Detail of Book: Surgical Recovery
Our Hysterectomies is an eBook containing the illustrated first-person accounts of 16 women who have had hysterectomies, oophorectomies, myomectomies and more. The downloadable book contains animation, as well as printable DIY papercraft including reproductive system coloring book pages, pop-ups, paper cuts, and more.
Obtaining a copy of the eBook:
The book was originally made available for download (September 2018) through a Crowdrise campaign with all donations going directly to Planned Parenthood. Contributions received a copy of the eBook from me, regardless of the donation amount. If you wish to donate, here is a link to the campaign: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/our-hysterectomies-a-fundraiser-for-planned-parenthood
As of September 1, 2019 the eBook is available free for download here! It is available as both an ePub and Interactive PDF file. Papercraft files are also located within the directory.
Free to Libraries, academic databases, and more:
The book is also available free through various academic databases and libraries. If you wish to have a copy included in your library or for students, please contact me. Libraries currently include:
– The Maine Women Writers Collection, Abplanalp Library, University of New England
– New York University LitMed Database
– The Wellcome Collection
– The Harvard Medical School Countway Library.
Print copies of the book can also be purchased directly!
You can receive a 74-page fully illustrated soft-cover copy of Our Hysterectomies. $2$22.50 + $7.50 (tax + shipping + handling. please note that these are US Domestic shipping rates only. If you wish for the book to be sent internationally, I am very happy to do it, but please contact me so we can recalculate shipping costs. Thanks!) Please contact me for more information or visit my website mariannerpetit.com to purchase online.
Background/Story:
On March 14th, 2017, I underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy. The procedure was performed through open surgery and left behind a 6” vertical scar.
Upon waking up from surgery I felt surprisingly great. I hopped off the gurney and walked to my bed, ate two dinners, and walked laps around the ward. While I am typically rather private, I decided to be open about this. I had access to good health insurance, excellent medical care, and the support of three work communities—privileges many women don’t have. I felt no reason to remain silent other than a sense of shame brought on by a cultural stigma that I wouldn’t have had my appendix been removed instead.
And so, in an uncharacteristically public political act, I posted an image of myself from the hospital on social media. The outpouring of support was overwhelming but even more surprising, 17 women I knew reached out to tell me that they had been through the same thing, some only weeks earlier. I was stunned and began to reflect on the stories that induce our silence and the fictions we present instead.
Facts: According to the Centers for Disease Control, Hysterectomy is the second most frequently performed surgical procedure for U.S. women who are of reproductive age. Approximately 20 million American women have had a hysterectomy and approximately 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year. By the age of 60, more than 1/3 of all women have had a hysterectomy.
Goal: All women need access to high quality affordable reproductive health care services. As a result, I am using this book as a tool to increase awareness and support access to services.
Detail of Book: Surgical Recovery
Detail of Book: Preparing for Surgery
Detail of Book: Anatomical Coloring Book Pages
Detail of Book: Anatomical Coloring Book Pages
Articles / Conferences / Interviews / Press
I was interviewed by the New York University LITMED (Literature and Arts Medicine Database) Magazine this spring. You can read it here: https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/magazine/?p=34613
Wrote about it in an article entitled “Fairy Tales and the Necessity of Discomfort” for NYU’s Adjacent Online Journal of Emerging Media. You can read about it here.
Presented at the 2019 Graphic MedicineConference: “Queerying Graphic Medicine: Paradigms, Power, and Practices.”
Exhibited at the 2019 Examined Life Conference at the The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and presented at the 2020: British Society of Aesthetics Conference: Art, Aesthetics and the Medical / Health Humanities, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. Presentation: “Sharing Secrets: Our Hysterectomies”
Our Hysterectomies 