Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
Summary: From time immemorial, as long as there have been physicians, there has been a double standard when it comes to women’s health. Medicine, a science one hopes will be flawless, has an imperfect history, due in part to its being a product of the values and beliefs of its time, as are the scientific and technical strides its findings inspire. The ancient Greeks, the founders of medical science, deemed women to be inferior to men, and that unfortunate and erroneous attitude prevailed throughout the centuries. Some say it lingers still. From the female reproductive system to autoimmune and endocrine diseases to mental-health disorders, medicine has viewed gender and biology through the same lens, and in a field dominated by male physicians, researchers, and scholars, that perspective has often been derisive and dismissive of women’s genuine health concerns. Feminist historian and academic Cleghorn, herself a victim of medical misdiagnosis, brings first-hand knowledge of the gender bias endemic in the medical profession to this scholarly yet personal, specific yet comprehensive study of dangerously outdated medical practices and attitudes. -- From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association.
Publisher: Dutton, 2022
ISBN: 9780593182970
Physical Description: 400 pages