Unwell Women

By Elinor Cleghorn

Women and girls are systematically failed by biased modern medicine - and the roots of this run deep through our history. If we go to our doctors in pain, women are more likely to be offered antidepressants than analgesic painkillers, we're less likely to be referred for further tests than men, and we're more likely to be told our pain is psychological. There is, in short, a 'pervasive aura of distrust around women's accounts of their pain'. The bias is intersectional; for instance, Black women face worse outcomes than white women.

I've experienced minimisation of my chronic pain by healthcare professionals, and so has Cleghorn. In this fantastically researched book, she documents how and why women's pain is disregarded and delegitimised and why conditions predominantly affecting women have been vastly under-researched and under-funded. As Cleghorn explains, 'discrimination against unwell women that persists today is cast by a centuries-long shadow', and it's imperative that we understand this shadow if we're to start taking women's pain seriously.

Cleghorn's readable and engaging account draws together lots of things you sort-of know about and weaves them into a narrative of mistreatment of unwell women so compelling you'll wonder why you didn't see it before. The net of her research is wide - women as deviant in religious creation stories, our demonic potential, witchcraft, hysteria, wandering wombs, medical experiments on enslaved women, female genital mutilation, lobotomies, 'Mother's Little Helpers' (valium), and so much more. No matter how well-versed you are on sexism and racism, many of the excerpts from publications cited in this book will astound you. This is not just an exploration of ignorance or underfunding in an androcentric world, it is, over many periods of history, a tale of deliberate control of women and their bodies by men in religious and medical professions, and a detailed analysis of the ties between social concerns and the way women are treated.

With a coherent path through the annals of history, including individual stories of unwell women, commentators, scientists, medical professionals, and social justice campaigners, Unwell Women will enthrall you, shock you, anger you, and inspire you.