Ladies, We Need To Talk

by Yumi Stynes, Claudine Ryan

Ladies, We Need To Talk breaks the stigma around everything women are thinking but not saying. Yumi Stynes and Claudine Ryan cover all the trickiest taboo topics from their hit podcast, from bodies and mental health to sex and relationships.
 
The ABC podcast Ladies, We Need To Talk has been tearing open the sealed section on life for years, but host Yumi Stynes and co-creator Claudine Ryan know there’s still way more to say. In this book, they dive further into the podcast topics that resonated most with sensitivity, hilarity and serious smarts, and open the conversation further to include personal stories from listeners.
 
Want to discover the wonders of your vagina or know how to close the orgasm gap? Are you riding your hormonal rollercoaster blindfolded or feeling a bit weird about your period? Do you want to kick your mental load to the kerb or consider the alternatives to monogamy? You're not the only one – and there’s no need to go it alone. Ladies, We Need To Talk is a book for all women who feel the squeeze between their private life and their pelvic floor.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Audiobook, Health, Gender

304 pages, Paperback with Flaps

Published October 27, 2021

About the author

Yumi Stynes is an Australian writer, broadcaster, television presenter, food fanatic, fitness enthusiast, and mother of four—including two teenage girls. She is the presenter of the award-winning ABC Radio podcast Ladies, We Need to Talk, about female health and sexuality. Yumi Stynes lives in Sydney.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from my husband as a birthday gift.

The conversation surrounding the sale at the local bookshop is almost guessable:
Him: It’s my wife’s birthday and I want to buy her a book
Bookshop worker: What does she like to read?
Him: Oh, I don’t know…
Bookshop worker: Well, here’s a book by a local writer and podcaster. It’s called “Ladies, we need to talk”
Him: She’s a woman! Sounds great. I’ll buy it.

Honestly, I’ve never listened to this podcast and did put this book down several times when trying to read it.

Initially, it was the language. I’m a middle-aged woman, and wondered who the target audience was meant to be. But, that’s part of the issue: writing and presenting to a wide ranging and varied audience.

Taking this into consideration this is a rather good book. Identifying body parts, functions and cycles is the main part of the book.

The illustrations were thoughtful and tactful.

The chapter on anxiety would be my recommendation to most readers.

But, I would have really liked to have seen peri-menopause and menopause in there too. Maybe in the sequel?

Googling, the podcast has covered these topics.

Will I move onto the podcast or possible book sequel? Probably not. But, I appreciate this book being in the world, and have passed it on to a friend to read.

[Rania T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sort of book that should have been published years ago. It would have saved a lot of women from the heartache of succumbing to the clutches of patriarchy and popular culture.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an magnificent book! It's so incredibly insightful and I love the way they have written it! I guarantee you will learn something, find or reignite a passion, display anger towards the expectations placed upon females, reflect upon your own experiences and laugh out loud when you read this book! 😁

[Deb Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! And of course like I’m sure everyone that reads this book says…wish I’d had it when I was young! Or younger. Very excellent info and loved the women’s stories woven through it

[Jessica Offer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughly enjoyed this book. Informative, succinct and interesting. I even learnt some stuff! I’ll be recommending this to all young people - male and female - to read. Information is power!

[Kate Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded to 3.5

This is probably a 4 star book just not for me personally because I already have a foundational knowledge of female biology, intersectional feminism and sex. However would I recommend this to others YES. The illustrations are so damn cute and the content is easy to read and powerful. I think this book would've been most suited to me at ages 18-22. I do LOVE the accessibility of this book so that gets a big thumbs up, and I can see it helping many people.

I personally don't like the way they use Ladies as it is gendered language and feels a bit exclusionary to nonbinary folks, also we should be encouraging everyone to read about these topics.

I quite enjoyed the chapter on sharing the mental load, diving into the phases of it like conception, planning, and execution, and men usually only get involved in the execution part. They then offer practical tips on how to say to a partner "I don't want that mental load".

I also really appreciated the parts about shame around having a vulva, shame around cleanliness and appearance, it made me think I wonder if women started telling men "imagine going your whole life being made to feel shame about your vulva, companies constantly marketing you unnecessary hygiene products that are basically telling you, you are smelly, then, of course, it will be normal for vulva owners to be embarrassed or apprehensive about sexual acts like oral sex".

[Kelly Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for all humans to know more about women’s bodies, hormones, sex etc. The podcast Ladies we need to talk is the great companion to this book, worth listening to.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuff written about women by women for women - informative and eye-opening, with plenty of humour, it was actually kind of liberating (these things about ourselves as women that we don't think are normal - surprise, surprise, they are actually normal!)

[Grace Charter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the chapter on mental load!

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this podcast, love this book. I get so much out of it and makes me realise that I'm not alone

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladies, We Need To Talk is full of essential taboo and insightful topics that never get discussed. The book is written in a fun tone and is informative and insightful. It takes many women a long time to educate themselves or seek answers, and many never do — about their bodies, sexual health, and relationships. The book explores what women are thinking or wondering (if it's normal or not) but not speaking about, asking, or discovering how normal it is.

The book explores topics such as:
‣ Knowledge gap in our bodies and how they work (vaginal discharge and scent, and the female anatomy, which many people can't locate and often misname)
‣ Hormones that affect our cycle (the complex system that involves your brain, various organs, and your hormones)
‣ The power of 'no'
‣ Our body image problem (What I look like doesn't determine how valuable I am or how intelligent I am, and I can contribute so much more to society and have more fun in life if I'm not just focusing on my body. / My weight is not my worth. It's really important to remember that a number on the scale is not who you are. It literally is a number on the scale.)
‣ The gender beauty gap
‣ Sex shouldn't hurt (vaginal arousal and stimulation, health conditions that can lead to painful sex: vaginismus (described as a panic attack of the pelvic floor) and vulvodynia)
‣ The orgasm gap
‣ Should we ditch monogamy?
‣ Flipping the script (actively choose to be single or to not have children or both)

Information is power! Educate yourselves, ladies and men! Read this book! It's enriching and delightful.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m actually quite embarrassed by how long it’s taken humanity to acknowledge the existence , anatomy and purpose of the clitoris. Shame on you, humans.

