In Argentina there is an entire, in some cases, two generations from families missing. The Dirty War was one of the final military coups out of a good 9 during the 1900’s. Nearly 30,000 men and women were taken at night and were simply considered ‘disappeared’ because the government was trying to rid the political environment of its leftists opponents. Many of the women who were taken in the middle of the night were pregnant or had small babies. The new borns and ones born in captivity were often given away to people in support of the new government, to this day only 128 of them have been genetically identified and returned to their families (they are fully grown obviously). This New York Times article explains a little bit of this. 

It is because of instances like these and many other that I believe Our Bodies, Ourselves, and the Spanish translation Our Bodies, Our Lives was not received the same way by women the way the US did in the 1977 edition. It sold around 250,000 copies in the US and when translated only sold 50,000 copies between the US and Latin and South America.  The reason for this could have been the many ways politics and political climate effect a country and its people; women’s health might not have been the main concern. 

In particular I’m thinking about the conservative mindset and the regions practices in the Latin American countries like Mexico and El Salvador. Kathy Davis discusses these topics in her book The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves. Not only did Catholicism get in the way of modern medicine, but so did many of the political policies (surrounding abortions and women’s reproductive health). They of course considered these things when translating the book, but it did not have the reach that the US version had. This is also within the context of the 1977 version, not the edition of the early 2000’s.

The biggest idea I wanted to hit on was all the conflicts going on in Latin American countries in the late 20th century. The explosion of Netflix series highlighting drug cartels and drug-lords will show anyone in a few episodes the major role drugs played in the late 80’s, Colombia fell victim in particular. Mexico, a country with deep and long history, struggled particularly in the 80’s  with a financial crisis and an earthquake that claimed thousands of casualties. Many women or those reading the book were not so much concerned (possibly) with improving their health and access to knowledge but mores with living through a financial crisis, drug war, or just general violence in their neighborhoods. From the example in Argentina though, the book didn’t even have an audience to reach. Women went missing in the middle of the night and the government had control over just about everything. 

Despite the many issues the book faced in the US and the Spanish translation, it still has an incredible story about the collective of women who took the initiative under their wings. Even in countries that were yet to develop into first world nations, Our Bodies, Our lives helped women access knowledge and information that was necessary in the ever changing issue of women’s health care and safety; I think it's just important to remember it was not the same for the countries the book was spreading to.