After more than two years in the making, the first volume of “Nossos Corpos por Nós Mesmas,” has arrived! The book, a Brazilian Portuguese adaptation of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” covers topics including anatomy and sexuality, birth control, abortion, body image, safer sex and violence against women. The book was translated and adapted through a joint collaboration between the Coletivo Feminista Sexualidade e Saúde (CFSS), the Research Group on Translation Studies at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the translation team at Universidade de Campinas (Unicamp).
The book is the first of three volumes; the other two books will be published by the end of 2022. Each will feature updated health information on reproductive health and sexuality in Brazil as well as the stories and experiences of Brazilian women.
On September 23, 2021, the Coletivo Feminista Sexualidade e Saúde and Our Bodies Ourselves held a webinar to celebrate the new book and to honor the generations of Brazilian and U.S. feminists who have long fought for health justice and equality. The event was powerful and moving, as one woman after another shared their stories on how “Our Bodies, Ourselves” and “Nossos Corpos” have affected their lives, how and why they became involved in the movement for reproductive justice, and what it has meant (and means) to work and learn from feminists in different countries.
Participating in the event were “Nossos Corpos” project coordinator Raquel Pereira and book team members Janine Pimentel and Érica Lima, OBOS co-founders Judy Norsigian and Norma Swenson, and pioneering Brazilian researchers on women, health and sexuality, Sonia Corrêa, Simone Diniz and Bia Fioretti.
In preparation for the event, several of the organizers created a wonderful, celebratory 17-minute video of stories and greetings from the Brazilian team:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rjYWvDDSZA]
You can also watch a recording of the full one-and-a-half-hour webinar below. The recording is currently partly in Portuguese and partly in English — we hope to add captions in the other language soon!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujfj5wUjNOM]
The book will eventually be published online at the website of the Coletivo Feminista Sexualidade e Saúde. For now, the print book is available through the publisher, Editora Grupo Estante.
Congratulations to our fabulous colleagues in Brazil, for your dedication and commitment to bringing much needed information on sexuality and health to Brazilian Portuguese readers!