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se_wigget's review against another edition
5.0
Early in the book I felt angry and suspected this would be one of those books where every page infuriates me. But the sheer absurdity of male doctors' bizarre attitudes toward women in the late 19th & early 20th centuries makes me snort. I keep imagining a satire reminiscent of Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. The film Hysteria comes to mind.
Basically, male doctors made up crazy misogynistic shit to keep ladies in their "place" and to get their wealthy husbands to keep the doctors in business. It was a culture of hypochondria.
Simultaneously, working class women were expected to work tirelessly and never be sick... because they didn't have money to pay doctors.
19th century doctors claimed that women's most important organs were their reproductive organs and that using their intellects would harm their uterus and their ability to have babies! I guess being extremely not a breeder is a big "fuck you" to these assholes.
This book is very short and was published in the 1970s. I'm glad it addresses how the medical industry treated/treats women differently depending on race and class, but it has a heteronormative slant.
"... hysterics never had fits when alone, and only when there was something soft to fall on (p. 86)."
bookwormdaily's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
for our own purposes, we must never lose sight of the fact that it is not our biology that oppresses us—but a social system based on sex and class domination.
this book is a heavy one, about the accessibility to health services, and how the medical staff and its system treat woman based on their background, race, and skin colour.
from beginning to end, this book compares the upper-class woman and the low (income) class woman, which side is most at risk for being sick, and who gets sick the most. how people treat these two groups differently when it comes to providing information about the sickness or getting a prescription and access to medical facilities.
although, this book was written in the nineties. the message that is being carried inside is still relevant to this day. we see changes but those changes are never significant.
I didn’t give a full rating because I felt like a few chapters were repetitive of other chapters, and it happens multiple times. it would be great if those repetitive chapters could be changed with more in-depth or real experiences from the BIPOC rep. also it sometimes irks me knowing this book was written by two white women, like I know their background and their movement, but I think this book would be more comprehensible when it also includes someone who is through that process so other people can felt more relate.
other than that, I love the topic of this book and how it gave me so much perspective that I can relate to.
madidori's review against another edition
5.0
“But in our concern to understand more about our own biology, for our own purposes, we must never lose sight of the fact that it is not our biology that oppresses us — but a social system based on sex and class domination.”
I have gotten really interested in sickness, women, and the healthcare system (perhaps for obvious reasons) and this book has been mentioned several times in other things I’ve read.
This is a fascinating (and infuriating) history of sickness and women’s health. Back in the 1800s-early 1900s, women were either “sick” or “sickening”, depending on their class status. Upper and middle class women were too sick to do anything but be invalids. Working class women were carriers of germs and disease and needed to be avoided.
The history of medical practice and also class divisions was interesting. But what was more intriguing was the shift over time. The authors spend a super short amount of time talking about 1973, which was when this was published. They give an update on “today”, which was 50 years ago.
Women in the 70s (and arguably now) were no longer seen as physically sick but mentally ill. The problems they complained about were no longer issues with the ovaries (which historically held all the issues, hence mass ovariectomies), but psychological problems.
I wish more was talked about in this section. I also wished they wrote more about power. They acknowledge in the conclusion that this is about biology, science, or anything inherent to women — it’s about power. Who has the power to decide what’s “medically” wrong; who has the power to withhold or give access to medical technology; who can legislate for medical needs.
Science and biology were used as tools to justify social standings and power. This was only a couple of pages but I wish it were longer. But I still recommend this book for anyone interested in medical history, women’s health, and social issues.
I have gotten really interested in sickness, women, and the healthcare system (perhaps for obvious reasons) and this book has been mentioned several times in other things I’ve read.
This is a fascinating (and infuriating) history of sickness and women’s health. Back in the 1800s-early 1900s, women were either “sick” or “sickening”, depending on their class status. Upper and middle class women were too sick to do anything but be invalids. Working class women were carriers of germs and disease and needed to be avoided.
The history of medical practice and also class divisions was interesting. But what was more intriguing was the shift over time. The authors spend a super short amount of time talking about 1973, which was when this was published. They give an update on “today”, which was 50 years ago.
Women in the 70s (and arguably now) were no longer seen as physically sick but mentally ill. The problems they complained about were no longer issues with the ovaries (which historically held all the issues, hence mass ovariectomies), but psychological problems.
I wish more was talked about in this section. I also wished they wrote more about power. They acknowledge in the conclusion that this is about biology, science, or anything inherent to women — it’s about power. Who has the power to decide what’s “medically” wrong; who has the power to withhold or give access to medical technology; who can legislate for medical needs.
Science and biology were used as tools to justify social standings and power. This was only a couple of pages but I wish it were longer. But I still recommend this book for anyone interested in medical history, women’s health, and social issues.