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Dedication
This report pays homage to all the brave and resilient women who are fighting for a better future for themselves and women across Oklahoma. The missing and murdered Indigenous women who have too long been overlooked. Black mothers and infants who have lost their lives as a result of medical neglect. Individuals who choose to challenge the traditional conventions of womanhood. Victims of gender-based violence. Women whose voices have been silenced by societal structures and institutions, including the healthcare system. All women regardless of race, ethnicity, age, legal status, sexual orientation, etc.
Scope
“Our Stories Reflect the Sky” is a qualitative project that seeks to ensure that the next generation of community leadership in Oklahoma understands the nuances of women’s health within this state’s unique context. This report collects stories from Oklahoma’s most marginalized women to bring their struggles and policy solutions to the forefront. It includes individual narratives and agency testimonials for each of the six categories: mental health disparities among women of color, healthcare barriers for the LGBTQ2S+ community, Black maternal health, undocumented women’s health, food sovereignty in Indigenous communities, and domestic violence. Our goal is to center the voices of women with marginalized identities, affirming the strength and power inherent in their bodies and their stories.
The six categories for this report were chosen following conversations with community leaders and background research on the health experiences of women with marginalized identities. We acknowledge that these categories are not all-encompassing of the issues women face in Oklahoma. In future editions of this report, we hope to cover more topics and perspectives around women’s health in the state.
A Note About Language
In this report, we use the word “woman” to include individuals with uteri, individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB), and self-identifying women. “Marginalized women” refers to women whose identities—around race, socioeconomic class, sexuality, and others—have been culturally and structurally marginalized and oppressed. However, we recognize that not all women with these identities view themselves as marginalized. The language we use is not meant to be prescriptive or define how women with certain identities or experiences should perceive themselves. Throughout this report, we strive to use as inclusive language as possible, while also recognizing that societal contexts and language itself is ever-evolving.
Methodology
“Our Stories” uses narrative storytelling to complement and fill gaps in existing quantitative research. While data points are useful for reporting population-level health disparities, they cannot capture what these disparities feel like, on a deeply personal level. We leverage the power of storytelling to convey individual experiences of health and their resonance within a larger context. Through this narrative work, we hope to amplify the voices that are speaking, but not being heard.
To collect and present narratives for each of the six categories in this report, we conducted outreach to community organizations in Oklahoma, specifically to those that are closely integrated into the communities they serve. These organizations then connected us with community members who identified with the group or experience being highlighted in that section. We interviewed two individuals for each section to collect a range of voices and stories.
Working directly from interview transcripts, we edited and rearranged parts of the narratives for concision and clarity, while taking care not to change the specific language or grammar women used. We did not add any of our own words to the narratives. The storytellers then looked over their edited narratives and made changes to ensure that the final version was an authentic representation of their experience. As each interview varied in length based on the interviewee’s preference, the narratives range in length as well. In the “Undocumented Women’s Health Experiences” section, we included the narratives in both Spanish and English to honor the original language in which these stories were shared. The narratives are anonymous for the safety of the storytellers.
To complement the personal narratives, we conducted brief Q&As with community organizations that are doing advocacy and service work within each sphere of women’s health being highlighted. These Q&As are included in each section to showcase the power, resilience, and hard work of communities across Oklahoma, as well as to serve as a resource to readers.
While we were careful not to insert our own voices into the narratives, we acknowledge that true objectivity is a myth. Just as quantitative evidence is shaped by the positionality of its researchers, this qualitative report reflects our own histories and lived experiences, particularly as women of color. We are not neutral, and neither is this report.
Relevance to Policy
In the last decade, we have seen many policies pass through the Oklahoma legislature, with few of those addressing women’s health and fewer being enacted into laws. As the firsthand accounts in this report reveal, the policies that are in place are leaving behind women, particularly those with identities that have been pushed to the margins of care. From Tulsa to Lawton and Oklahoma City to Guymon, women need more equitable health policies that address their varying needs and conditions.
Healthcare is not a one size fits all for women, and policies that are beneficial for one group could be detrimental to another. It is crucial that legislators keep in mind the vast array of communities when considering new policies. In addition, just as policies shape women’s lives, defining their encounters with the healthcare system, women’s lived experiences should be considered foundational data for the creation of new policies. Often overlooked or perceived as unreliable, stories fill in the gaps of quantitative data.
In our interviews, we asked women to describe their policy visions for Oklahoma. We hope that their answers will guide legislators to enact laws that uplift reproductive health as it pertains to people assigned female at birth, instead of setting it back.
Our Vision
Behind every data point exists a story. The narratives in “Our Stories Reflect the Sky” represent the lived experiences and struggles of women across Oklahoma—women in our communities, women in our families, and even ourselves. We hope they can be used to inspire change, but we also ask you to recognize the sanctity of the stories themselves; the power and vulnerability it takes to share them with the world, to bring them into existence beyond the storyteller’s own body, their own life. These narratives are tools, yes, but they are also wounds, prayers, offerings. Look at how these stories reflect the sky. Let yourself be awed by their light, and then moved to dream new futures for Oklahoma and the women that call it home.
Disclaimer
Narratives are direct quotes from interviewee transcripts unless otherwise notes by [words in brackets]. To protect the privacy of individuals and entities, some names, characters, events and identifiable characteristics have been changed, altered or removed.
