Laura Dowling
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Bookshelf with me, Ryan Tuberty, is brought to you by Ballymore. Founded by Sean Mulrhyne in 1982, Ballymore has long put arts and culture at the heart of what it does, from supporting artists and performers to weaving creativity into the neighbourhoods it builds. Alongside this cultural commitment, Ballymore creates places with soul Its international portfolio is filled with award-winning workspaces, homes, shopping centres and entire neighbourhoods across Dublin, London, Bratislava, Prague and Berlin. Places where design, innovation and creativity come together and where people can live, work and play.
Well, today on the bookshelf, I am joined by pharmacist, author and women's health advocate, Laura Dowling. She will be known to her many, many thousands of followers as the fabulous pharmacist with good reason. Her debut book, Love Your Vulva, is a groundbreaking and compassionate guide to women's intimate health, combining medical expertise, lots of humor and artistry to help women understand and celebrate their bodies. I will add to that to help men understand as well. This is a conversation for one and all, which is why I'm so happy to welcome Laura to the bookshop. Welcome aboard.
Thanks for having me.
It's good to see you.
It's great to meet you.
And congratulations on all you've done so far. You've been very busy this last few months, really, because you've got a lot of appearances and book launches. So tell us about what's been happening in the last little while and then we'll work our way back.
Okay, so I launched a book recently in September. So that has been a whirlwind, I suppose, of exactly appearances. I've been over and back to the UK as well and trying to, I suppose, juggle everything. I'm also a mum of three lads who just want to eat all the time. Now they can cook for themselves, but you know, someone has to put the... the food into the fridge for them. What ages? So 17, 14 and 12. Yes. I had to think about that for a minute.
I never had sons, but I always felt that the lads, they kind of open the fridge, tip it into themselves. Do you know what I mean? It's not just take something out. Tip it in.
Hoover it up. A shop goes in on a Tuesday and on Thursday, they're like, where's the food? Is it actually all gone already? So yeah. So long as you keep them in chicken fillets and beef and potatoes, they tend to be okay. They're pretty self-sufficient.
Tell us about your book, because I think that it's a, I was going to say a ballsy title, but that really defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it?
But it is. It is. It is a ballsy title. But it is. Yeah. And that's been commented on, actually. People have said to me, oh, my goodness, like, if you put a title like that on it, then no one's going to want to have it on their shelves or people aren't going to read it in public.
No, I love it. I love it. I just think it just says, this is what we're doing here. And we're not going to procrastinate and we're not going to hymn and haw. We're just going to grab it.
Grab it by the vulva.
Well, you said it.
Exactly. No, the reason was, is because women's bodies have been so shunned and hidden. And as a result, women, what I would have seen in the pharmacies, women are afraid to talk about their intimate health. Yeah. And I really wanted just to put it out there.
What is the main focus of Laura Dowling's book, Love Your Vulva?
This is what it's about. And this is how you can access the care that you might need. And I really wanted to make it accessible to people. So it's really easy to read. The font's big. People have said to me, I can read it without my glasses. Yeah. And actually, one of the books that I gave you was The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. And I actually got the idea for the design of the book from that because I love the big, you know, the font changes and the different sizes. And I said to my designer, like, I want it to be like a Roald Dahl book for adults. Yeah. to make it really interesting to read and all the design work.
People are busy and easily distracted. So it's hard to get a book into their hands, one, but two, a book that they want to stay with.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:08
2
What is the main focus of Laura Dowling's book, Love Your Vulva?
3:08–15:32
3
How does Laura's background in pharmacy influence her perspective on women's health?
15:32–24:07
4
What common issues do women face regarding intimate health?
24:07–27:40
5
How does societal perception affect women's discussions about their bodies?
27:40–38:21
6
What role does education play in women's understanding of their health?
38:21–40:12