Your Sexual Health: A Guide to understanding, loving and caring for your body

by Kate White, Mónica Ramos (Illustrations)

Get bite-sized sex health tips from the gyno who’s seen it all. Dr. Kate (White, M.D., M.P.H., OB-GYN) gives front-line advice on gyno health, period health, sex health, and reproductive health, dispelling old-wives’ tales and offering fresh research, with topic titles such as “your vagina should smell (and taste) like a vagina;” “treat your vulva like the Hope Diamond;” “we don’t care if you’ve shaved;” “a partner who doesn’t have a clitoris may not know where yours is;” “if you have eggs and your partner has sperm, think about contraception;” and “there’s no wrong or unnatural way to deliver a baby.”
 

Dr. Kate fills in the gaps left by modern sex education in an accessible and prescriptive way. Your Sexual Health provides answers to your burning questions about your reproductive health (and yes—even questions about vaginal burning!) and tells you things you may have never even thought to ask. 

As one of the country’s leading gynecologists, vice chair of academics, director of the Fellowship in Complex Family Planning at Boston Medical Center, and associate professor of OB-GYN at the Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Kate White arms readers with questions to ask of their own “doctor downstairs.” Addressing topics like taking care of your vaginal health, regulating your menstrual cycle, eliminating painful periods, choosing the right birth control, and achieving orgasms, you’ll understand your body in a new way through 69 easy-to-digest sections. And while many books about women’s health care focus on the experiences of heterosexual women, Dr. Kate provides a friendly, inclusive guide for all readers with female parts, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. 

Throughout Your Sexual Health, you’ll learn how to:
• Understand how your body is normal — and notice when it’s not.
• Have periods that don’t ruin your life — or your clothes.
• Get in touch with your body and your partner for the best sex of your life.
• Protect your body from STDs and STIs.
• Learn the often-normal causes for occasionally abnormal pap smears.
• Discover the right contraception for your body.

Your Sexual Health is the perfect high school graduation gift or college graduation gift. It’s filled with trustworthy and approachable information, making it your board-certified bedside confidante until you can see your gyno. 

 

Genres: Bodies, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Published May 24, 2022

About the author

Kate White is a training therapist, supervisor and teacher at The Bowlby Centre. Formerly a senior lecturer at South Bank University in the Department of Nursing and Community Health Studies, she has used her extensive experience in adult education to contribute to the innovative psychotherapy curriculum developed at The Bowlby Centre. In addition to working as an individual psychotherapist, Kate writes about psychotherapy education and runs workshops on the themes of attachment and trauma in clinical practice.

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Reviews

[Mewa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halo, przypisy? Gdzie się podziały?
Ogólnie jak dla mnie tytuł ten oferuje zbyt niewiele, ale jest pigułką wiedzy, co dla większości będzie wygodne.

[Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have for every woman’s bookshelf and I’m so glad I have a copy to keep on mine. It is succinctly informative and refreshingly honest, full of some of the most important topics for today. Within just a few paragraphs for each topic, Dr. White makes you feel empowered about each issue without beating around bush which makes it clear her only goal with this book is to inform and educate without bias or agenda. She’s funny, honest, and medically accurate while giving the reader the tools to be empowered about their sexual health.

[Kimmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for if you have a uterus, you love someone with a uterus, or you do prevention work around sexual health. In Your Sexual Health: A Guide to Understanding, Loving and Caring for Your Body, Dr. Kate White tackles subjects that are usually coated in shame and stigma, and talks about them in a factual and easy to understand way. Through an appropriately numbered 69 sections, this book has everything: what’s normal, what’s not, what to ask your doctor, when to find a new doctor (one that respects you), etc. all with lots of humor. This book is also gender inclusive with phrases like “if you have eggs and your partner has sperm,” and discussing peoples’ experiences. There is even a note in the introduction that if there is gendered language (usually in relation to a statistic) that the terminology “reflect[s] the limitations of published research that hasn’t caught up to the times.” A fun reference guide for every bookshelf, empower yourself with the knowledge to advocate for yourself, lead a healthy life, and get the answers to some of the internet’s most burning questions about sexual health (pun intended)!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for people who need more knowledge and/or reassurance about everything from periods to intercourse to pregnancy (and how to avoid it). The tone is very clear and the artworks are beautiful. It’s a quick read, and I’d recommend it especially for teens and young adults.

[Suzannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative, helpful guide to reproductive health for folks who can get pregnant. An additional joy was all of the inclusive language used.

