All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today – A Memorial Sloan Kettering MD's History of Healthcare and Agency

by Elizabeth Comen

The fascinating history of women’s health as it’s never been told before.

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 peels 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Science, History, Health, Audiobook, Medicine

368 pages, Hardcover

First published February 13, 2024

About the author

Dr. Elizabeth Comen, M.D., has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-after clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen is a Medical Oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She earned her BA in the History of Science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She lives in New York City with her family.

Reviews

[Christa Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to be ANGRY and INFORMED????!!!!!

[Jessica J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to feel enraged, discouraged, heartbroken, and ready to smack every adult male you encounter? Have I got the book for you...

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title caught my attention because it perfectly described the lazy medical gaslighting my mom was subjected to over and over again for years before she finally learned she had terminal cancer. Every doctor had told her, literally, it was in her head and several of them prescribed her antidepressants. It was only during COVID when she moved in with me and I got her into MD Anderson that the head of the department, a woman, listened, had her tested, and confirmed it was cancer (I, a layperson, suspected cancer, even though none of those other highly educated ones did!). Because it was COVID, the subsequent testing to determine the type and stage of cancer she had took three times longer than normal, even though the #1 enemy of treating cancer is time. By the time she was given definitive news, she was told her only option was palliative hospice care. The cancer that was in her small intestine had metastasized to her liver, her skin, her breasts, her lungs, and basically her whole body. She died three weeks later. Her initial concern was her inability to eat without vomiting. Doctors told her it was because she was stressed and upset. Basically, they wanted her to stop being an emotional woman. If anyone needed to stop being an emotional woman, it was me, because I was pissed. I’m still pissed. If even one of those doctors had taken her more seriously and listened to her, she might still be alive and healthy today. She deserved better. Certainly, she didn’t have to suffer as much as she did for as long as she did.

In my own experience, a doctor misdiagnosed frozen shoulder and ended up telling me my only course of action available would be an expensive stem cell injection which would be temporary and would not be covered by insurance. (Asians and diabetics are highly susceptible to frozen shoulder, so this shouldn't have been a medical conundrum to him, especially given he was Asian too!) There was also my gynecologist. I'd grown several grapefruit sized tumors in my uterus called fibroids, and I was told they take years to grow. Given I was getting annual exams, I was shocked to learn how big they were because no one else had realized I had them. I was so grateful, but I dropped this doctor for three reasons: 1) she kept insisting I didn't need an hysterectomy since I was still in my 30s and fertile, 2) she scoffed at my question about how I would recognize menopause after an hysterectomy, given I wouldn't get a period afterward, and 3) she laughed at me when I told her I was more comfortable with women gynecologists since they ought to understand the female body better than a man and then told me hers was a man and she was very happy with him. (She also kept me waiting at least 45 minutes every time, and I just got fed up.)

So I already knew, instinctively, everything this book covered. Of course I didn't necessarily know all the medical content or medical history, but none of it was surprising. All of it was enraging. I would like to say that I'd recommend every medical student, especially men, read this book. Unfortunately, I fear they would dismiss me the same way all the men in the book dismissed women as unknowing, wrong, hysterical. For all the advances we've made, I don't think we've come as far as we want to think we have, as far as we absolutely need to be. I fear these advances will degenerate with MAGA policies waiting to be implemented and all the damage we are already seeing with antiabortion, anti LGBTQ+, and misogynistic practices already executed since the 45th administration.

I'm lucky in that I live in Houston. It's the largest medical center in the world. But this means that there are probably as many horrible doctors as there are excellent ones, and that it takes me many trials before finding doctors I can trust. This means lost time - both time spent and time taken off work - and lost costs in copays, tests, prescriptions, and even procedures. But it was also the only place that was able to give my mother the diagnosis we needed to know, even though it literally killed her.

If you are interested in learning more, I'd also recommend three other books I read this year, all of which I thought were excellent:
- Say Anarcha: A Young Woman, a Devious Surgeon, and the Harrowing Birth of Modern Women's Health by JC Hallman
- The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
- It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (but Were Never Told) by Dr. Karen Tang


Update three days later:
I finished this book on Thursday. The very next day, I had an appointment with my doctor. It was a routine diabetic checkup. I explained to him I was ok with my blood test results, but a couple numbers were trending in the wrong direction, which made me uneasy. I explained all the ways I was combating those numbers and wanted help to reverse them back in the right direction. He chastised me for my concern since the numbers were still good and then proceeded to tell it was all in my head (literally used those words). He concluded the meeting by reiterating that my numbers were fine and that there wasn’t anything he could do since they were ok (again implying, therefore, what he explicitly said before - the problem was with me in my head, and then explicitly suggesting that maybe I should switch therapists since mine was obviously ineffective or go back to my dietician since she had helped me in the past). He then continued by again minimizing my concern that everything was fine and I should relax.

