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Join Lara Parker, deputy editorial director for BuzzFeed.com, in a virtual discussion about women's health regarding her endometriosis and other women's health conditions. Her essays on the topics have garnered millions of views. Vagina Problems is Lara's debut book.

“Lara is brilliant, honest, and in pain. She’s spent the majority of her life writing about Vagina Problems that are a must-read for honestly anyone who has chronic pain of any kind—or anyone who loves someone who does.” —Kelsey Darragh, YouTuber, comedian, and host of the podcast “Confidently Insecure”

“When Lara talks about taboo subjects like sex with chronic pain, I just want to hear more because her voice is so authentic and fresh.” —Ariana Madix, cast member of Vanderpump Rules

With unflinching honesty, Lara Parker, the Deputy Director for BuzzFeed, shares her day-to-day challenges of living, working, and loving with chronic pain caused by endometriosis in this raw, darkly humorous, and hopeful memoir.

"I wasn’t ready to be completely honest about my vagina yet, and the world wasn’t ready for that either. But I was getting there. I wanted the world to know that all of this pain I had been feeling…that it was related to my vagina. Thus, Vagina Problems was born. It was a cutesy name. It was my way of taking this pain and saying, “Whatever. I’m here. I have it. It sucks. Let’s talk about it.”

In April 2014, Deputy Editorial Director at BuzzFeed Lara Parker opened up to the world in an article on the website: she suffers from endometriosis. And beyond that? She let the whole world know that she wasn’t having any sex, as sex was excruciatingly painful. Less than a year before, she received not only the diagnosis of endometriosis, but also a diagnosis of pelvic floor dysfunction, vulvodynia, vaginismus, and vulvar vestibulitis. Combined, these debilitating conditions have wreaked havoc on her life, causing excruciating pain throughout her body since she was fourteen years old. These are her Vagina Problems.

It was five years before Lara learned what was happening to her body. Five years of doctors insisting she just had “bad period cramps,” or implying her pain was psychological. Shamed and stigmatized, Lara fought back against a medical community biased against women and discovered that the ignorance of many doctors about women’s anatomy was damaging more than just her own life. One in ten women have endometriosis and it takes an average of seven years before they receive an accurate diagnosis—or any relief from this incurable illness’ chronic pain.

With candid revelations about her vaginal physical therapy, dating as a straight woman without penetrative sex, coping with painful seizures while at the office, diet and wardrobe malfunctions when your vagina hurts all the time, and the depression and anxiety of feeling unloved, Lara tackles it all in Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex, and Other Taboo Topics with courage, wit, love, and a determination to live her best life.

Lara Parker is a writer who lives in Los Angeles but comes from a small town of just 900 people in Indiana. She began writing in college around the time of her diagnosis with endometriosis and hasn't stopped writing about her vagina since. She's currently deputy editorial director for BuzzFeed.com, where her essays about endometriosis and her other health conditions have garnered millions of views. Her debut collection of essays, Vagina Problems, debuts in October 2020.

IN COLLABORATION WITH THE CHICAGO FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN

Chicago Foundation for Women invests in women and girls as catalysts, building strong communities for all.

Each day, more than 300,000 women in our community struggle to put food on the table, to keep themselves and their children safe and healthy, and to lift themselves up from poverty and lack of opportunity. Chicago Foundation for Women envisions a world in which all women and girls have the opportunity to thrive in safe, just and healthy communities.

"We evaluate the needs of women and girls who are living at the margins of success in our society. We seek out and bring together women who have the power to make a difference and organizations that offer proven or innovative solutions.

We value - in ourselves and in every organization we support—the core principles of equality, empowerment, diversity, collaboration, and integrity."

Women's Health Taboo Topics: Straight Talk about Vagina Problems with Author Lara Parker