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Unwell women : misdiagnosis and myth in a man-made world  Cover Image Book Book

Unwell women : misdiagnosis and myth in a man-made world / Elinor Cleghorn.

Cleghorn, Elinor, (author.).

Summary:

"A trailblazing conversation-starting history of women's health-from Ancient Greece to hormones and autoimmune diseases--brought together in a fascinating sweeping narrative"-- Provided by publisher.
Cleghorn was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. She turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis. Here she traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect. In exploring the relationship between women, illness, and medicine, she shows how being unwell has become normalized in society and culture, and that women have long been distrusted as reliable narrators of their own bodies and pain. -- adapted from jacket

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593182956
  • ISBN: 0593182952
  • Physical Description: 386 pages ; 24 cm
  • Publisher: [New York] : Dutton, [2021]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-370) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Introduction -- Ancient Greece - Nineteenth Century. Wandering wombs ; Possessed and polluting ; Under her skin ; On her nerves ; Feeling pain ; Contagious pleasures ; Bleeding mad ; Rest and resistance -- Late Nineteenth Century - 1940s. Suffrage and suppression ; Birth control ; Feminine radiance ; Lifting the curse ; Dutiful and disciplined ; Control and punish -- 1945 - Present. Public health, private pain ; Mothers' little helpers ; Our bodies, our selves ; Autoimmune -- Conclusion: Believe us.
Subject: Women > Health and hygiene.
Women > Health and hygiene > History.
Women patients.
Diagnostic errors.
Women > Health and hygiene.
Women's Health > history.
Diagnostic Errors.
MEDICAL / Public Health.
Diagnostic errors.
Women > Health and hygiene.
Women patients.
Genre: History.

Available copies

  • 2 of 2 copies available at Skagit Evergreen Libraries.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at La Conner Swinomish Library District. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at La Conner Regional Library. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
La Conner Regional Library 362.1 CLEGHORN 112164 NON FICTION Available -
Burlington Public Library 613.0424 CLEGHORN 2021 39851001633842 Non-fiction Available -

Elinor Cleghorn has a background in feminist culture and history, and her critical writing has been published in several academic journals, including Screen. After receiving her PhD in humanities and cultural studies in 2012, Elinor worked for three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford on an interdisciplinary arts and medical humanities project. She has given talks and lectures at the British Film Institute, where she has been a regular contributor to the education program, Tate Modern, and ICA London, and she has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 discussion show The Forum. In 2017, she was shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, and she has since written creatively about her experience of chronic illness for publications including Ache (UK) and Westerly (AUS). She now works as a freelance writer and researcher and lives in Sussex.


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