Dr. Lissa Rankin, practicing gynecologist and author of “What’s Up Down There?” asks and answers the questions you’d ask your best friend if she was a gynecologist.
For example, boobs—what’s normal and what’s not? Why is it that treating yeast infections won’t cure you of them permanently? And lots of waaaay more intimate and funny questions.
Rankin spoke to Make It Better while on her cross-country book tour to promote “What’s Up Down There?: Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend
Be confident about your body
Rankin’s book is a series of questions and answers about women’s bodies and health, but the book goes beyond informing the reader. Rankin wants readers to honor and embrace the female body.
“My intention was to get women to love themselves,” she says. Her goal is for women to take a step back and see what needs to be done in order to own your body and sexuality. “We need to love ourselves in order to be whole women.”
Take care of yourself
Do you respect yourself? Have you stopped any and all negative thoughts? Rankin wants women to feel empowered with their own bodies and stop comparisons to other women.
With that empowerment comes a personal promise to continually care for your body and its needs. She stresses that taking care of yourself is not greedy; it is a necessity.
“So many people equate self-care to selfish,” she says. “If you don’t take care of yourself, how do you expect other people to care about you? Life is a marathon. You have to take care of yourself to have a full life.”
Ask Questions
She also hopes women will be proactive in their approach to health. One way of being proactive is asking questions. Rankin wants women to always ask about an issue, no matter how small it may feel. Seek out medical advice and have conversations with your girlfriends.
“I hope that women get together and have conversations about these issues. They need to put things in the open and let go of any shame.”
What first began as a light, humorous read full of advice and inquiries about a woman’s body turned in to a powerful book dedicated to strengthening the relationship you have with yourself.
