Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

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

49 reviews

solliereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

What an absolutely vital and incredible read! This book has made me totally rethink my approach to medical misogyny and medical malpractice as a direct result of the disbelief of women and their experiences with pain. I've suffered with unexplained chronic pain for a long time, and I've always been turned away when I attempted to seek help, support and understanding of the pain and exhaustion that no professional has ever seemed to want to touch with a five-foot pole. Reading this book felt like a warm hug - true, the facts are harrowing, particularly those regarding the experiences of women of colour and their repeated erasures from feminist movements, as well as their especially harsh experiences with medical malpractice and being treated as experimental patients without their expressed knowledge or consent, but every single fact has been included in this book to scream out that all women, regardless of race and class, deserve and demand to be believed by the professional practitioners that hold their lives in their hands.

I really appreciated, too, having a clear timeline of events that provide much-needed context regarding various issues in women's health. It was by no means an easy read, and there were times where I was so disgusted by the things women have gone through that I wanted to put the book away, but it was certainly an immensely helpful one. Cleghorn has clearly gone to great lengths to write a text of such great importance on the subject of medical misogyny, and everything in her book is backed up by a massive amount of citations, none of which are pointlessly crammed in there either. I truly look forward to reading her upcoming book in 2024 - MOTHERS: An Intimate History - and I fully expect it to be just as crucial a read as this was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Infertility, and Chronic illness

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, and Eating disorder

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Body horror, Abortion, Drug use, Cancer, Medical content, Racism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Child death, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Classism, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Panic attacks/disorders

thania's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

Very good and informative book. It was clearly written with reference to much research and the way the information was presented was coherent. I was able to witness throug this book the horrors of medical misogyny and get frustrated over the repeat offences on women’s rights that just kept happening for the same convoluted reasons. Other than that, I wish she put in headers for each new disease though or didn’t jump through years so much. I understand that in most cases it is necessary but it can get quite confusing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Torture

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

gentle_garbage_baby's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Very interesting history of the trouble that women (in the West) have had regarding illness, medicine, and doctors. There's a consistent theme of women not being listened to when describing their own pain, with doctors deciding it is 'hysteria' or other sexist interpretations. Unfortunately, some of these attitudes still exist today, and I'm sure there are many women who have read this book who can relate to aspects of it, including myself. Some sections can be quite distressing, so I wouldn't recommend this to people who get particularly upset by the subject matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Abortion, Death, and Infertility

Minor: Cancer, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Miscarriage

dragnfary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

I think every person  with a uterus should read/listen to this. It's very interesting how historically women have been viewed in the medical field and how that has prohibited medical knowledge.  I also belive that this book would help you know that you aren't alone when the docs don't listen to you, and the importance of advocating for yourself and your health.  

It was very interesting learning how we have gotten to where we are todaymedi

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abortion, Medical content, and Slavery

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Violence, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Miscarriage, and Torture

bookswithgeorgia's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexism

rosalind's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Cancer

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Chronic illness, Grief, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Rape

faduma's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Medical content, Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Terminal illness

burdasnest's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

 This book made me feel seen and connected to all of the women in our time and the past who suffered medically because of their sex. Cleghorn acknowledges intersectionality and inequity well, but keep in mind that this is focused on western medical history and knowledge and cisgender women. She also emphasizes the absolute importance of the myriad issues we have before us as unwell women. I feel called to advocate and act by this book, and think that it should be required in health curriculum in higher education from physiology to public health. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Abortion, Miscarriage, Blood, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Rape, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Slavery

tetedump's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Cancer, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence