Who doesn’t like an archive of good suggested reading? Please see below for a list of books utilized in past book club meetings.
November 2022 – April 2023 — Six-month series for Pelvic Pain
Lean into sweater weather with a warm and inviting book club facilitated by Sara and Katy, helping professionals trained in human sexuality, counseling, and the art of empathizing with pelvic pain topics. We plan to meet once monthly to discuss topics that are pelvic pain-adjacent, including love, body image, gender roles, and storytelling and communication. Join us the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm EST for a cozy hour and a half of love, support, reflection, and growth.
Please contact Sara at sara@findyourselfbethat.com for more information and to join our crew. You may register your spot by paying in advance here. If you would prefer to pick which meetings to attend à la carte, you may do so by sending an email to Sara. We are meeting virtually using Google Meet.
(Note: The readings are suggested, so if you have trouble finishing something, read one book rather than two, watched its movie instead of read the text, absolutely hated the reading, etc. – please feel comfortable attending, the most important thing you bring to us is your empathy, relating, and reflection. We’re looking forward to meeting you!)
Syllabus:
November 1st: Love & Feminism
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
December 6th: Body Image & Objectification
Milkfed by Melissa Broder (fiction)
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
January 3rd: Pelvic Pain Memoirs
The Camera My Mother Gave Me by Susanna Kaysen
Vagina Problems by Lara Parker
February 7th: Sexualization & Sexual Violence
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel (fiction)
Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti
March 7th: Communicating about sex
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (fiction)
April 4th: Gender and Expression
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (fiction)
April – September 2022 — Six-month series for Pelvic Pain
Calling women looking to usher in a hot girl summer! We are launching a virtual book club that will meet monthly for six months, beginning April 2022. We will use a variety of media to encourage discussion on topics like sexuality, pain with sex and sexual pain, the sex you are having vs. the sex you want to be having, how to communicate about tough topics, and deconstructing sexual scripts, purity culture, and all the lessons we learned about sex that now, well, don’t really fit so right. If you’re interested, please join us! Register your spot by paying here. Email me at sara@findyourselfbethat.com for more information and to confirm your spot.
Syllabus:
April 26: Women’s Sexuality 101
Come As You Are
May 24: Learning about Chronic Pain
Explain Pain (pdf can be shared with you)
The Body Keeps the Score
June 28: Faith, organized religion, and sexual purity culture
Unorthodox Netflix Series/memoir
Critique article
Article: Is Purity Culture a Form of Sexual Abuse?
The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women
July 26: Intersectionality of Sexuality, Identity, and Body Image
The Body is not an Apology
Cranky Queer
Sore Loser Zine
August 23: Navigating Medical Treatment of Sexual Pain
Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine
Secret Suffering: How Women’s Sexual and Pelvic Pain Affects Their Relationships
Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick
Ask Me about my Uterus: A Quest to make doctors believe in Women’s Pain
September 26: Talking about Sexual Pain and Sex
Sex Education Netflix Series
Article: Communicating about sexual pain when dating