Synopses & Reviews
The efficacy and risks of different birth control options are dramatically different today from what they once were thanks to scientific advances and increased awareness of STDs and other factors. In the most comprehensive book on birth control since the 1970s, women's health activist Laura Eldridge discusses the history, scientific advances, and practical uses of everything from condoms to the male pill to Plan B.
Do diaphragms work? Should you stay on the Pill? What does fertility awareness really mean? Find these answers and more in In Our Control, the definitive guide to modern contraceptive and sexual health. Eldridge presents her meticulous research and unbiased consideration of our options in the intimate and honest tone of a close friend. Eldridge goes on to explore large-scale issues that might factor into women's birth control choices, urging her readers to consider the environmental impacts of each method and to take part in a dialogue on how international reproductive health issues affect us all.
Whether you're looking for your first birth control method or want to know more about your current contraceptive choice, In Our Control offers the cutting edge information and practical wisdom youll need to make empowered decisions about your sexual health.
Review
"Laura Eldridge learned women’s health writing at the side of the late women’s health advocate and activist Barbara Seaman, and it shows. She contextualizes her work with her own experience and preferences, but provides thorough documentation so that women can more easily make their own decisions. This is women’s health activism at its best. Feminism isn’t just about choices, but about having access to information and resources to make informed, authentic choicesand that is only possible when reliable and comprehensive information is widely available."Ms.
"Eldridge uses her own disappointing experiences with the pill and subsequent awakening to the myriad of alternatives as a starting point for a comprehensive exploration of female contraceptives. From there she unfolds a dynamic, seamlessly crafted work that’s one part contraceptive user’s manual, one part women’s history reader. The story of birth control proves long and complex, riddled with heated gender politics, greedy pharmaceutical companies, and outspoken religious leaders. But Eldridge presents her impressive breadth of research in concise, well-organized prose...a valuable read."VenusZine
"Laura Eldridge carries on the torch of women's health advocacy with this important new book. Without all the facts in front of you, the contraceptive choices of today's woman can be daunting rather than freeing. Laura Eldridge provides an eye-opening history of the issues women's health advocates have fought for, and assesses where we stand today."Shere Hite, author of The Hite Report
"Wow! I couldn't put [In Our Control] down. Reading Laura Eldridge's history about contraception blew my mind. We cannot allow pharmaceutical companies to endanger women lives! This book is about to regalvanize the women's health revolution!"Betty Dodson
Every contraceptive has a story. With wit and wisdom, Laura Eldridge tells the tale of each. Combining medical evidence, personal stories, and historical details, Eldridge has produced a wonderfully engaging and accessible book that will help women to navigate today’s contraceptive maze.”Andrea Tone, Canada Research Chair in the Social History of Medicine at McGill University, author of Devices and Desires.
"In Our Control isn’t content to simply discuss contraceptive options as if they exist in a vacuum. Instead, Eldridge traces the history of birth control development, painting a backdrop of the political context and gender inequalities that are inextricably intertwined with each birth control option....Eldridge’s fresh voice was apparent on every page of In Our Control, and evoked the pro-woman, community-oriented feel of a volume of Our Bodies, Ourselves. By placing exhaustive information about contraception into the hands of her readers, Eldridge is ensuring that women can approach their health professionals fully armed with all of their options, enabling them to have an honest conversation about which method is best for them."Feminist Review
"In Our Control doesn’t read like a scientific article but a wise and thoroughly researched expose on all aspects of contraception. Eldridge writes in a practical, often conversational format which should appeal to readers at all interest levels...In Our Control should be kept on one’s bookshelf for reference next to Our Bodies, Ourselves and Flow."Entertainment Realm
Review
"Young women discover very quickly that navigating their sexuality is a perilous journey through treacherous and unforgiving waters. With whom, when, how soon, how often, even just how, not to mention the adjacent Scylla and Charybdis whirlpools of pregnancy/reproduction and femininity (and the proper expressions thereof) -- the rocky shoals are narrower and stretch on for longer than any of them have been prepared for. They are fifteenth-century Portuguese sailors in search of the Spice Islands who have ended up, bafflingly, in Argentina." Bonnie B. Lee, Bookslut (Read the entire )
Synopsis
Everything you need to know about sexual health and birth control.
About the Author
Laura Eldridge is a women's health writer and activist living in Brooklyn, New York. Her latest books are The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause and Body Politic, with Barbara Seaman.