Her book became a manifesto. "Women's pleasure is almost never talked about"

Paulina Cywka, "Wprost": What prompted you to write the book "Without Shame. On Intimate Health and Women's Sexuality"? What was the impetus to take up this particular topic?

Dr. n. med. Karina Barszczewska*: The book "Without Shame" was created out of a real need. Not inspiration, not whim - but necessity.

For years, I met women in my office who – although brave at work, decisive at home, confident on the outside – fell silent when asked about their intimate health . They whispered that intercourse hurt. They wondered if they had the right to demand pleasure. They apologized for their own questions. And I could no longer listen to this without taking action.

“Without Shame” is a book that I needed as a teenager, a student, a young doctor, and a woman. It is a guide, but also an appeal. A manifesto.

What did you want to convey to society and women with this manifesto?

My manifesto says it straight: each of us has the right to knowledge, comfort and a body that is not a reason for shame – but a source of strength. For generations, women have been taught to be modest, quiet and clean – but not clean in the sense of health, but “clean” according to archaic, patriarchal norms. These messages are passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes by our own mothers, often by school, church, media. This has to stop. We are in the 21st century and we still treat the female body as a taboo subject.

What do you think is the biggest taboo today?