All in her head : the truth and lies early medicine taught us about women's bodies and why it matters today / Elizabeth Comen, MD.
By: Comen, Elizabeth [author.].
Material type: TextPublisher: New York, NY : Harper Wave, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2024]Copyright date: ©2024Edition: First edition.Description: xix, 347 pages ; 24 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780063293014; 0063293013.Subject(s): Women's health services -- History | Women -- Health and hygiene -- History | Women -- Health and hygiene -- Sociological aspects | Sexism in medicine | Femmes -- Santé et hygiène -- Aspect sociologique | Sexisme en médecineGenre/Form: Informational works. | Documents d'information.Additional physical formats: Online version:: All in her headItem type | Current library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Haddon Twp. | New | Adult | 362.1082 Com (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Checked out | 05/25/2024 | 05000011731473 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
USA Today Bestseller
A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women's bodies and a call to action for a new conversation around women's health.
For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women's healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless--a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women's own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.
While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on--as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women's health and relationships with their own bodies.
Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies--how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today's medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician's knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.
Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives-- for us and generations to come--All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women's medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women's history and bodies.
Includes index.
Introduction -- Skin (Integumentary: it's what's inside that counts) -- Bones (Skeletal: skulls and whalebones) -- Muscle (Muscular: who's the weakest of them all?) -- Blood (Circulatory: matters of the heart) -- Breath (Respiratory: perhaps women breathe different air) -- Guts (Digestive: the price of going (and not going) with your gut) -- Bladder (Urinary: a thousand years of holding it in) -- Defense (Immune: self-sabotage) -- Nerves (Nervous: the "bitches be crazy" school of medicine) -- Hormones (Endocrine: the hormone hangover) -- Sex (Reproductive: the mother of all moral panics) -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on, as do the pervasive societal stigmas and ignorance that shape women's health and relationships with their own bodies. The author draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies: how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today's medical thought, and the many oversights that remain unaddressed. She examines the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, and her own observations from treating thousands of women.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction (ix)
- Chapter 1 Skin Integumentary: It's What's Inside That Counts (1)
- Chapter 2 Bones Skeletal: Skulls and Whalebones (30)
- Chapter 3 Muscle Muscular: Who's the Weakest of Them All? (59)
- Chapter 4 Blood Circulatory: Matters of the Heart (85)
- Chapter 5 Breath Respiratory: Perhaps Women Breathe Different Air (114)
- Chapter 6 Guts Digestive: The Price of Going (And Not Going) with Your Gut (136)
- Chapter 7 Bladder Urinary: A Thousand Years of Holding It In (166)
- Chapter 8 Defense Immune: Self-Sabotage (191)
- Chapter 9 Nerves Nervous: The "Bitches Be Crazy" School of Medicine (222)
- Chapter 10 Hormones Endocrine: The Hormone Hangover (256)
- Chapter 11 Sex Reproductive: The Mother of All Moral Panics (288)
- Conclusion (318)
- Acknowledgments (327)
- Index (335)