By: Tesa Emmart, LCPC, LMHC, SEP, PMH-C

Every year when Women’s History Month rolls around, I find myself thinking about the stories women were never meant to learn.

Stories about our bodies.
Our power.
Our history.

This year I apparently decided the best response was to stack seven books on my nightstand.

Ambitious? Sure.
Realistic? Debatable.
But I’m a goals-driven girl.

The books currently sitting in my reading pile explore women’s bodies, women’s history, the systems that tried to silence us, and the knowledge that refuses to disappear.

Because for a long time, women’s stories were ignored.

Ignored by science.
Ignored by medicine.
Ignored by history.

These books help bring some of those stories back to the surface.

Below are the ones currently keeping me company.

Mary Magdalene Revealed by Meggan Watterson

This book offers a powerful re-examination of Mary Magdalene and the spiritual authority of women that history buried. Watterson explores how one of the most influential figures in early Christianity may have been intentionally misunderstood and erased.

Reading it invites us to consider how often women’s voices have been removed from sacred and cultural narratives.

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

For centuries, the story of human evolution has been told through the male body.

This book flips the lens and explores what happens when we center the female body instead. Bohannon makes a compelling argument that many aspects of human evolution make far more sense when women’s biology is taken seriously.

It’s fascinating, funny, and deeply illuminating.

How to Kill a Witch by Zoe Venditozzi & Claire Mitchell

Witch hunts are often dismissed as strange relics of the past, but this book reveals a much more unsettling reality.

Mitchell and Venditozzi explore how accusations of witchcraft were frequently used as tools to control, punish, and silence women who stepped outside the roles society expected of them.

It’s both historical and eerily relevant.

Reproductive Wrongs by Sarah Ruden

The history of medicine is full of deeply harmful ideas about women’s bodies, particularly when it comes to reproduction.

Cooper Owens examines how medical practices and policies were shaped by racism, sexism, and a profound misunderstanding of women’s physiology. The book reveals how those histories continue to influence reproductive care today.

It’s a sobering but important read.

A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture by June Thomas

This book explores six spaces that became cultural touchstones for queer women…from bars to bookstores to community hubs.

Thomas tells the stories of how these spaces allowed queer women to gather, build identity, and create culture in a world that often pushed them to the margins.

It’s a beautiful reminder that community itself can be an act of resistance.

Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton by Martha Ackmann

Dolly Parton is many things… musician, businesswoman, philanthropist, cultural icon.

This biography explores how she built an extraordinary career on her own terms while navigating the expectations placed on women, especially women from working-class backgrounds.

Her story is a reminder that authenticity and resilience can be incredibly powerful forces.

Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage by Rachel E. Gross

For much of modern medical history, the female body has been misunderstood, under-researched, or studied through a male lens.

Gross takes readers on a fascinating journey through the scientists and researchers working to change that. From new discoveries about female anatomy to the cultural assumptions that slowed progress for centuries, the book reveals how much there still is to learn.

A Small Reflection

So will I actually finish seven books this month?

The jury is still out.

But I love the feeling of having these conversations happening on my nightstand — stories about women’s bodies, women’s power, and the histories we’re still uncovering.

The more I read about women’s history and women’s bodies, the more I’m reminded how often women are asked to disconnect from their own knowledge.

In therapy, much of the work is about reconnecting.

Reconnecting with the body.
Reconnecting with intuition.
Reconnecting with stories that were never fully told.

In many ways, that work is its own kind of cycle-breaking.

Looking for Support?

If you’re navigating motherhood, trauma, identity shifts, or simply trying to reconnect with your own inner wisdom, therapy can offer a space to explore those experiences with support.

At Embody + Mind Collective, we offer therapy for adults, children, and families seeking a compassionate and body-centered path to healing.

Much of therapy is about reclaiming the stories we carry…about our bodies, our experiences, and the ways we want to move forward.

You can learn more about our services here:

Therapy for Adults

Therapy for Children + Adolescents