I’ve been in a bit of shock ever since. I’ve spent the weekend processing it, and I’ve decided to send him a copy of this book and explain I’ll be shopping for another doctor, one who will hear me when she listens and will actually take me seriously. I have the power and the right to be heard, and with all the doctors in this city, I’ll eventually find one who will.

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

don’t you hate it when a mostly normal book has a sudden transphobia jumpscare and then just moves past it like nothing happened

also like… i think we all knew that medical misogyny is a thing. would have been nice if the book made it past the level of isn’t it terrible how women have been treated and if only this happened to men they would have fixed it two hundred years ago

[Fairuz ᥫ᭡. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ★★★★☆
Genre: Nonfiction | Feminism | Science | Medical History | Health

Let’s get one thing clear—this book is not here to be polite. It’s here to POKE, PROD, and SHOUT
—because the truth about women’s healthcare? Yeah, it’s been buried, dismissed, and labeled “hysteria” for centuries.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a literal queen in a white coat, dives headfirst into the brutal, unfair, often infuriating history of how women’s bodies have been mistreated, misunderstood, and manipulated in the world of medicine. She unpacks each organ system like she’s opening a crime scene file. From skin to sex, every chapter peels back the medical gaslighting and lays it bare—with science, history, and a whole lot of WTF moments.

First of all... THIS BOOK HAD ME CLENCHING MY JAW AND THROWING INVISIBLE CHAIRS
Like?? The nerve of some historical “doctors” thinking women’s pain was just emotions?

The anger was real. The facts were brutal. And the delivery? Ruthless.

BUT also?? So empowering. So validating. So necessary.
It was like reading the footnotes of every time a woman was ignored at a clinic. The way Dr. Comen calls out centuries of bias while still managing to weave in compassion and hope?? Wild.

Some fav parts:
✧ Plastic surgery & body ideals: Bro, the way beauty standards got surgically shoved into medicine?? Not cool.
✧ “Hysteria” & mental health: The origin stories of why women are still called “dramatic” when they talk about pain? Yup, laid out clear as day.
✧ Organs as protest: Yes. Our bodies have been battlegrounds—so this book reclaims them with sharp, undeniable truths.

This isn’t a light read. It’s a mic-drop read. A rage-fuel-your-fire read.
Like—you want to time-travel just to throw hands at 1800s doctors.

This book is for you if:
✧ You’ve ever had your pain dismissed.
✧ You love learning and raging in equal parts.
✧ You want receipts on the medical patriarchy.
✧ You believe women’s stories matter, especially when it comes to our bodies.

Final Thoughts?
“All in Her Head” is a battle cry wrapped in pages. It’s bold, backed by science, and genuinely jaw-dropping. Not every chapter is revolutionary, but together, they paint a picture that’s unforgettable.

If you’re ready to get loud (and maybe sob-laugh while doing it)—pick it up. Flip it open. And let the revolution begin. Knowledge is power, babes. And this one? It packs a punch.

[Jessie Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m counting this as “read” because I made it 90% through before I had to stop due to the abrupt and casual transphobia and misgendering of ftm trans patients. Gross. I was already upset about the lack of intersectionality throughout the entire book in terms of race, disability, weight, etc but that was the last straw. Of course the inhumane medical practices against women throughout history was infuriating to read about, but so was the absolute disregard for those who don’t fit into the cis, white, hetero, wealthy, able-bodied box that the author does. Kinda wish I would have stopped reading this sooner tbh.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Read about 50 pages of this, including the introduction, by which point I hated it. The primary issue is that I was hoping for an owner’s manual for living in a female body, basically the medical tidbits from Eve expanded into a book, and this is absolutely not that. Instead it appears to be a history of outrages in the last couple hundred years of women’s medical care. For instance, the first chapter, “Skin,” does not discuss the skin as an organ at all—what it does, how to best care for it, whether there are any pertinent differences between men and women and the types of skin problems that each have. Actually it’s a history of plastic surgery and how it’s terrible that male plastic surgeons (this specialty is really disproportionately male as it turns out) are imposing their own beauty standards on female patients, but also terrible when male doctors conclude women don’t need it. (To be fair, medical providers and service providers in general imposing their ideas of what people should need or want is a problem, but framing it exclusively as a gender issue obscures that point.)