[martiex]

no rating because it’s a must read for everyone

[Lyndsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to BAM for a book about my body, as a woman in their late 20s. This was the only book they had. I got it, as it was the only option, but it was a blessing in disguise. I ate this book up. I feel so much more confident about my body after reading this.

[burgundowezycie · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Twoje zdrowie seksualne” to książka, która ma ambicję być przewodnikiem po kobiecej seksualności i zdrowiu. Autorka, Kate White, jest ginekolożką i dzieli się swoją wiedzą w 69 przystępnych sekcjach, które mają na celu oświecenie czytelniczek na tematy często pomijane w codziennych rozmowach. Ogromnie chciałabym Wam ją polecić, ale z pewnych powodów niestety nie mogę.

Zacznijmy od minusów, oto parę z nich:
😔 Zawarte w niej informacje są kontrowersyjne i można powiedzieć, że wątpliwej skuteczności.
😳 Stosunek przerywany jest w niej przedstawiony jako „bezpłatna i łatwa dostępna, nie wymagająca recepty ani późnych nocnych wypraw do apteki” metoda antykoncepcyjna.
🤯 Antykoncepcja hormonalna wg autorki nie wpływa na zdrowie i nie zagraża płodności.
🙄 Brak chociaż wspomnienia o metodach termicznych, objawowo-termicznych, które są skuteczną alternatywą dla antykoncepcji hormonalnej oraz nieingerującą w gospodarkę hormonalną.
🫣 Wiele podanych informacji może wprowadzać w błąd i nie jest zgodnych z najnowszą literatura naukową.
🫢 Nie jest to pozycja dla konserwatywnych czytelników.

Książka ma również pewne atuty 😉:
👍🏻 Jest napisana prostym i zrozumiałym językiem, co sprawia, że jest dostępna dla szerokiego grona odbiorców
👍🏻 Pomocne sugestie dotyczące obserwacji cyklu oraz baza przydatnych pytań, które można zadać na wizycie u ginekologa.
👍🏻 Ma piękne i zachęcającą okładkę.
👍🏻 Niektóre informacje przedstawione w książce, są zgodne z najnowszymi publikacjami naukowymi.

Twoje zdrowie seksualne” to książka, która może służyć jako wprowadzenie do tematów zdrowia seksualnego, jednak osobiście nie poleciłabym jej osobie wkraczającej w dorosłość. Decyzje, czy mimo wszystko sięgniecie i przeczytacie zostawiam Wam moi Kochani.

Dziękuję za zaufanie i egzemplarz do recenzji od @wydawnictwomuza (współpraca reklamowa)🩷.

[Mara Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy read. Very approachable, empowering, and reassuring. There are some topics that I feel were a little confusing and I would have loved more information on. She mentions resources in some parts but not on the parts that I was personally confused about. Nonetheless, i really appreciate this read and wish I had been given something like it when i was a teen or even in my early twenties.

[Karla Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the art in this book and it reaffirms my need for a risograph printer. This was a Sex ed 101 and beyondish but in a smol package that is a fast read. Def a sex ed self care book but also gives you the confidence to ask the right questions with your Doctor. I also learned that you are not supposed to get a pap smear annually and other useful health tip, totes recommend.

[Nass · Rating 2 out of 5]

No niestety, ale brakuje w niej porządnej bibliografii. Niektóre informacje są błędne, jak np. To że stosunek przerywany jest bezpłatna formą antykoncepcji. Nie wiem jak inni, ale ja o zapłodnieniu miałam już w piątej klasie podstawówki i ten mit obaliła 60 letnia nauczycielka, więc dosyć kiepsko, że w "pigułce wiedzy" - jest on powielany.

[Brigitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, informative answers to much-needed questions.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative!

[Neslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important but simple facts about sexual health that we don't get to talk about often! I like the approachable aspect of this tiny yet lovely guidebook.

[Kai Montague · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read!!! Informative, kind, accepting, and amazing!!!!

[Chavala · Rating 5 out of 5]

A non-judgmental, gender neutral book about how to have a body with a vagina. A must have.

[d h lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

me and my girlfriend are going to get this for our kid someday

[Trevi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the kind of book I’d give a usual review to haha!
Informative, encouraging, & apparently a good book to read in one sitting at Barnes & Noble ;-)

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A guide aimed at providing information and advice related to sexual health, self-love, and self-care. Books in this genre often cover a range of topics such as anatomy, relationships, communication, and overall well-being. Enjoyed it!