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A review by stephlo
Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex, and Other Taboo Topics by Lara Parker
4.0
Someone else commented that the book reads like a blog post, which I agree with AND considered a strength for the points Parker is trying to get across. It’s not meant to be very scientific; it’s completely an emotional memoir-like portrayal of Parker’s individual experience.
It is very repetitive at times and thus could have been shorter, but honestly, I wouldn’t have changed too too much of it because I think the repetition helps to reinforce the nature of her chronic illness and what she deals with all.the.time. This book definitely focused on the chronic illness aspect of her struggles, which is not why I read the book BUT was much needed for me. I think ableism is so incredibly deeply ingrained in our society, especially because of the wide variety of things people go through (visible vs “invisible,” mental vs physical, all the different needs that come with it, etc.) making it more difficult to conceptualize without experience in specific areas and this book definitely helped me start to fathom what the life of someone with chronic illness looks like because of how informally personal and detailed it was.
Aside from the chronic illness aspect, I thought she did a nice job tackling societal ideas of sex and the taboo that comes with these topics, as well as the struggles of the healthcare system for people with many of her issues and many, many more. (And the impact your physical health has on your mental health.) Many themes she discussed were broadly applicable to many situations outside chronic illness and vagina problems, which is a sign that some pretty legit life lessons were present throughout.
Not exactly a literary piece, but I think really important content for anyone to read across gender, ability, vagina problems or not. She openly acknowledged all of the privilege she has in tackling her vagina problems (white woman, flexible job, supportive network, financially stable, safe access to CBD, etc.) which makes all of it wayyy more terrifying thinking of how many people struggle with these issues and don’t have those societal assets. I was really in shock reading her stories and imagine many others would be too, considering the taboo nature of these topics, making a read like this all the more important.
It is very repetitive at times and thus could have been shorter, but honestly, I wouldn’t have changed too too much of it because I think the repetition helps to reinforce the nature of her chronic illness and what she deals with all.the.time. This book definitely focused on the chronic illness aspect of her struggles, which is not why I read the book BUT was much needed for me. I think ableism is so incredibly deeply ingrained in our society, especially because of the wide variety of things people go through (visible vs “invisible,” mental vs physical, all the different needs that come with it, etc.) making it more difficult to conceptualize without experience in specific areas and this book definitely helped me start to fathom what the life of someone with chronic illness looks like because of how informally personal and detailed it was.
Aside from the chronic illness aspect, I thought she did a nice job tackling societal ideas of sex and the taboo that comes with these topics, as well as the struggles of the healthcare system for people with many of her issues and many, many more. (And the impact your physical health has on your mental health.) Many themes she discussed were broadly applicable to many situations outside chronic illness and vagina problems, which is a sign that some pretty legit life lessons were present throughout.
Not exactly a literary piece, but I think really important content for anyone to read across gender, ability, vagina problems or not. She openly acknowledged all of the privilege she has in tackling her vagina problems (white woman, flexible job, supportive network, financially stable, safe access to CBD, etc.) which makes all of it wayyy more terrifying thinking of how many people struggle with these issues and don’t have those societal assets. I was really in shock reading her stories and imagine many others would be too, considering the taboo nature of these topics, making a read like this all the more important.