Barbara Seaman
Encyclopedia
Barbara Seaman was an American author, activist, and journalist, and a principal founder of the women's health
feminism
movement.
and Sophie Kimels, met at a Young People's Socialist League
picnic, grew up in a politically progressive milieu (Pete Seeger
sang at her nursery school when she was four years old).
Seaman was sensitized at an early age to women's health issues when her aunt Sally died of endometrial cancer in 1959, aged 49. Her aunt's oncologist attributed her death to Premarin
, which her gynecologist had prescribed for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
. Through this organization she met Betty Friedan
, who asked her to cover events such as the founding of NOW
(1966), the founding of NARAL (1969), and other similarly important feminist developments. She was also befriended by Gloria Steinem
and became a contributing editor at Ms. Magazine.
In tandem with her writing activities, Seaman was also a political organizer. She was a founding member of the New York Women's Forum (1973), vice president of the New York City Women's Medical Center (1971), and sat on the advisory board of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women
(1973).
In 1969, she completed her first book, The Doctors' Case Against the Pill, which would become the basis for the Nelson Pill Hearings
on the safety of the combined oral contraceptive pill. As a result of the hearings, a health warning was added to the pill, the first informational insert for any prescription drug. Robert Finch, Secretary of HEW
, praised Seaman saying, "The Doctors' Case Against the Pill... was a major factor in our strengthening the language in the final warning published in the Federal Register to be included in each package of the Pill." The dramatic events surrounding the hearings also brought together many soon-to-be prominent health feminists for the first time, and encouraged them to pursue further action. In 1975 Seaman co-founded the National Women's Health Network
with Alice Wolfson
, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell
(M.D.) and Phyllis Chesler
(Ph. D).
Also in 1975, Seaman made "Four Demands" -- a speech at Harvard Medical School in which she demanded that more women be admitted to training in obstetrics and gynecology. At the time, the number was barely 3%. Another demand was that women have a say in how research money concening female reproduction be spent.
Women and Madness, Why Natural Childbirth and Vaginal Politics. More recently, she has helped to write major obituaries for her fellow activists in the women's health movement, including Dr. Mary Howell
and Lorraine Rothman.
on numerous occasions including dismissals from Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle
, Omni
and Hadassah magazines.
U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, in the Congressional Record (October 17, 2005), stated that "In the 1980s Barbara was essentially blacklisted from magazines by pharmaceutical companies who would not advertise in publications that carried her stories. Her relentless insistence on questioning the safety and effectiveness of their products earned her their condemnation and our praise. Barbara took advantage of this forced lull by turning to biography."
During the 1980s, Seaman published Lovely Me, a biography of Jacqueline Susann
, which was made into a television movie,
Scandalous Me, starring Michele Lee
.
, close to her three children, four grandchildren, two sisters, and two nephews.
Until the end of her life, she was writing articles and advocating for women's safety and participation in their own medical treatment. Seaman continued to write about hormonal contraceptives, childbirth, and the unwillingness of some doctors and pharmaceutical companies to disclose risks to patients and consumers, effectively denying them the ability to make informed decisions. On 27 February 2008, Barbara Seaman died of lung cancer. Hundreds of friends and family from around the country joined her family for a memorial service shortly after her death.
In June 2000, the New York Times published a piece by Seaman, "The Pill and I: 40 Years On, the Relationship Remains Wary".
She collaborated with Laura Eldridge on two books,The No Nonsense Guide to Menopause released in 2008 (Simon & Schuster) and Voices of the Women's Health Movement (Seven Stories Press
) to be published in January 2012.
In 2009 the 40th anniversary edition of the Doctors' Case Against the Pill is scheduled for publication.
Bride's and Family Circle.
Contributor to many books, including:
Contributor to several plays and documentaries, including:
Women's health
Women's health refers to health issues specific to human female anatomy. These often relate to structures such as female genitalia and breasts or to conditions caused by hormones specific to, or most notable in, females. Women's health issues include menstruation, contraception, maternal health,...
feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
movement.
Early years
Seaman, whose parents, Henry J. RosnerHenry J. Rosner
Henry Rosner was an American policy researcher, journalist, and fiscal administrator for public welfare programs in New York City and New York State. He consulted for and helped set up welfare programs and departments in a number of U.S...
and Sophie Kimels, met at a Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1989, is the official youth arm of the Socialist Party USA. The group's membership consists of those democratic socialists under the age of 30, and its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic...
picnic, grew up in a politically progressive milieu (Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
sang at her nursery school when she was four years old).
Seaman was sensitized at an early age to women's health issues when her aunt Sally died of endometrial cancer in 1959, aged 49. Her aunt's oncologist attributed her death to Premarin
Premarin
Premarin is the commercial name for a compound cream of vaginally administered estrogens, consisting primarily of conjugated estrogens. Isolated from mares' urine , it is manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and has been marketed since 1942...