The other issue is that the book just seems sloppy. It starts with misinformation about the early modern witch trials and some wild generalizations about the history of women in medicine. Then a 19th century woman whose skeleton is in a museum is introduced as being from Norfolk, Virginia, until three pages later she was apparently from New Orleans (this error is especially ironic given that it occurs in the midst of outrage about people looking at the skeleton without knowing who she was—carelessness toward the three known facts about her hardly helps that cause!).

And then, references aren’t included in the book at all. You have to go to the author’s website and download them. From a casual perusal they look as legitimate as usual for popular nonfiction, but I don’t think anybody wants to be putting down their book and picking up their device whenever they want to see a reference (I certainly don’t, not to mention I was reading it on a plane). This choice suggests that either the author or the publisher assumes the audience for this book wouldn’t care to look at them, which is a bad look.

Overall, a definite disappointment and not at all what I was looking for.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book equally interesting and terrifying. A book every woman (or anyone who cares about women) should read to become better advocates for ourselves and our healthcare.

[Patricija || book.duo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Jei moterį operuoja vyras, rezultatai būna blogesni. Jei vyrą moteris ar vyrą vyras – rezultatai tokie patys. Moterys gydytojos daugiau laiko skiria pacientams, todėl jų rezultatai geresni. Mažų krūtų turėjimas plastikos chirurgų dėka buvo ilgaaaai įtrauktas į ligų sąrašą. Dar 1970-aisiais manyta, kad bėgimas pakenks moterų gimdai. Mažakraujystė ilgai moterims buvo gydoma prisakant nesipraust, nešokt, neskaityt, nejot ir negert kavos. Ilgai moterims vaginizmas buvo ne gydomas, o į namus ateidavo gydytojas, kuris eteriu moterį užmigdydavo, kad sutuoktinis galėtų su ja be problemų mylėtis. Iki 19 a. buvo manyta, kad moterys širdies ligomis neserga, o iki pat šių dienų moterims gydymas nuo širdies ligų taikomas rečiau (ypač prevencinis), nei vyrams, nors 1 iš 5 moterų mirs nuo širdies ligos, o tai reiškia – daugiau nei nuo visų vėžių kartu sudėjus. Šiandien moterys vis dar dažniausiai kviečia greitąją vyrui dėl širdies problemų, bet beveik niekada nekviečia sau. Nekviečia joms ir vyrai. Moterys šiandien, kaip ir anksčiau, vis dar turi įtikinėti, kad tai, ką jaučia – nėra psichosomatika ar nerimas. Net jei nuo kosulio joms išplyšta Cezario pjūvio siūlės, net jei priimamajame iš skausmo alpsta ar tiesiog numiršta. Diagnozės joms trunka ilgiau. Dėmesio vis dar tenka išsireikalauti.

Autorė, pati praktikuojanti gydytoja, pasitelkdama pavyzdžius, mokslinius šaltinius, statistiką ir istorinius dokumentus, pasakoja aplaidumo, kankinimų ir absurdo kupiną istoriją, kuri, deja, 2024-aisiais vis dar kartais skamba kaip iš viduramžių. Moterys vis dar pražiūrimos, vaistai vis dar testuojami pritaikant juos vyrams, visai kaip ir medicininė įranga. Todėl skaityti ne tik nepaprastai įdomu, baisu ir aktualu, bet ir reikalinga – ypač kai imi atpažinti savo paties įsitikinimus, stereotipus ar įteigtas nesąmones, kurios nieko bendro su realybe neturi. Ir imi mintyse žymėtis ką kitą kartą turėtum pasakyti gydytojui, kuris tik kreivai šypsosis ir galvos, kad gal čia truputį išsigalvojai.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to see quotes from the bookz check out my status updates for it.. I had at least 92-95 and somehow most of them disappeared from the kindle app, very weird.
-----

I've read two other books along this line and I thought okay, will this one surprise me and show me new information 🤔?

