Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World

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Cleghorn’s Unwell Women writes such difficult bodily experiences into unquestionable existence clearly and succinctly. She comes to the topic as an academic and cultural historian, and her book articulates the pain of the unexplained health conditions experienced by women with refreshing clarity, tracing the ways this pain is written into a patriarchal narrative. The path she takes through medical history is firm and convincing, charting the suppression of women’s bodies and experiences from Roman times to the present day. Elinor Cleghorn: ‘There is a sustained note of anger running through the book.’ Photograph: Lara Downie

In Unwell Women, Cleghorn provides an extensive history of how feminine anatomy, physiology, and psychology have been studied and manipulated—mainly by men—and how they have often been used to oppress the female sex. . . . Meticulously researched. . . . Cleghorn’s final message should be heard loud and clear: Believe women.” As a round-up history of women's health, especially in regards to reproduction, childbearing, mensuration, and menopause, it's really good. This book will resonate with any woman who has gone to the doctor with a medical complaint only to be sent away with a course of antidepressants because what they are experiencing is likely all in their head, Bias within medicine might not be as bad as it was, but it is still a long way from being eradicated.Cleghorn argues that speaking out about our bodies will help to redress the imbalance in medical culture. To do so “is profoundly feminist. It is generous and courageous to revisit and recall the trauma of pain”. She advocates, then, for countering silencing with a new language of the body, turning ourselves inside out and permitting our physicality to speak rather than letting the pre-existing medical narrative shape how we and others understand our health: “the truth about our illnesses and diseases is in our own bodies. Medicine has to let us translate the languages they are trying to speak.”

Ziemlich oft hören FLINTA , dass sie zu hysterisch sind und sich nicht so anstellen sollen, wenn sie Schmerzen haben. Dass die Medizin seit Jahrhunderten sexistisch und rassistisch ist, ist kein Geheimnis mehr. Krankheiten, die ausschließlich Menschen mit Uterus betreffen, sind immer noch nicht ausreichend erforscht worden. Deshalb erhalten Menschen mit Uterus häufiger als Menschen ohne Uterus „Beruhigungsmittel und Antidepressiva statt Schmerzmittel.“ Bei ihrer Recherche wird der Autorin Elinor Cleghorn nochmal bewusst, wie unsichtbar Menschen mit Uterus gemacht bzw. der männliche Körper die Norm der Medizin wurde. Die Recherchen gehen tiefer, als man denken würde. The overall purpose of this book can be summarised by the title of the final chapter conclusion, which is: Believe Us. If you have a chronic illness, know someone with a chronic illness or you are a woman who has ever had to deal with a medical professional's disinterest then this book is for you. It took my mum over 7 years to be diagnosed correctly and even now she continues to face doubt and flippancy when seeking medical treatment. It didn't take me quite as long to get diagnosed with chronic pain but I have definitely bought into the culture of minimising the pain and even sometimes being embarrassed about seeking treatment through fear of not being believed. About half of the women I know have similar experiences and those are just the ones I've spoken to about it. I'm almost tempted to buy bulk copies of this book and drop them in my doctor's waiting room like a nerdy vigilante. A trailblazing, conversation-starting history of women’s health—from the earliest medical ideas about women’s illnesses to hormones and autoimmune diseases—brought together in a fascinating sweeping narrative.Im zweiten Kapitel „Ende des 19. Jhdt. bis in die 1940-er Jahre“ zeigt Cleghorn, wie die Frauenbewegung „nicht nur für Wahlrecht und politische Beteiligung“ kämpfte, „sondern auch gegen die Bedingungen und Umstände, unter denen Leben und Freiheit von Frauen beschnitten worden.“ Zu dieser Zeit war die Medizin aus der Sicht der cis Männern viel weiter, aber für Frauen hieß es noch unter Schmerzen zu leiden. „Selbst wenn sich eine Frau die Betreuung durch ihren Hausarzt oder einen Geburtshilfearzt leisten konnte, erhält sie eine Anästhesie nur, wenn er fähig und bereit war, sie einzusetzen.“ Auch hier glaubten viele Ärzte, dass die Anästhesie gefährlich für die Frau ist, weil „die meisten Mediziner vertraten zu dem die Ansicht, sie selbst könnten die Schmerzen der Geburt am besten beurteilen.“ My health has been complicated for about 7 years or so. As it is all coinciding with the menstrual cycle, I first tried pain relief, which didn't actually help. After a year or so, I started suffering from not only physical symptoms of pain, but then there were migraines, fatigue, hallucinations, palpitations, insomnia and debilitating brain fog for two weeks of every month. So, instead of waiting for nothing, I did my own research, and thought it could be PMDD. When suggesting this to a health professional, I was hoping to receive support, but instead, I was given yet more painkillers, and was told to rest more. Rest more! Still, even after seeing a female consultant, I still couldn't get my point across, and in fact, this particular person laughed at me, like I was stupid, and I didn't know what I was talking about. Im Fall von Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), der gefeierten Aktivisten für Empfängnisverhütung zeigt die Autorin auf, dass Pionier*innen der Frauenheilkunde auch handfeste rassistische und eugenische Ziele verfolgten. From contraception to abortion, this book covers so much. Women are simply not heard. Their pain is ignored. They are chronically underdiagnosed with things like Lupus, MS, thyroiditis, Sjogrens and other autoimmune diseases. I couldn’t help thinking about these female dominated diseases and wonder why they are the majority women. It’s speculation but I can’t help but conclude that their expulsion from medical research and ignoring woman’s health has lead to the disparate outcome and not just a sex proclivity.

Now, don't misread me here, these topics are vitally important when it comes to women's health, and the topics are as timely and important as they ever have been. What they aren't, in my opinion, are topics about being unwell or misdiagnosed.UNWELL WOMEN is a powerful and fascinating book t hat takes an unsparing look at how women's bodies have been misunderstood and misdiagnosed for centuries. ' Lindsey Fitzharris An insightful account that is especially recommended for those interested in the history of medicine where it intersects with women’s health, as well as readers interested in women’s and gender studies.”

The author ascribes the "insistence on often completely unnecessary surgery" [hysterectomy] to the fact that US regulations require Gyn residents "to perform a minimum of 70 hysterectomies during their residencies." [This was not the case when I completed residency in 1983.] The current regulation requires residents to perform 70 "minimally invasive" hysterectomies, but even that would only account for an increase in unnecessary procedures DURING residency, not after completing training. IMHO the primary reason why many private practice US Gyns perform unnecessary hysterectomies is FINANCIAL: they are paid more to do surgery! Private practice insurance reimbursement is far lower for less invasive treatments and procedures, many of which require much more of the physician's time in clinic. Far easier and more lucrative to perform the definitive procedure. [And FYI, Gyns employed by HMO's like Kaiser Permanente receive fixed salaries and are NOT reimbursed more to perform surgery; they only schedule surgeries that they feel are truly medically indicated.] Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World is a 2021 non-fiction book by Elinor Cleghorn. Cleghorn provides a cultural history of the impacts of misogyny on western medicine and western medical practice. [1] Summary [ edit ]

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However, the book’s overriding message is one that that needs to be heard loud and clear by the medical profession today; believe women!!