
March is National Women’s History Month as well celebrating International Women’s Week (Week of March 8), National Physicians Week (March 25-31), and Endometriosis Awareness Week (First full week of March) so as a way to honor these observances, LWVGO’s Books After Dark will be reading “Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World” by Elinor Cleghorn.
“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.”