I first had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Marina Gerner a few years ago during Covid Lockdown. I had just adapted RenewYou as an online coaching package and was eager to see how it worked in practice. Women in Journalism advertised it to its members and Marina was one of the first to trial it with me.
I was hugely impressed and have followed her career with interest ever since. Marina has just published what I (and so many others far more influential than me) consider to be a truly groundbreaking book, The Vagina Business. (See my review here).
It seemed like a good time to talk again with Marina.
My Interview With The Amazing Marina Gerner
Jane: Marina, thank you so much for giving up your time. I know how busy you are with the well merited success of The Vagina Business. I’d love to talk about that, but my first question is, when did you realise that journalism was going to be your career?
Marina: That’s a great question! I grew up writing short stories about a parallel universe run by witches with my best friend Alla in primary school. I knew that I wanted to write books from a very young age.
Growing up in Germany, I had a wonderful English literature teacher who told me: if you want to write books, you should go into journalism—that’s what Orwell and Hemingway did too. So, like the exuberant teenager that I was, I figured: of course,that’s what I’ll do!
Immigrant Family Origins
I’m from an immigrant family and we had zero connections and no insights into the industry at all. But I came across a newspaper editor at a public panel and when he was about to get on his bicycle after the event, I asked him for an internship. I think he was so surprised, he said yes. And that’s how I wrote my first articles for a national newspaper at the age of 20.
What do you think sparked your interest in equality? I very well reminder my feminist ‘awakening ‘(does that make me ‘woke?’ Happy with that!), aged 11, reading about different standards set for girls in exams, i.e. girls had to do better than boys to get same pass mark as it was deemed much more important for boys to get a good education. I was incensed. I feel like I’ve been incensed ever since…
Oh wow, 11 is a very young age to grasp equality at!
One key moment for me was when I read Anne-Marie Slaughter’s essay “Why
Women Still Can’t Have It All” in the Atlantic. I knew that I wanted to be an author and a mother, and that both would be absolutely essential to me. So it was eye-opening for me to see this high-flying woman explain why she still couldn’t combine work and family, despite her personal success—in short, because of the societal structure we live in.
Before that, I remember vaguely thinking that feminism was no longer needed. But the more you look at society, the more you realise just how much we do need feminism.
Thirst For Knowledge
When we worked together, I remember being very impressed by your strong work ethic and your impressive list of qualifications. You’ve managed to acquire quite a few at a relatively young age across many topics. Where does this thirst for knowledge come from?
Oh, thank you! That’s very kind of you. My thirst of knowledge comes from my family.
My grandparents are real intellectuals—but for their generation it was dangerous to think independently, as my family is from the Soviet Union. Luckily, we eventually escaped to Germany as refugees. I was raised in a home full of love, learning and books, music and art.
Renaissance Woman
You’re right, I’ve studied multiple subjects—I think that only makes sense. We pretend there are all these categories, that “business” is over here and “culture” is over there, but in reality nothing exists in a silo, and our reality is multi-disciplinary.
My friend Jess Benhamou , who is a filmmaker, likes to call me a “Renaissance woman for the modern age” which makes me laugh–and I’m very happy to embrace this label!
Perfect label for you, I think. How long does it take to write such a well-researched book like The Vagina Business? I know you were quite busy with other things…
Much longer than most people think (and longer than I expected too)! The most intensive research and reporting took me about 3 years—at that time, I was working around the clock like a mad woman. I also did some journalism on the side and taught at NYU part-time.
If things go well, the overall work for a book of this calibre takes 5-7 years. I’ve already been booked to give talks about The Vagina Business at companies, membership organisations and universities this year and next year. When I realised that a book is such a long-term project, I decided not to wait and had a baby 8 months ago.
I am in awe. Was there anything you uncovered that particularly surprised or shocked you
when researching The Vagina Business?
I’m a journalist and when I first tried to write about innovation focused on female bodies, I was told it’s too “niche”.