Yup!

The amount of times I was making faces at this book, ranting in my head, flipping it off. ..

I have no words for some of what I read... just wow is all I can come up with.
If you want to be angry, armed with and to time travel to smack some people, have at it darlings!

In my opinion, this is a very important read that should be read by everyone, not just women.
We have made improvements and come quite a ways since the early days of medicine, but we still have so far to go (and not just with women's care).

I can't do this justice with my words but please read this book,and tell others about it..get the word out.

[Hope · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes and expectations for this book. Women’s medical history is sorely under-researched and under-discussed and we suffer for it today. Dr. Comen makes some good points and illustrates some examples of these issues, such as how longterm minimization of heart disease risks for women is still leading to preventable deaths. Yet this was a DNF for me.

As an intro, the writing style is sarcastic and angry. A lot of the stories are angering, I’ll give you that! But the repeated use of “obviously” and “clearly” became grating—if things are obvious and crystal clear, they rarely need paragraphs written on them. I could look past the style and maybe even embrace it if the book was more internally consistent, but it’s not.

Its basic premise is that sexism has held medicine back (check the author’s Instagram page for variations on this theme). To convey this thesis, it lacquers modern ideas of oppression on centuries of trial and error, painting medical researchers as schemers who actively wanted to keep women stranded literally and metaphorically. One example of such active, specific intent is seen when she discusses bicycling, concluding with:

In the end, both the medical community and the moral authoritarians of the moment conspired to agree that bicycling was an activity that a woman should participate in only with her doctor's permission…

What were some of the ways that this conspiracy came about? Well, doctors warned that a whole host of issues could come from bicycling, sexual and physical and emotional. Many of their predictions do seem laughable and over-dramatic today, such as the “bicycle face” the author describes. But were these predictions oppressive or were they just sorely ignorant and unrefined by research?

For instance, cycling can cause pelvic floor issues and clitoral numbness (https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answe...). And the author herself describes the “Female Triad: disordered eating, irregular menstruation, and loss of bone density. The condition is common among dancers, gymnasts, elite runners—any sport where an exceptionally lean physique is considered an asset—and left untreated, it can lead to serious long-term consequences including infertility, stress fractures, a compromised immune system, a slowed metabolism, cardiovascular damage, and mental health issues.”

So which is it: bicycling is dangerous (the first part of the chapter), women can bicycle just fine if they damn well please (the middle of the chapter), or bicycling is reasonable but not without risk (the end of the chapter)?

This sort of yo-yoing happens throughout each chapter: a description of early medicine that paints it as hyperbolic and baseless, a rah-rah women power pump up, and then a downplayed acknowledgment that maybe the early dudes were on to something but that doesn’t excuse them for being misogynists. It’s exhausting.

Even with that yo-yoing though, I hadn’t reached the DNF tipping point. That came when this book—which was published in February 2024—referred to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS as “Grinch Syndrome” because, it explains, POTS is allegedly caused by too small a heart.

Pre-Covid, maybe this would have been explainable and forgivable as yet another example of ignorance. But POTS has been in the spotlight for a few years now due to long Covid, and that spotlight has discredited the too-small-heart theory and rejected the Grinch Syndrome nickname. Two and a half years before this book was published—in June 2021—there was uproar when Jeopardy used the nickname in a clue (https://www.usatoday.com/story/entert...). For a book that prides itself on fifty five pages of citations, the fact that this demonstrably outdated lore is presented as present-day status quo undermines its credibility and suggests more than a little confirmation bias.

There was a ton of error in early science. Not arguing about that whatsoever. The medical experiments that have been done on women and minorities are heinous. There need to be more books, more research, more discourse on how brutal the evolution of science has been and how it has led to gaps and fallacies today. I hoped this book would contribute to that conversation. But I can’t in good faith say it does.

[Rachel Paster · Rating 3 out of 5]

The extensive laundry list of things we don’t know about women’s health is depressingly long. Unfortunately the author doesn’t really offer any big picture ideas about corrective measures. Also in many cases she describes a problem (ie urinary incontinence), tells is there’s a solution… but doesn’t really get into what it is or how to go about addressing it other than find a female doctor. I felt like the book was effective to stoke outrage but that’s it.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women in America and worldwide have had to work very hard for lots of things in life: the right to vote, the right to work outside of the home, the list goes on. And we are still, after all of these years, fighting for rights. Women have also been accused of being hysterical or crazy when they seek help for their medical or general health concerns, which is also still prevalent today to some degree.

