Lorraine Rothman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lorraine Rothman
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| Born |
Evelyn Lorraine Fleishman
January 12, 1932 |
| Died | September 25, 2007 (aged 75) |
| Alma mater | California State University, Los Angeles |
Lorraine Rothman (January 12, 1932 – September 25, 2007) was a founding member of the feminist Self-Help Clinic movement.
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Early life
She was born Evelyn Lorraine Fleishman in San Francisco, California in 1932 into a traditional Orthodox Jewish family and attended Hebrew school during her younger years. While working full-time, she attended Los Angeles City College and California State University Los Angeles, where she received a B.A. and teaching credential in 1954. After marrying in 1954, she moved to Baltimore with her husband, Al Rothman, and taught in the Baltimore City Public School System. She returned to California with her husband and children in 1964 and resumed public school teaching.
Social Activism
In 1968, Rothman first joined a local women's liberation group that met at California State University Fullerton, and then became a founding member of the Orange County chapter of NOW. Rothman's collaborative relationship with Carol Downer and the Self-Help Clinic movement began when she attended a meeting in 1971 organized by Downer to discuss women's reproductive rights. In 1972, Downer and Rothman founded the first Feminist Women's Health Center (FWHC) in Los Angeles. Later on, she co-founded the second Feminist Women's Health Center (FWHC) in Santa Ana, California. At the Feminist Women's Health Center (FWHC) in Los Angeles, the main priority was for the importance of women awareness of their bodies and allowing for there to be a sense of security. Rothman's main priority was to allow for there to be sense of establishment within the patients as well as letting the patients know that there was 100% integrity within these programs. Along with the tests that were taught at the clinic, there was an outreach for a patient advocacy program. Approximately, 60% of all surgical interventions are done in outpatient settings.
Many women during this time were not only fighting for their equality but to have a voice, so these important advances served women greatly which is why Rothman was admired significantly, including the reason there are several memorials honoring her legacy.
Over the next two decades, Rothman traveled widely, taking the Self-Help Clinic concept to women's groups both in and outside the United States. In addition to working as an administrator, Rothman wrote health education guides for the FWHCs. In 1999, Rothman co-authored a book with Marcia Wexler called "Menopause Myths and Facts: What Every Woman Should Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy," which was critical of hormone replacement therapy. Of HRT she has said, "Hormone Replacement Therapy is a misnomer: they are not hormones (they are drugs made synthetically in the laboratory), they are not replacing anything (our bodies continue to make enough hormones during and after menopause), and they are not therapeutic (menopause is not a disease)."
Death
Lorraine Rothman died of bladder cancer on September 25, 2007, in Fullerton, California.
Legacy
According to the book titled Into Our Own Hands, "Lorraine Rothman developed a menstrual extraction kit that she called the Del-Em, which gave women unprecedented control over their monthly periods." Rothman was mostly concerned about more females learning about their bodies. By providing them with this knowledge, she wanted to make sure women were aware and educated about the control they have over their own bodies. In light of Rothman's opening of the "Los Angeles Feminist Women's Health Center" women all over the world were intrigued by their bodies and self-worth.
