Unwell Women
Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
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Unwell Women
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Narrated by:
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Hanako Footman
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Written by:
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Elinor Cleghorn
About this listen
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.
Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As Elinor learned to live with her unpredictable disease, she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis.
In Unwell Women, Elinor Cleghorn traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect. The result is an authoritative and groundbreaking exploration of the relationship between women and medical practice, from the "wandering womb" of Ancient Greece to the rise of witch trials across Europe, and from the dawn of hysteria as a catchall for difficult-to-diagnose disorders to the first forays into autoimmunity and the shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation, menopause, and conditions like endometriosis.
Packed with character studies and case histories of women who have suffered, challenged, and rewritten medical orthodoxy - and the men who controlled their fate - this is a revolutionary examination of the relationship between women, illness, and medicine. With these case histories, Elinor pays homage to the women who suffered so strides could be made, and shows how being unwell has become normalized in society and culture, where women have long been distrusted as reliable narrators of their own bodies and pain. But the time for real change is long overdue: answers reside in the body, in the testimonies of unwell women - and their lives depend on medicine learning to listen.
©2021 Elinor Cleghorn (P)2021 Penguin AudioWhat the critics say
“In Unwell Women, the British scholar Elinor Cleghorn makes the insidious impact of gender bias on women’s health starkly and appallingly explicit.... It’s impossible to read Unwell Women without grief, frustration and a growing sense of righteous anger.” (Janice P. Nimura, The New York Times)
“The book is a call to arms for any woman who feels that doctors have not adequately addressed her illness or pain.” (The Washington Post)
“Researcher Cleghorn provides an essential history of misogyny in health care.... This clear-eyed assessment is both a catalog of how medicine has been complicit in female oppression and a call to action for drastic reform.” (Scientific American)
“An intriguing exploration of the history of women’s health.... Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn shows us that without acknowledgment and understanding of these issues, these ills will continue on into new generations and in untold eras. We owe it to ourselves as a society to understand.” (The Chicago Review of Books)
What listeners say about Unwell Women
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CAMG
- 2021-11-05
Confirmation of what I assumed
Many moments in this book where I was screaming and shaking my head at the absurdity and horror women have been subjected to since the beginning.
Very well written and performed.
I do now joke when my partner calls me "crazy" it's because I haven't been able to nap, eat oranges and drink milk...cause life can be too difficult for a poor hysterical woman to deal with.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tina
- 2022-08-24
okay so far
i am struggling to finish it since her definition of endometriosis is not correct-- it is not the endometrial lining but cells like the endometrial lining. really important to get details correct.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maxina
- 2022-11-18
Excellent
A well written account of historical and present day issues women face due to male dominated society.
Fabulous and well needed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cheri
- 2021-07-12
Heartbreaking and Powerful
I needed to take a couple days to reflect on this powerful book. As a female with invisible disabilities. As a female who has to battle Doctors, Specialists and Physiotherapists. Every word hit me like a blow. Remembering every time I was diminished, still unanswered questions. I thought of all the women who came before me and the trauma they went through. The women who are fighting to be heard...in this moment. I experienced rage, horror and in the final chapter I broke down in tears. This is a must read!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- eastvanlisa
- 2022-01-21
A tediously slow read essay
This audio book is a long and pedantic essay on the history of women’s gynaecology. Fascinating for sure, but it is tediously long and boring and comes across as a scornful, provocative, and gossipy story telling and brooding about the history of abhorrent practices and myths about women’s gynaecology. The narration is painfully slow and laced with sarcasm and undertones of disdain towards male physicians of gynaecology. Not helpful for someone seeking answers about current gynaecological practices, mysteries and misdiagnosis.
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1 person found this helpful