, which her gynecologist had prescribed for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
Writings and Activism
When the birth control pill came on the market in 1960, Barbara was writing columns for women's magazines such as Brides and the Ladies' Home Journal. She launched her career as a women's health journalist and brought a new kind of health reporting to the field, writing articles that centered more on the patient and less on the medical fads of the day. Seaman was first to reveal that women lacked the information they needed to make informed decisions on child-bearing, breast-feeding, and oral contraceptives. She even went so far as to alert women to the dangers of the Pill, whose primary ingredient was estrogen (also the active ingredient in Premarin, which had contributed to the death of her aunt). Prolific output and the popularity of her published articles won Seaman membership with the prestigious Society of Magazine WritersAmerican Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is an organization of independent nonfiction writers in the United States...
. Through this organization she met Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
, who asked her to cover events such as the founding of NOW
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(1966), the founding of NARAL (1969), and other similarly important feminist developments. She was also befriended by Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
and became a contributing editor at Ms. Magazine.
In tandem with her writing activities, Seaman was also a political organizer. She was a founding member of the New York Women's Forum (1973), vice president of the New York City Women's Medical Center (1971), and sat on the advisory board of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(1973).
In 1969, she completed her first book, The Doctors' Case Against the Pill, which would become the basis for the Nelson Pill Hearings
Nelson Pill Hearings
In 1970, Barbara Seaman brought the dangers of combined oral contraceptive pill use to the attention of Senator Gaylord Nelson with her book The Doctors Case Against the Pill...
on the safety of the combined oral contraceptive pill. As a result of the hearings, a health warning was added to the pill, the first informational insert for any prescription drug. Robert Finch, Secretary of HEW
Hew
Hew is a masculine given name, and may refer to the following:* Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick , Scottish judge and politician* Hew Dalrymple Ross , British soldier* Hew Fraser , British field hockey player...
, praised Seaman saying, "The Doctors' Case Against the Pill... was a major factor in our strengthening the language in the final warning published in the Federal Register to be included in each package of the Pill." The dramatic events surrounding the hearings also brought together many soon-to-be prominent health feminists for the first time, and encouraged them to pursue further action. In 1975 Seaman co-founded the National Women's Health Network
National Women's Health Network
The National Women's Health Network is a non-profit women's health advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1975 by Barbara Seaman, Alice Wolfson, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell, M.D., and Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. The stated mission of the organization is to give women a...
with Alice Wolfson
Alice Wolfson
Alice Wolfson, a Barnard graduate and former Fulbright Scholar, is a veteran political activist in women's reproductive health issues, a lawyer, and a co-founder of the National Women's Health Network....
, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell
Mary Howell
Mary Catherine Raugust Howell was a physician, psychologist, lawyer, mentor, musician and mother. She was the first woman dean at Harvard Medical School and led the fight to end quotas and open medical schools to women.-Biography:Dr. Howell was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota...
(M.D.) and Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler is an American writer, psychotherapist, and professor emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island...
(Ph. D).
Also in 1975, Seaman made "Four Demands" -- a speech at Harvard Medical School in which she demanded that more women be admitted to training in obstetrics and gynecology. At the time, the number was barely 3%. Another demand was that women have a say in how research money concening female reproduction be spent.
Health Feminist Hub
Seaman was an enthusiastic promoter of other writers on women's health and body issues. In a piece published in the New York Times on December 2, 1972, she wrote "Some women want to let their doctors do the worrying for them. But for those of us who don't, it has been extremely difficult to get honest health information." Seaman went on to praise and introduce a new library of women's self help books, including Our Bodies, Ourselves,Women and Madness, Why Natural Childbirth and Vaginal Politics. More recently, she has helped to write major obituaries for her fellow activists in the women's health movement, including Dr. Mary Howell
Mary Howell
Mary Catherine Raugust Howell was a physician, psychologist, lawyer, mentor, musician and mother. She was the first woman dean at Harvard Medical School and led the fight to end quotas and open medical schools to women.-Biography:Dr. Howell was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota...
and Lorraine Rothman.
Commercial Censorship
Due to her criticism of the birth control pill and other commercially important pharmaceutical products, Seaman was fired, blacklisted, and censoredCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
on numerous occasions including dismissals from Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle
Family Circle
Family Circle is an American women's magazine published 15 times a year by Meredith Corporation. It began publication in 1932 as a magazine distributed at supermarkets such as Piggly Wiggly and Safeway. Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting bought the magazine in 1962. The New York Times Company bought...
, Omni
Omni (magazine)
OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
and Hadassah magazines.
U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, in the Congressional Record (October 17, 2005), stated that "In the 1980s Barbara was essentially blacklisted from magazines by pharmaceutical companies who would not advertise in publications that carried her stories. Her relentless insistence on questioning the safety and effectiveness of their products earned her their condemnation and our praise. Barbara took advantage of this forced lull by turning to biography."
