It's time to start speaking loudly about the all-too-common, but under-acknowledged, issues women navigate throughout their lives. In her acclaimed and groundbreaking book I Had a Miscarriage , Jessica Zucker boldly exposed the silence, stigma, and shame that surround pregnancy loss and demonstrated the need to normalize and destigmatize painful reproductive events that often go unspoken. Now, in Normalize It , Zucker expands her lens to address a multitude of struggles in womanhood--body image, motherhood, mental health, reproductive rights, and more. As women, we continually grapple with the competing forces of societal expectations and our lived experiences, while simultaneously lacking agency over some of the choices that affect our daily lives. Whatever choices we do make are fraught with meaning: to become a mother or not, to speak up about our challenges or not, to seek help for mental health issues or not. Then there are the "choices" our bodies sometimes make for us: infertility, pregnancy loss, cancer, and menopause. Based on her own stories, coupled with those of her therapy patients, Zucker's insights and wisdom will make women feel seen, heard and valued--so they can better confront whatever circumstances come to bear. By normalizing our experiences, Zucker opens the door to healing through storytelling.
Every woman, whether she expects to or not, will resonate with the various experiences found in these pages. Normalize It is the manifesto and the call to action you've been waiting for.