Dedication
This report pays homage to all the brave and resilient women who are fighting for a better future for themselves and women across Oklahoma. The missing and murdered Indigenous women who have too long been overlooked. Black mothers and infants who have lost their lives as a result of medical neglect. Individuals who choose to challenge the traditional conventions of womanhood. Victims of gender-based violence. Women whose voices have been silenced by societal structures and institutions, including the healthcare system. All women regardless of race, ethnicity, age, legal status, sexual orientation, etc.
Scope
“Our Stories Reflect the Sky” is a qualitative project that seeks to ensure that the next generation of community leadership in Oklahoma understands the nuances of women’s health within this state’s unique context. This report collects stories from Oklahoma’s most marginalized women to bring their struggles and policy solutions to the forefront. It includes individual narratives and agency testimonials for each of the six categories: mental health disparities among women of color, healthcare barriers for the LGBTQ2S+ community, Black maternal health, undocumented women’s health, food sovereignty in Indigenous communities, and domestic violence. Our goal is to center the voices of women with marginalized identities, affirming the strength and power inherent in their bodies and their stories.
The six categories for this report were chosen following conversations with community leaders and background research on the health experiences of women with marginalized identities. We acknowledge that these categories are not all-encompassing of the issues women face in Oklahoma. In future editions of this report, we hope to cover more topics and perspectives around women’s health in the state.
A Note About Language
In this report, we use the word “woman” to include individuals with uteri, individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB), and self-identifying women. “Marginalized women” refers to women whose identities—around race, socioeconomic class, sexuality, and others—have been culturally and structurally marginalized and oppressed. However, we recognize that not all women with these identities view themselves as marginalized. The language we use is not meant to be prescriptive or define how women with certain identities or experiences should perceive themselves. Throughout this report, we strive to use as inclusive language as possible, while also recognizing that societal contexts and language itself is ever-evolving.
Methodology
“Our Stories” uses narrative storytelling to complement and fill gaps in existing quantitative research. While data points are useful for reporting population-level health disparities, they cannot capture what these disparities feel like, on a deeply personal level. We leverage the power of storytelling to convey individual experiences of health and their resonance within a larger context. Through this narrative work, we hope to amplify the voices that are speaking, but not being heard.
To collect and present narratives for each of the six categories in this report, we conducted outreach to community organizations in Oklahoma, specifically to those that are closely integrated into the communities they serve. These organizations then connected us with community members who identified with the group or experience being highlighted in that section. We interviewed two individuals for each section to collect a range of voices and stories.
Working directly from interview transcripts, we edited and rearranged parts of the narratives for concision and clarity, while taking care not to change the specific language or grammar women used. We did not add any of our own words to the narratives. The storytellers then looked over their edited narratives and made changes to ensure that the final version was an authentic representation of their experience. As each interview varied in length based on the interviewee’s preference, the narratives range in length as well. In the “Undocumented Women’s Health Experiences” section, we included the narratives in both Spanish and English to honor the original language in which these stories were shared. The narratives are anonymous for the safety of the storytellers.
To complement the personal narratives, we conducted brief Q&As with community organizations that are doing advocacy and service work within each sphere of women’s health being highlighted. These Q&As are included in each section to showcase the power, resilience, and hard work of communities across Oklahoma, as well as to serve as a resource to readers.
While we were careful not to insert our own voices into the narratives, we acknowledge that true objectivity is a myth. Just as quantitative evidence is shaped by the positionality of its researchers, this qualitative report reflects our own histories and lived experiences, particularly as women of color. We are not neutral, and neither is this report.
Relevance to Policy
In the last decade, we have seen many policies pass through the Oklahoma legislature, with few of those addressing women’s health and fewer being enacted into laws. As the firsthand accounts in this report reveal, the policies that are in place are leaving behind women, particularly those with identities that have been pushed to the margins of care. From Tulsa to Lawton and Oklahoma City to Guymon, women need more equitable health policies that address their varying needs and conditions.
Healthcare is not a one size fits all for women, and policies that are beneficial for one group could be detrimental to another. It is crucial that legislators keep in mind the vast array of communities when considering new policies. In addition, just as policies shape women’s lives, defining their encounters with the healthcare system, women’s lived experiences should be considered foundational data for the creation of new policies. Often overlooked or perceived as unreliable, stories fill in the gaps of quantitative data.
In our interviews, we asked women to describe their policy visions for Oklahoma. We hope that their answers will guide legislators to enact laws that uplift reproductive health as it pertains to people assigned female at birth, instead of setting it back.
Our Vision
Behind every data point exists a story. The narratives in “Our Stories Reflect the Sky” represent the lived experiences and struggles of women across Oklahoma—women in our communities, women in our families, and even ourselves. We hope they can be used to inspire change, but we also ask you to recognize the sanctity of the stories themselves; the power and vulnerability it takes to share them with the world, to bring them into existence beyond the storyteller’s own body, their own life. These narratives are tools, yes, but they are also wounds, prayers, offerings. Look at how these stories reflect the sky. Let yourself be awed by their light, and then moved to dream new futures for Oklahoma and the women that call it home.
Disclaimer
Narratives are direct quotes from interviewee transcripts unless otherwise notes by [words in brackets]. To protect the privacy of individuals and entities, some names, characters, events and identifiable characteristics have been changed, altered or removed.