But I kept pitching and pitching until I wrote an article in 2020 that went viral. It was called ‘ We need to talk about investors’ problem with vaginas ’ and it addressed the reluctance summarised by one venture capitalist who said: ‘I don’t want to talk about vaginas in my Monday morning partner meeting.’
I was angry to learn that the reason we don’t get the innovation we need and deserve is because a bunch of investors (whose task it is to fund innovation) are too embarrassed by the topic. So, I decided to write a book to bring femtech to the mainstream—and to put “vagina” on the cover.
I want to convey that the societal attitude of “Welcome to being a woman, this is going to hurt” is not acceptable! We have to find better ways. That’s why The Vagina Business is a book of solutions and ideas on how to better women’s health across all stages of life.
I’m sure that The Vagina Business is going to have a significant impact on many people. I sincerely hope that it becomes required reading for the medical profession; most of the stories are heartbreaking. As you know, my own closest friend died last year having been told by a consultant that her pain was probably psychosomatic, and he was minded to cancel her scan. A scan she had already waited 4 days for, in agony because the only pain relief prescribed was paracetamol.
Three weeks later she was dead with cancer in every major organ in her body. All women know that their pain is minimised but how do we change this mindset?
I am so deeply sorry about what happened to your friend. It’s an absolute tragedy. You have told me about her before, and it sounds like you had the kind of friendship that makes life on this planet good and meaningful.
We urgently need to change how women are treated by healthcare professionals. I’m sure you saw that the Women’s Health Strategy in England was launched based on evidence from 100,000 women: 84% of them said they weren’t listened to by healthcare professionals. That is how entrenched medical gaslighting is—it’s a crisis!
I also hope that medical professionals read the book—some of them have already told me that they are reading it and that they’re recommending it to their colleagues. So that gives me hope.
For now, women have to be their own biggest advocates—always get a second opinion, ask questions, do your own research, bring a friend or family member to appointments.
That said, I do not want to give the readers the impression that The Vagina Business is a miserable read. It isn’t. You write beautifully, with such style. It’s easy to read and understand, a rare achievement for a book packed with so much information. And you have a wonderful turn of phrase. Can I mention again ‘lost in labia’? Not for nothing do I call you The Amazing Marina Gerner!
Is there a book which has inspired you, that has stuck with you, fiction or fact?
I’m glad you picked up on that—when I came up with lost in labia, I sat there laughing for a while!
Thank you! It was very important for me to make the book as accessible as possible. Because the issues I write about are SO important. And it’s actually much, much harder to write in an accessible and engaging way (than it is to write an unreadable academic tome).
I’m inspired by books that are playful, engaging and uplifting but actually get at deeper truths about the human condition like Mary Poppins, The Seven Good Years, or Chicken Soup for the Soul.
I am amazed when the first review of The Vagina Business came out by Kirkus. The reviewer says it is: “Energetic, thoroughly engaging reading.” They say the “book offers hope for positive new ways of not only thinking and talking about female bodies but also improving health outcomes for women worldwide.” That’s exactly what I was hoping for.
Who is the person who has most inspired you? Do you have a mentor or role
model?
My mother! She is very outspoken, creative, unconventional and life-affirming. The book is dedicated to her, obviously.
Lots of women I coach have an idea to write something tucked up their sleeves. I’m sure you’re often asked to share your tips and advice with aspiring writers. What do you tell them?
I’d say follow your curiosity. If something is fascinating to you, it’s likely to be fascinating to others too. And keep your day job!
And finally, what’s next? Do you have an idea for your next book or is that too soon to ask?
Marina: I do have an idea for the next book! Stay tuned.
Marina, thank you so much. The book is clearly already making a mark, as are you! I’m wishing you huge success. I hope the word Vagina will soon trip easily off the tongues of loads of business men who realise their huge error in ignoring women!
Marina’s newsletter on women’s health: https://marinagerner.substack.com/
Here’s a link to buy The Vagina Business: https://amzn.eu/d/eqpJl8s
Marina’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-gerner-phd-2252ba26
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Posted on October 24th, 2024 by Jane
