The lies we tell pregnant women

Our culture insists on not resting until every expectant parent is a strung-out, anxious mess. This easy-to-read yet data-driven book is the antidote. Oster, highly trained in interpreting data, guides readers through the science of pregnancy so they can take a step back from the hysteria and make fact-based informed decisions.

I love gifting this book to new parents. This is a humorous, frank, science-based discussion of how parenthood need not be at odds with sexuality and romance. An incredibly relatable and QUICK read — because what parent has time to read?

These essays critique the culture and media we consume, including literary representations of women from a very personal perspective. The images we are inundated with and the stories we are told shape who we become, and Gay's witty and sophisticated analysis allows us to be more cognizant of this process.

Many of us had Virginia Wolf as required reading at some point in our schooling, but I think her works are worth revisiting as an adult. Wolf’s intended audience in this book are women writers, it just as relevant, however, to social scientists or anyone looking to carefully examine patriarchal culture. Her observations and insights are just as meaningful now, nearly a century later, as they were when she first wrote this extended essay—unfortunately.

Jawed-Wessel, S., Herbenick, D., Schick, V. (in press). Body image and self-consciousness during sexual and physical intimacy among first-time mothers. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2016.1212443

Jawed-Wessel, S. & Sevick, E. (in press). Sexual behaviors during pregnancy and after childbirth. Annual Review of Sex Research.

Jawed-Wessel, S., Schick, V., Herbenick, D., Fortenberry, D., Cattelona, G., Reece, M. (2016). Development and validation of the Sex during Pregnancy Scales. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 42, 8: 681-701. DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2015.1113587

Jawed-Wessel, S., Herbenick, D., Schick, V. (2013). The Sexual Function Questionnaire’s Medical Impact Scale (SFQ-MIS): Validation among a sample of first-time mothers. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10:2715-2722. DOI: 10.1111/jsm.1230730192-2/abstract)