Whether or not you’ve felt like the systems in place work for you, I think this is an important book to read as it really helped open my eyes to how women are treated when they ask for help, especially when it comes to health issues that they are trying to find relief from. It is unfortunate, but we are still learning important things about medicine and health every day, and doctors don’t have all of the answers. Every body is different and may present symptoms differently which means for some women, finding answers can take a lifetime, depending on the care they receive.

All in Her Head lays out chapters broken down into different subjects pertaining to the body and how women experience life in one. The first chapter is “Skin” and talks a lot about plastic surgery and body enhancement and the history behind it. The book concludes with a section on sex, after covering other topics such as “breath”, “muscle”, and “guts”. Historical facts and stories of medical practices are presented as well as the authors experiences in her own practice as a doctor and some of the patient stories she has come across. The parallels between practices and beliefs about healthcare now compared to a few hundred years ago are pretty fascinating if you take the time to learn about them, and this book makes it easy to just pick it up and read a chapter and dwell on the information for a bit before moving on to more information about another subject.

I found some chapters more interesting than others, but one takeaway for me is that for centuries, women have had little to no say in how they are medically treated. And if they do get a say, they are often accused of lying or exaggerating. Some of this is due to simply not understanding how the body works and thinking that men’s bodies are the baseline for how all bodies should be treated. That certainly doesn’t mean this is how it has to continue to be though, and doctors like Dr. Comen play a huge part in helping to open up conversations and bring truth to light.

No matter how you identify, if you’re looking for a book that is insightful about the history of medicine involving women’s bodies, then this is a book you won’t want to miss. I think it is also an encouraging read for anyone who has had a less than pleasant experience when trying to advocate for proper care. Dr. Comen is a great example of what a healthcare provider should look like and sharing her knowledge and frustration with how things have been and are currently will hopefully perpetuate the truth about what women might have to face when looking for care, and eventually change the course of how we are treated, as humans and as women.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

truly fuck the medical system but also fuck the transphobia that the author spews towards the end of the book like wtf??
could’ve been an amazing analysis on how the medical system treats women but since it doesn’t include and defend ALL women, the work is shit and exclusionary

[Stephanie Wilen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*slams book shut*
The fact that it is 2024 and women's health is less researched and less funded than men's health makes me want to scream. The unfortunate truth is that woman have been written off as creatures of self induced stress, anxiety and overly emotional beings since the beginning of modern medicine. Elizabeth Comen brilliantly creates a timeline exploring the history of medicine and how it has set women up for failure. And it does fail us over and over again. It fails us when we're told symptoms are just stress and when we're wrongly diagnosed or not diagnosed at all. It fails us when pharmaceuticals are thrown at us just because. Improvement over the last 30ish years cannot be accepted as "problem solved". Prejudice in women's healthcare is deeply rooted and very much so still intact. A lot of work to be done here but it begins with learning and this book is a great place to start.

[Lili Kyurkchiyska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Днес е ден, в който представителите на мъжкия пол не трябва да се появяват пред очите ми. Върху онзи, който има нещастието да ми се изпречи, ще се стовари праведният ми гняв.
Не е като да не знам, че в миналото жените сме били пренебрегвани, тормозени и оставяни на милостта на мъже без капка отговорност. Историк съм, все пак. Просто в един момент решаваш, че вече си се натъкнал на най-лошото. Но да знаеш, че при идеално психично здраве са ни затваряли в лудници по прищявка на съпрузите ни, вадели са зъбите и органите ни, за да ни "излекуват" и са твърдели, че "всичко е в главите ни - трябва само да се стегнем"... Бога ми, и продължават да го правят, само че в модифицирана форма...
Та, помнете, дами, че ако някой, ОСОБЕНО мъж, ви каже, че сте много емоционални и това е от хормоните ви, той казва (без изобщо да го осъзнава ), че се държите противоестествено, защото матката ви блуждае из тялото - средновековно обяснение нямащо място в "модерната" медицина, която (както ще разберете от прочита на книгата) изобилства от "средновековни" омаловажаващи жената идеи, облечени в съвременни обяснения.
Приятно четене!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for all women.... and men!