During the 1980s, Seaman published Lovely Me, a biography of Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
, which was made into a television movie,
Scandalous Me, starring Michele Lee
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...
.
Final years
Seaman lived in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, close to her three children, four grandchildren, two sisters, and two nephews.
Until the end of her life, she was writing articles and advocating for women's safety and participation in their own medical treatment. Seaman continued to write about hormonal contraceptives, childbirth, and the unwillingness of some doctors and pharmaceutical companies to disclose risks to patients and consumers, effectively denying them the ability to make informed decisions. On 27 February 2008, Barbara Seaman died of lung cancer. Hundreds of friends and family from around the country joined her family for a memorial service shortly after her death.
In June 2000, the New York Times published a piece by Seaman, "The Pill and I: 40 Years On, the Relationship Remains Wary".
She collaborated with Laura Eldridge on two books,The No Nonsense Guide to Menopause released in 2008 (Simon & Schuster) and Voices of the Women's Health Movement (Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press
Seven Stories Press is an independent publishing company. Located in New York City, the company was founded by editor Dan Simon in 1995 after he parted company with Four Walls Eight Windows. The company was named for its seven founding authors: Annie Ernaux, Gary Null, the estate of Nelson Algren,...
) to be published in January 2012.
In 2009 the 40th anniversary edition of the Doctors' Case Against the Pill is scheduled for publication.
Education
- BA (Ford Foundation scholar), Oberlin CollegeOberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, 1956 - Honorary LHD, Oberlin College, 1978
- Certificate in advanced science writing (Sloan-Rockefeller Science Writing Fellowship), Columbia University School of JournalismColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, 1968
Magazines
- Frequent contributor to New York Times and Washington Post
- Either a columnist or contributing editor at Ms. Magazine, Omni, Ladies' Home Journal, Hadassah,
Bride's and Family Circle.
Books
- The Doctor's Case Against the Pill (1969)
- Free and Female (1972)
- Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones (1977)(with Gideon Seaman, M.D.)
- Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline SusannJacqueline SusannJacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
(1987) - The Greatest Experiment ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth (2003)
- For Women Only: Your Guide to Health Empowerment with Gary NullGary NullGary Michael Null is an American talk radio host and author on alternative and complementary medicine and nutrition. On his talk radio show and in his books and self-produced movies, Null has criticized the medical community, promoted a range of alternative cancer treatments and dietary...
(2000).
Contributor to many books, including:
- Career and Motherhood (1979)
- Rooms with No View (1974)
- Women and Men (1975)
- Seizing our Bodies (1978)
- Voices of the Women's Health Movement (2012)
Contributor to several plays and documentaries, including:
- I am a Woman (1972)
- Taking Our Bodies Back (1974)
- The American Experience Presents the Pill (2003)
Honors
In 2000, Seaman was named by the US Postal Service as an honoree of the 1970s Women’s Right Movement stamp. Winner of Matrix Award in Books, 1978.External links
- "PBS American Experience: The Pill"
- "Barbara Seaman: Muckraker for Women's Health", Womens e-news
- http://www.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/81269.htmWebMDWebMDWebMD is an American corporation which provides health information services. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark and Pavan Nigam as Healthscape, later Healtheon, and then acquired WebMD in 1999 to form Healtheon/WebMD...
bio] - Biodata on Barbara Seaman
- Barbara Seaman quotes
Sources
- Baker, Christina Looper & and Kline, Christina Baker. The Conversation Begins: Mothers and Daughters Talk About Living Feminism, Bantam Books, 1996. ISBN 0-553-09639-7.
- Seaman, Barbara. "The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women", Hyperion, 2003. ISBN 0-7868-6853-8.
- Science Magazine, article by Charles Mann entitled "Women¹s Health Research Blossoms" (August 11, 1995)
- Barbara Seaman, Jewish Women's Archive series on Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution (JWA)
- Boxer, Sarah. "The Contraception Conundum: It's Not Just Birth Control Anymore", New York Times, June 22, 1997
- "A Dozen Who Have Risen to Prominence", New York Times, 1997
- Levine, Suzanne Braun Inventing the Rest of Our Lives: Women in Second Adulthood (New York: Viking, 2005) (page ref needed)
- Seaman, Barbara, "Dear Injurious Physician", New York Times, December 2, 1972, p. 32 (an early plugs for the commercial edition of Our Bodies, OurselvesOur Bodies, OurselvesOur Bodies, Ourselves is a book about women's health and sexuality produced by the nonprofit organization Our Bodies Ourselves...
, which had previously been an underground pamphlet) - Nathan, Linda K., "The First Lady Of Women’s Health", Jewish Week, October 6, 2004
- Science Magazine, "Women's Health Research Blossoms", August 11, 1995
- Love, Barbara J. & Kott, Nancy F., "Feminists who Changed America, 1963-1975", University of Illinois Press, 2006.