between Us, a story of friendship across race and class.

Featured Segments:

• Wendy Sanford and the Evolution of Our Bodies, Ourselves Wendy Sanford reflects on the book's origins in the 1970s when it sought to provide trustworthy health information for women. Over the decades, the book has expanded to include voices from diverse communities, addressing issues such as sterilization abuse, prenatal care, and transgender health. Wendy discusses how the book’s evolving content reflects the shifting landscape of feminist health activism.
• Memoir: These Walls Between Us Wendy recently published her memoir These Walls Between Us, which explores her friendship across race and class and the deep personal transformations it sparked. You can find more about Wendy's work on her website.

Quotes:

• "The work is needed as much as ever. The questions are still there: Is it trustworthy information? Is it from a woman’s point of view?" – Wendy Sanford
• "We were a group of white middle-class women. Our book said it was for all women, but the critiques taught us otherwise, and that was a real wake-up call." – Wendy Sanford.
• "Each time we redid the book, we widened the understanding of who ‘we’ meant." – Wendy Sanford.

How to Follow Wendy Sanford: You can learn more about Wendy and her work by visiting her website: wendysanford-thesewallsbetweenus.com. Her memoir These Walls Between Us is available delves into her experiences with race, class, and social justice.

Friends Journal reviewed Wendy Sanford's memoir These Walls Between Us in August 2022, in a double review alongside another book. You can read the review here: These Walls Between Us review.

Friends Journal published a personal essay by Wendy in January 2006. Titled "Musings of a Universalist Friend" in the print edition, the essay reflects on her and her partner’s decision to marry in 1999. It discusses her views on the tie between Christian Scripture and anti-Semitism. You can find it here: January 2006 essay.

Announcing Season Four:

After this special episode, Quakers Today will return with Season Four on December 17, 2024. Expect more inspiring guests and thought-provoking content. Stay tuned for special features and announcements in your podcast feed in October.

Question of the Month:

What novel, film, or television series changed your relationship with the world? Fiction has the power to alter the way we see ourselves and the world around us. What story has shifted your perspective?

Leave a voice memo or text with your answer at 317-QUAKERS (+1 if calling from outside the U.S.), or respond via Instagram, X, or TikTok.

Quakers Today is the companion podcast to

Episode Transcript

Peterson Toscano (00:01):
In this special interim episode of
Quakers Today, writer WendySanford discusses the
groundbreaking book, Our Bodies,Ourselves. She reveals how each
subsequent edition reflectedinput from a diversity of
voices.
Hi, I'm your host. PetersonToscano. We are in between

(00:21):
seasons here at Quakers Today,which allows us the opportunity
to share content from otherpodcasts with you. Today, I will
share an excerpt from thepodcast Bubble and Squeak. The
show is my audio playground,where I feature guests, radio
plays, random sounds andpersonal stories. For this
episode of Quakers today, I willshare audio from the episode

(00:44):
entitled "Female Body."
Wendy Sanford is one of theoriginal creators of Our Bodies,
Ourselves, a pioneering work inwomen's health and feminist
activism. First published in1970 this book has been an
essential resource for womenseeking accurate, trustworthy

(01:05):
information about their bodies.It has continued to evolve with
each edition, incorporatingfeedback from women, men and
gender non-binary, people ofdifferent races, classes and
backgrounds. They providedfeedback about critical issues
such as sterilization abuse,prenatal care and transgender

(01:28):
health concerns. Today, Wendyshares her journey, insights
from her work on this iconicbook, and how it has shaped the
feminist health movement.

Wendy Sanford (01:41):
Yeah, I'm a writer, you know, if it's
pertinent, I'll say that I wasinvolved in writing with the
book, Our Bodies, Ourselves. I'ma Quaker. I'm cisgendered,
white. I am a lesbian. I'mmarried to Polly Atwood. I'm a
Democrat, which was new in myfamily. An editor, I edit things

(02:03):
even when people don't ask meto. A dog lover, a cook, and
also a mother in a relationshipthat's been somewhat difficult
over the years, and agrandmother of three young women
whom I don't see much.
Well back in the 1960s and early70s, there was no information

(02:29):
that was trustworthy for womenabout our bodies and
particularly our sexual health,our reproductive health. A group
of us got together and startedresearching that and taught a
course called Women in TheirBodies. People were so
interested in it, and thenpeople contacted us. They heard

(02:49):
about it, and they contacted usfrom New York City and other
places where they were startingto be groups of feminist women
wanting to take charge of ourhealth care and make some
changes. So we printed up ourmonographs on various topics,
and that eventually became OurBodies, Ourselves.

(03:10):
Today, there's so muchinformation out there and yet,
but still, the question stillis, is it trustworthy
information? Is it from awoman's point of view. Is it put
out by the drug companies? Whatare the politics of access to
health care for women at alllevels of economics and social

(03:31):
class and race? And so thequestions are still there. The
work is needed as much as ever.
I wasn't openly lesbian atfirst. We were all heterosexual
women, which was so funny,because the press thought we
were, you know, feminists werebra burners and lesbians and all

(03:52):
of that. And we were just, wewere just this group of women
who happened to all beheterosexual at the time, or
thought we were. So it waswonderful when I finally came
out. Well, was wonderful for methat I came out, because I ended
up with Polly for 42 years. Butit was also wonderful for the
group, because finally, we had alesbian in the group.