I feel smarter just having read this book. Seriously, this book was REVELATORY. It’s astonishing how women have been (mis)treated throughout history in regard to their health. There is a lot of fascinating history and information here. Everyone should read it, and women will be better prepared to take charge of their own health.... and simply just be informed. Super important must read!!!

[Maisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros:
- makes you “enraged and informed” as I saw one reviewer put it. An excellent reminder of how important it is for women to advocate for themselves in the medical space, trust themselves and their bodies, and maintain a healthy skepticism of doctor’s orders
- grimly amusing

Cons:
- the lack of intersectionality makes it read more like a book from the early 2000s than 2024. Next to no discussion of the differential impacts (historically or present-day) on women’s health based on race, ability, weight, gender identity, or sexual orientation - only mentioned occasionally as parenthetical asides. Feels especially tacky given the preachy nature of the book about how women (aka white/able-bodied/straight/cis/thin women) have been overlooked by the medical field. And there’s a “transphobic jumpscare” (as another reviewer put it) in the middle of the book.
- book is split into chapters based on bodily systems (skin, bones, etc), but there is not a “reproductive” chapter. Menstruation and bc are mentioned in the “hormones” chapter, but no discussion of abortion and birth which I would have been particularly interested to learn the history of.
- more a history book than a science book. Some may see this as a pro but I was hoping for more science

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5/5, rounded up)

Having read many other books on the subject I found quite a bit of the information to be a review rather than an introduction. Elizabeth Comen's tone is markedly negative and resentful; this is understandable - if not justified - don't get me wrong. Being reminded of these countless injustices I'm already grumpy, I don't need riling up any further.

Mind blowing and all encompassing, I'd recommend Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution before anything else.
If you prefer numbers to biology, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men is my #1 rec.
More interested in the reproductive system than other systems? I've never felt more educated or empowered in my body than after reading It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health.
FemTech advancements more up your alley? The Vagina Business: The Innovative Breakthroughs that Could Change Everything in Women's Health pulls back the curtain on the new and vital industry.

I hate to say it, because this subject does need to be explored further - and fast, but in the end, I felt like it's all been done before. There was onesection new to me, so I didn't come away empty handed. Whether or not you'll enjoy this will likely be based on how many similar books you've read.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And yet, in decades during which tuberculosis was seen as the tragic, romantic affliction of the world’s most beautiful girls, a crucial groundwork was laid. Together, medicine and culture had spawned an idea as potent as it was poisonous; one that the scientific breakthroughs of the day could mitigate, but never entirely dispel. The idea was just this: that there is something beautiful and wonderfully feminine and powerful and empowering at once about a woman who can’t breathe.”

[Joanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating and alarming and insightful and infuriating. this book reminded me of why I wanted to go into medicine in the first place. let’s inject cocaine into a penis and see how they like it <3

[Sapphire Skie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review TW: novel contains transphobia, exclusion of non-white, non-cis, poor, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ women.

This book was rife with information important to the historical treamtent of women through medicine. I knew some of these things already, but many shocked me, still. Even the things i knew became more personal and horrific when described in detailed accounts from the womens own POV, and sometimes even more horrific and terrible when only able to be recounted through the treating doctors' own description- because the women they tortured were never given a voice.

I had origionally been planning to rate this novel 4 stars- while important, and well written and engaging, there had been an uncomfortable lack of mention in how this medical history more deeply affected woman of color, overweight women, poor women, LGBTQIA+ women (more on this in below), disabled women, and so on. To be clear, I'm a white now-middle-class cis woman, and while I try to listen, I know there are many things that dont stand out to me because of my privilege. Still, it felt apparent that this heavy dive into the history of womens' medical treatment was lacking in its' depiction of ALL women.

There were mentions at times of how these doctors often only considered wealthy, white cis women to be of any importance whatsoever, and that important was *miniscule*, but where was the data, the passion, the voices of women whose experiences were vast beyond the confines of their sex? The more I write, the more angry I feel that this book said so much, and yet so little.

A few years ago, I learned that Black women are THREE times as likely to die due to complications in child birth than white women. This is happening *today*. Native American women have the highest % rate of missing persons, period. These are not facts I learned in this book. These are just some of the facts i've learned by listening to women who are different from myself. This book would often delve into the first-person experience of being treated by these male doctors, weaving a tale of the air they would smell, the hobbies they loved, only to blandly add "and Black and poor women had it even worse!"

