Inside Medicine’s Gender Problem: When Women’s Pain Isn’t Taken Seriously
One woman shares her experience with medical misogyny, from teenage period pain to IVF heartbreak, and the fight for care that actually listens.
Her journey with fertility and loss began a decade ago, but the signs were there long before, at 15, when she was doubled over in pain from her period, trying to get a medical certificate from her GP.
Instead of concern, I was met with mockery. My “tummy troubles” were a joke, a comical reason to skip a cooking exam.
This moment marked the first in a long line of gendered dismissals, where women’s pain is normalised, their instincts doubted, and their bodies treated as problems to be solved rather than people to be cared for.
Author's summary: Medical misogyny affects women's care.