I was lucky that my educational system allowed me to learn pretty much the entire contents of this book. So whilst I didn’t skim the pages, I wasn’t exactly surprised. I was hoping to learn something new.
I was also a little surprised that people found the chapter on anxiety helpful.. as someone who suffers from anxiety on a daily basis “going for a walk” in the midst of a panic attack or in the moment of severe anxiety is absolutely not coming to the forefront of my brain and has in no way made a difference to whatever state I was in at the time. I think the chapter should’ve been more extensive and focused more on what can be done treatment wise. It’s such a broad topic and to only have a few pages for it was disappointing.

I did however find the chapter on hormone changes throughout the period cycle very interesting. Like the anxiety chapter, (actually all chapters) everything seemed rushed.

This certainly reignited my anger towards female expectations in society. Fuck the patriarchy.

It was humorous and had cute illustrations which made this easier to get through. I enjoyed the many personal stories in between paragraphs as well. Makes it feel more real.

Perhaps the ladies should’ve just stuck to their podcast.

[Evelien Jong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on many taboo subjects including sex, anxiety, menstruation, monogamy, etc.I started listening to the podcast but enjoy something more informative like a book. I agree with other readers this is more tailored towards a younger audience and the info at times is a little basic. I'm in my thirties and I agree with others that menopause also deserves a place in this book. Perhaps not a lengthy one given the target audience but worth exploration and umderstanding for all women. I laughed out loud many of times while listening to the audiobook. I also felt empowered by some of the subjects and it would have saved me some grief had I had this book in my early twenties. Yes, the vast majority of us fit within what is considered "normal" and being a little eccentric is a good thing as most people have no idea what they're really doing anyway 😜 (and that's ok). We are all figuring out life as we go.

[Nicki Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative, relatable read, this book talks about a lot of once thought of as 'private ladies issues' that should not be discussed at all. Topics also include stories from ladies own life experiences and are told in such a humourous way that we cannot help but feel that more of us than we realise have had similar experiences and we really should talk about them more openly than the majority of us currently do. A humanizing, informative and conversation starting read. ⭐⭐⭐ #ladiesweneedtotalk #yumistynes #claudineryan #goodreads #getlitsy #thestorygraph #amazonaustralia #tea_sipping_bookworm #bookqueen #bookstagram

[Sarah]

This book (and the podcast it's based on) comes from the really basic idea that there is a chasm in the public (and private) conversation about women and women's issues. The premise is to seek out such taboos, normalise them by reporting their commonality, and give informed and understandable information and advice about them.

Topics covered include:
Female anatomy (back to basics that many people have missed)
Menstruation
The mental load
Body image problems

[Liv Locascio · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was well written but it didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t know before. Maybe I’m privileged in that aspect and I’ll certainly accept that and can appreciate that for other women (people generally), it can be quite eye-opening. It was like reading Girl Stuff as a young girl, but without the kinda “wow” factor. It was reassuring but also interesting in the fact that there are so many women in Australia that have these conflicting perspectives about aspects of womanhood.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies, We Need to Talk is an Australian podcast hosted by Yumi Stynes, centred around topics women find hard to talk about - menopause, their pelvic floor, periods etc. I'd never heard of it when I came across this audiobook version but it made for great commute listening.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell everyone you know to read this book…. Not just one for the ladies, men too!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another informative book.
However, felt that there was quite a lot of information that was crammed in.

[Camilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsory reading for both sexes

[Hannah Arndt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an important and informative book. Well done Ladies 👊

[Alli_aye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, invaluable stuff. Good narration.

[Karla Ess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for all women!

[Maya Kukudzhanova · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book. Covers lots of topics on women body and mental health.

[Jacinta Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think all men and women should read this book. Young girls especially. This book makes me love being a woman in a world where it doesn’t always seem to be a good thing.

[Zajkel Zaia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All gals should read this.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really relatable and informative. The chapter on the mental load had me nodding along the whole way through.

[Julie-Anne Borgias · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good once i got over the culturally indoctrinated ick factor.

[taegen ☾⭒ · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 book review 📚
Ladies, we need to talk
~Yumi Stynes & Claudine Ryan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Essential reading. Absolutely freakin' mind blowing.

I learnt SO much and will forever be grateful for this sisterhood in a book. Thank you for making me feel seen, for teaching me about all the wonders of my female form and for empowering me to be more confident about my life decisions.

The content is confronting; it's big and uncomfortable and completely exhilarating! I highly recommend.

I've never listened to a podcast but I've got a feeling I'm about to start...

[Mel Sweeney (mels.bookshelf_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vagina owners, you need to read this book. What initially began as the hit ABC podcast, Ladies We Need to Talk is now a book. From menstrual cycle education, the mental load, hormones, pelvic floor, anxiety and much more… Nothing is off limits, and this book covers it all. If you enjoyed the podcast, you will already be familiar with Yumi and Claudine’s innate ability to insert the perfect amount of candid humour to each topic to bust open taboos and make every women feel safe, comfortable, and celebrate their uniqueness.
Covering all the taboo topics that women usually keep hidden, this book covers everything women ARE NOT saying about their bodies, health, sex, and relationships. This book could be inhaled in one go, or you could come in and out as you please. You WILL definitely learn something.