I am realizing now that my initial inclination to rate this book as 4 stars was reflective of how informative and validating this book was to *me* - not to all of the women this book claimed to represent within its pages. I think it is important to be honest about our own biases and blind spots. Clearly, this author had many. And clearly, I did too.

Lastly, the transphobia. About halfway through chapter 10: "Hormones", Dr. Comen discusses the development of HRT treatment, and its use to curb menopausal side effects in women (so that we no longer aggravate the menfolk, of course. *Not* because menopause is uncomfortable for us). This section goes into the launch of HRT as a large-scale treatment for womens hormonal issues, and the lack of scientific research into the side effects it may cause. After such trials finally begin, it is discovered that there are, in fact, costly side effects. This caused a cultural uproar and panic, but safety protocols were put in place and slowly, but surely, woman began to once again rely on this treatment.

That is when the chapter launches into an awkward description of how HRT is now also used by trans people, but the effects are purportedly still under-studied. I thought this section was going to go into how painful it is for all patients of today who rely on this treatment, to still have inadequate research surronding it. But, um, no, she didn't. She uses awkward, stilted languange to describe trans people; "female trans-identified".

At first I thought she was trying to clarify the sex of her trans patients as it directly relates to their medical care (and just... didnt know how to talk about trans people in a less weird way?) But then, painfully, she launches further into a strange roundabout sentence stating "The popular narrative surrounding estrogen- that it makes women emotional and crazy- is being pushed by tiktok influencers instead of eccentric mad scientists, but that otherwise remains unchanged. And after hundreds years of both cultural and medical conscensus- that estrogen makes monsters of us- perhaps it was inevitable that a certain number of natal girls recoil from the prospect of becoming That Hormonal Woman."

In her novel which proudly rebukes the notion that women are too dumb to know who they are, how they feel, and what they need, she swiftly strips trans folk -men and women both- of that same right, and the irony seems to be lost on her. Not to mention that the implication that trans men are receiving better healthcare than women is so tragically misinformed.

Early on, Dr. Comen describes how doctors once scoffed when women were sad to lose their breasts to cancer. What does it matter, in the pursuit of saving your life? Dr. Comen asserts that doctors should care about the *quality* of that life, and of course it is okay for someone to want to keep an important part of their identity. Yet this sentiment is notably missing when she describes trans men who are fearful of stopping their testosterone during cancer treatment. And maybe that is the only way to provide breast cancer treatment now, but shouldnt she be asking how we can change that? Or at the very least, give these patients the same dignity to mourn an important facet of his identity that must be put in stasis to preserve his life? About this dilemma, she is eerily, notably, silent.

Anyone going into this book should know that while it does touch on some truly horrific, and teachable, moments throughout history, ones in which doctors have mistreated and mutilated women, the lense of the women it represents is as described above; painfully narrow. You may still gleam meaningful information here, but I encourage anyone who reads this to dive further into areas of medical history and present day medical biases for people not represented here; biases which are still woefully rampant.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

a deep dive into the annals of medical misogyny, from the long ago past to the present.

This was a great non fiction read. I thought the organization via body system was stellar and made it really easy to follow. The writing was accessible and engaging which isn’t always the case for medical non fiction.

My main complaint was that it was very cisheteronormative. The only time trans people were mentioned were in regard to HRT, and i thought the author spoke crassly about it. I think this could have used a trans sensitivity reader.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

[Panda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook (13 hours) narrated by Anna Caputo

The narration and audio quality is fine. Nothing special, but no issues either.

So, the book is fine, but I thought it was going to be slanted towards giving us good and useful medical information like books by Jen Gunter, The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth from the Medicine, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism, etc. Instead this book is more like Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.

I decided to not finish the book as funny as it was, a lot of the things that were being mentioned weren't new to me and I wasn't getting out of it what I had expected.

Some of the things that are in the first half of the book that were pretty funny, in the if I wasn't laughing I would be steaming mad at the complete disregard for women.

Women's husbands were warned against allowing their wives to ride bicycles as women would get something called bicycle face, that would make us ugly. Further the increased used of bicycles by women cause some sort of bicycle masturbation addiction where women would ride bikes for sexual gratification. They didn't mention washing machine spin cycles, so either that wasn't an issue or removing washing machines from the wives would be problematic for their housewife duties.

