On June 18, the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) President and CEO Kathryn Schubert hosted a conversation with Sara Hirsh Bordo, founder of Women Rising® and author of the new book, Autoimmunity & the Good Girls. Hirsh Bordo is a 2026 Women’s Health Champion and generously donating a portion of her book sale proceeds to SWHR this summer.
The event was an intimate evening to discuss women’s empowerment, gaps in women’s health research, and how we can all work together to amplify the voices of women and girls. Schubert and Hirsh Bordo discussed the writing process, her personal health journey and how it inspired her to start this work, and what she hopes other women – and their fathers, husbands, and families – will take away from this book.
Schubert asked Hirsh Bordo about writing the book, including when she knew she wanted to release this story and what putting together the book was like. “You share a lot, and it was really important that it was shared, but was that difficult?” Schubert asked.
“Writing was like candy to me, not because what I wrote was easy to share, but the intimacy of the creative experience was like a ritual, like a breathing prayer,” said Hirsh Bordo. “[Writing this book] was the most fun I’ve had living and creating in my life.”
You can read more about Hirsh Bordo’s writing process and her daily affirmations for writing on the SWHR blog, Author Calls for Self-Empowerment through Autoimmune Diagnosis.
During the event Q&A with audience members, many individuals shared how they have had to learn to speak up for their own health as they’ve gotten older, or how they are fostering a sense of self-empowerment in their own daughters.
Hirsh Bordo emphasized that many women may be taught or socialized to not speak up about their own pain or health. She encouraged the audience to keep in mind, the idea that “just because my daughter is quiet, doesn’t mean that she’s okay.”
When asked what she hopes individuals take away from this book, Hirsh Bordo said: “I hope [this book] holds the hand of the reader down the empowerment road one step from where you met me and met the book.”
Take your next step and learn more about the book at autoimmunityandthegoodgirls.com.