(04:14):
We had this chapter called OurChanging Sense of Self, and even
the title would be a warningtoday. Who's this we? Who's
saying our changing sense ofself? Who can proclaim what our
changing sense of self is? Rightaway we got feedback from
African American Women's Healthactivists and Native American

(04:36):
Women's Health activists andLatina Women's Health activists
that we couldn't say we we werea group of white middle class
women. Our book focused a lot onour issues and said it was for
all women.
Some of the critiques were, whydon't you talk about
sterilization abuse? Why do youfocus on abortion totally to the
exclusion of sterilizationabuse? When sterilization abuse

(05:00):
is something that is really,really affecting Latina women,
for instance, in Puerto Rico,particularly at the time, what
about the right to decentprenatal care? We just kind of
assume it, but in fact, forwomen living in poverty, that's
a right that's never recognizedand back then as sadly, well,

(05:21):
criminally, today, the rate ofmortality for African American
expectant mothers is much higherthan for white women. That was
true at the time, and as I say,criminally, it's true today. So
people were saying, you say weyou say you're speaking for all
women, but you're not, and thatwas a real wake up call for me.

(05:46):
I had some struggles in thegroup over the years, because
there were some people who werereally attached to that moment
of excitement that we could saywe and mean all women, that we
were what we were learning inour lives, and our consciousness
raising groups was relevant toother, to women all over and

(06:10):
that was very heady and veryexciting. It just was only
partially true. Well, we redidit, I think 10 or 11 times over
40, 50, years. And each time wewidened the understanding of We,
of the we.
We added a chapter that waswritten by women with

(06:32):
disabilities, by lesbian thelesbian chapter was, was a great
enterprise. The first lesbianchapter that we added actually
was by a collective of lesbiansin the Boston area. They
wouldn't let us touch theirchapter. They had to just put it
in the way they thought itshould be. And so we agreed to
do that. It was all veryexciting. And in our meetings, I

(06:56):
was always very shy and nervous,because I felt like they'd look
at me and see something which afew years later, I saw it in
myself. I realized I was lesbiantoo, and I actually worked on
the first redo of that lesbianchapter. E
ach time we included moreexperiences from a wider range
of women and more concerns froma wider range of women all over

(07:18):
the country. Women's groups weretackling different issues,
becoming active and organizingaround creating women's clinics,
researching des the drug thatwomen took mid century that had
led to birth defects in thechildren, particularly the
female children, vaginal issues.There was so much activism going

(07:41):
on, and we wanted to reflect it.So the book got bigger and
bigger.

Unknown (07:53):
And then in later times, I, like the most recent
one, I worked on in 2011 one ofthe big changes in the book at
that point was that we hadalways had a lesbian chapter and
a heterosexual relationshipschapter, and we looked at each
other, those of us who wereworking on and said, "This is
ridiculous." The issues inrelationships, there may be one

(08:15):
or two things that are differentif you're a heterosexual or a
lesbian couple, but not many. Sonow there's a relationships
chapter.

Wendy Sanford (08:23):
There was no one in our group that identified as
trans at the time, but I haddone some reading and realized
that trans women also genderfluid people, was that they also
had really significant issuesthat needed to be present in a
book. I had been putting moreand more about trans issues in

(08:46):
for the past decade or so, butin 2011 we actually had several
trans and gender fluid peoplewho helped write the sections
that were pertinent to them.
Um, yeah, I'm a writer, youknow, if it's pertinent, I'll
say that I was involved inwriting with the book our bodies
ourselves.

Peterson Toscano (09:13):
That was Wendy Sanford, a writer who is also a
Quaker living in New England. Ifyou're interested in following
Wendy Sanford, just do a Googlesearch for Wendy Sanford.
Writer, Wendy has also written amemoir titled These Walls
Between Us. It's a powerfulstory of friendship across race

(09:33):
and class. In it, she exploresher experiences and insights on
social justice and connection.The book is available in
bookstores, on Kindle and has anaudiobook or visit the website.
WendySanford-thesewallsbetweenus.com.
The audio you heard in thisepisode of Quakers today comes

(09:55):
from the podcast Bubble andQqueak from an episode called
Female Body. Bubble and Squeakis available wherever you get
podcast, or just search forPeterson Toscano bubble, you'll
find the show.
Before we wrap up, I have aquestion for you to reflect on,
and you can give me a response."What novel, film or television

(10:17):
series changed your relationshipwith the world fiction can shift
how we see ourselves, others andeven the larger world?" We'd
love to hear what stories havehad this impact on you, and we
can share some of your responseswith our listeners. When we come
back in full session inDecember, leave a voicemail with

(10:40):
your answer at 317, Quakers, orrespond via our social media, on
Instagram, X, or TikTok.
Thank you for listening to thisspecial episode of Quakers
Today, a project of FriendsPublishing Corporation. For
updates on Season Four, followus on Tiktok, Instagram, and X

(11:03):
and visit our website, where youwill find show notes,
transcripts and resources. Thatwebsite is quakerstoday.org.
Thank you, friend. Look forwardto being with you again soon.

(13:19):
You