“Hysterical” Women and Medicine
Women’s bodies have a long history of treatment as a source of sickness or corruption by medicine with disdain and dismissal. In times past, women could be institutionalized for what we now know to be PMS or other common reproductive issues. Yet, even today, with huge strides in feminism and medical knowledge, women’s pain is still often treated as “just hormonal” or psychosomatic, often understudied and undertreated. This series looks at a growing body of research that validates women’s pain, connects past traumas to present conditions, and explores the biases in medicine that prevent women from being properly treated for their legitimate conditions.
Writer. Author of 9 books, most recently “How to Write a Page Turner.” Published in The Atlantic. Mental Floss. NY Mag. Writer’s Digest. jordanrosenfeld.net
