“In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” With these words, women fell into a world that saw them as cursed. They are still falling. Today, we define women by suffering: menstrual cramps, mood swings, excruciating childbirth, painful first-time sex. Femaleness itself has come to look like an illness, so now, women seeking solutions for their ailments are dismissed. And as our pain is sanctioned, our pleasure is deemed tricky, complicated, burdensome, elusive.
This reality is not our destiny. These myths are misreadings not just of ancient texts but of women’s bodies. Our pain is the product of oppression imposed for centuries. That’s the real curse. Yet amid this oppression, our pleasure has survived. Once we recover who we were before the fall, we can revel in the blessings of our bodies. Ecstatic births, positive periods, sublime sex, orgasmic lives — this is who we are behind the cultural curse we’ve been under.
Through inspiring stories from the author and a diverse group of blessed people, Eve’s Blessing charts many paths from pain to pleasure so that you can walk your own. If you’ve drifted away from paradise, this book will guide you back.
Industry Reviews
Suzannah Weiss is sounding the alarm with the devastating news about women when we are culturally asleep to Eve’s curse. Once awake, readers will be greatly relieved and delighted to find the doorway to experience Eve’s blessing of pleasure, health, and perhaps even reverence. And that blessing benefits all of us.”
Beverly Dale, founder of the Incarnation Institute for Sex & Faith and author of Who Told You That You Were Naked? Meditations on the Sexual Body
“Eve’s Blessing offers a brilliant, sweeping indictment of a culture – and medical system – that treats women’s pain as natural and inevitable and points the way toward a future in which our bodily pleasure and power is a given.”
Maya Dusenbery, author of Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick
“Suzannah Weiss has written an incredibly important book – one that is a must-read for women everywhere. And for men. And for the whole of the medical profession. As Suzannah says, ‘We’ve incorrectly diagnosed women as broken when they are showing us what is broken about the world.’ Eve's Blessing shows what is broken about the world, and how brilliantly it can be mended. You'll come away from this book refuting ‘no pain, no gain’ forever. Suzannah's ‘no pleasure, no gain’ is the rallying cry of the future we all want to live in.”
Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn
“Another win from Weiss, Eve’s Blessing is the unrelenting truth-telling serum that our culture needs to take a look at itself and reevaluate the problematic, ignorant, and misogynist norms that still plague our society today. Thank you Weiss for your bravery, critical research, and strong storytelling ability!
Madame Gandhi, musical artist and activist
“Eve’s Blessing offers an eye-opening look at women’s pain and pleasure. Written in an accessible style, Weiss weaves together history, psychology, science, and personal stories. An empowering and liberating read, this book shatters numerous myths and paves the path to a future with less pain and more pleasure."
Justin Lehmiller, Kinsey Institute, author of Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life and host of the Sex and Psychology Podcast
“The message of Eve's Blessing is one every woman needs to hear: it is time we expect more pleasure from our lives – and stop expecting pain. Having worked with many women stuck in the mindset that being female means suffering through periods and PMS or not enjoying sex, I know this book will change lives. It raises the bar for how women, sex- and gender-nonconforming people, and men can feel in their bodies – and how we can all support one another to reach our full capacity for comfort and joy.”
Laurie Mintz, author of A Tired Woman’s Guide to Passionate Sex and Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters – And How to Get It
“Storytelling is powerful, especially when it comes to something as deeply personal as the body, pleasure, pain, and oppression. Eve’s Blessing offers exactly that – stories that illuminate, heal, and transform, guiding us toward reclaiming the joy and resilience that have always been ours. Eve’s Blessing weaves personal narratives and cultural insights to challenge the idea that suffering defines the female body, revealing a path back to joy, resilience, and the pleasure that ought to have always been ours to claim.”
Jessica O’Reilly, sex and relationship expert
“Eve’s Blessing is a gripping, transformative read that weaves the author’s personal journey with a profound exploration of history, culture, and the female experience. This book is a reclamation – a call to move beyond pain and shame into power and pleasure, celebrating women’s bodies, sexuality, and the full spectrum of their experiences. Suzannah brilliantly exposes how the world has normalized – and even created – women’s suffering, from menstrual cycles to sexual experiences and beyond. Eve’s Blessing is an invitation to break free, awaken your path to pleasure, and recognize its essential role in all aspects of life – including childbirth. Yes, it’s possible to have an orgasmic birth too! Prepare to reflect, to challenge what you’ve been taught, and to shed the layers of shame that have held you back. This book dares you to see what’s been hidden in plain sight and embrace the pleasure, power, and liberation that are your birthright. Grab a tissue, grab a notepad, and get ready to reclaim your body – and your joy.”
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, director of Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret, podcast host and international speaker
“Eve’s Blessing is digestible and gripping, telling a story any woman can relate to. What makes it unique is its interweaving of heartfelt personal journeys, playful deep-dives into history and religion, and indispensable information on health, wellness, and sexuality. This book can help us all create lives – and a world – with more pleasure and less pain."
Tiffany Pham, artist, founder of Mogul and author of You Are a Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do It Now
“Suzannah Weiss’s deep-dive into the worst ramifications of the gender binary – including centuries of pigheaded insistence on normalizing female pain – couldn’t be better timed. Holding space for sex and gender diversity as she makes sure to aim her ire where it belongs, this book is a shot across the bow of careless, sexist medical training – because Suzannah has seen the effects of that from the inside – and so much more everyday and state-sponsored misogyny and homo/nb/transphobia. The page decimating the toxic notion of ‘no pain, no gain’ is worth the price of admission! Voraciously researched, fierce, and clear, this book is a call to arms and a new feminist classic.”
Carol Queen, staff sexologist at Good Vibes and director of Center for Sex & Culture
“Eve’s Blessing is itself a forbidden fruit, full of forbidden knowledge about bodies and desires. Suzannah Weiss skillfully critiques the systems that have perpetuated pain and oppression, and she offers readers a pathway toward pleasure and liberation. Eat the apple.”
Eric Sprankle, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and author of DIY: The Wonderfully Weird History and Science of Masturbation
“Astoundingly well-researched and illuminating, Eve’s Blessing is not just a must-have contemporary women’s sexual health resource, but a powerful sexual self-help book that uplifts and inspires. Author Suzannah Weiss takes readers on a triumphant journey of sexual healing that will leave you tingling joyously from head to toe.” Hida Viloria, human rights activist and author of Born Both: An Intersex Life
“For millennia, women’s bodies have been synonymous with pain. Have you had enough? Eve’s Blessing shows you how to embrace your body’s potential for boundless pleasures."
Lisa Wade, Tulane University, author of American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus
“Eve’s Blessing is for any woman who has felt her body let her down. Weiss writes with compassion for this experience while illuminating what’s available on the other side. The stories are captivating, and the insights gained from them are golden. You won’t be able to put this book down.”
Maitland Ward, actress and model
"While Weiss' book draws on interviews with patients, activists and health professionals, the themes present throughout these interviews resonate far beyond the book's pages."
The Brown Daily Herald
