Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

31 reviews

antoniamshmmr's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective

4.5

The book shines light on the way women have historically been treated in medicine and how it affects women to this day. A very informative summary of the wide history of western medicine is given throughout the book, while explaining all the systemic problems such as racism, sexism, etc. that women and non-binary people had to face. 

One thing I would‘ve liked to see in the book would be a comparison or  simply some information about the medicine of non-western society as this book mainly focuses on USA/UK and partly some other western countries. To keep a red lining I understand that this might be difficult to include though.

Overall a very good read – painful sometimes – seeing that so many aspects of inequality retain to this day. I am positive this book helps a lot of (unwell) women to focus on what doctors are telling them and how historical inequalities may be hidden within those words.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Medical trauma, Body horror, Abortion, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual violence, Ableism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

justmehayleyb's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Abortion, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Medical content, Misogyny, Death, Racism, Cancer, Gaslighting, Infertility, and Sexual assault

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

Super interesting, a frustrating but important read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abortion, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Cancer, Death, and Racism

reading_for_pluto's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Abortion, Classism, Medical content, Death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

catherinedsharp's review

informative sad fast-paced

4.25

Highly informative book. Quite emotional and upsetting at times but really important to read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Racism

missb_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Blood, Misogyny, Rape, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, and Classism

charbookchar's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Antisemitism, Ableism, Sexism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Classism, and Medical content

Moderate: Death

radfordmanor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Abortion, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Sexual content, Drug use, and Miscarriage

catherineleigh's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abortion, Ableism, Chronic illness, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Rape, and Cancer

solliereads's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma

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

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, and Eating disorder