Ladies Home Journal was said to have published articles stating that women could safely exercise without the fear of turning into men, with the exception of weight lifting, which would make us ugly.

For some reason the medical community once believed that blood was important to men but not women, so women who had symptoms that we now know to be anemia would be treated with blood letting. Blood letting was such an important medical treatment for women to get rid of the bad, and for some reason they determined that putting leaches directly on the labia was the way to go.

So I guess the fact that we have monthly periods means that blood isn't important for our survival?

How were we not killed off?

If you are interested in hearing about a bunch of things that happened in the not too distant past, as well as current bs treatment, or mistreatment rather, of women then pick up this book. The audiobook is fine, but if you want to flip through certain sections, as the book is laid out by area of the body, like skin, blood, muscles, etc, the print version is going to give you more freedom.

If you want women's medical information, anything by Dr.. Jen Gunter, who I linked above, is going to be a good read. Go for the print version, if you are able. She has a great index making it easy to find what you are looking for to refer back to important information after you give it a read through.

For statistics, the book that I listed above, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men goes into medical issues but also into other issues and statistics that are actually helpful, with knowledge that can keep you safe, like information about how car seats and belts are unsafe. Knowing what isn't safe, can help us to know what to look for, adjustments that we might be able to make to keep us safer while we advocate for equality in our right to be able to actually live and experience the world, as freely and easily as men.

[Emily Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 - A few years ago, I had mono but was written off by my male primary care doctor because I tested negative twice. I insisted that something was wrong - I was sleeping 10+ hours every night, was more exhausted than I had ever been, unable to hold any food down and dealing with insane brain fog - so he referred me to an ENT (again, male). The ENT saw the notes from my primary care doctor and asked if I was dealing with stress or not sleeping through the night and maybe that’s why I “thought” I was so exhausted. I have previously had pneumonia, bronchitis, strep throat, and more, and I had never felt this bad - but I had two doctors invalidating my experience. I started to tear up because nobody was listening to me or acknowledging there was something wrong. As soon as I started to tear up, the doctor said “see? It looks like you’re just dealing with some stress. Maybe you should try meditating”. The next week I tested positive for mono.

I tell that story all the time as a funny, but not funny, anecdote about the way women are treated in healthcare - patronized and invalidated. This book was such a refreshing read that not only validated that sentiment, but dove into hundreds of years of history of women’s health and wellbeing taking a backseat to men’s health. This was insightful and interesting, and I think every woman who has gone to the doctor and felt the same way would take a lot from this book.

[Tara Krivoshein · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry, this book is a no from me. Is it HUGE the strides Women have made in the past century? YES. Is it AMAZING women’s health and hormones are finally being researched and prioritized? YES. Was there extreme sexism within medical institutions, pertaining to the female anatomy and being told ‘it’s nothing’? YES.

By no means am I saying this still doesn’t exist in todays world, it does and it would be naive to think otherwise. Women have taken their health in their own hands in the last decade and have become advocates for their wellbeing. Which is amazing!!!

I made it to Chapter 8 and I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s ludicrous the practices that were the standard in regards to women’s health in the 1500’s. No one is arguing that. I simply don’t want to read about how sexist it is that women were historically told their one and only purpose on the earth is to bear children. That’s obviously not true and I felt like this book was extremely victim minded, dwelling in the past, instead of celebrating how far we’ve come.

Is it terrible women’s anatomy hasn’t been extensively studied / researched as men? Of course. However, I have full faith we’re headed in the right direction, thanks to so many amazing scientists, doctors, nature-paths, and researchers.

Rather than wasting your time reading this book, educate yourself and become an advocate of your own health.

[Brynne Wisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️
✨audiobooked✨
Well this took me a million years to finish but it was a worthwhile listen! Although I now am extremely fearful of getting osteoporosis.

The author is an oncologist that specializes in breast cancer. With a mixture of her own medical anecdotes (in medical school and practice) and historical studies and cases she systematically goes through the different body systems explaining how women have been sidelined, disbelieved, harmed, and blamed for a variety of ailments and experiences often influenced by the patriarchal and cultural views of women at the time.

I thought the author did a wonderful job of showing her care and compassion for women and her anecdotes about her own patients often brought me to tears. Her organization of the book was also great going through each body system (skin, skeletal, endocrine, etc) in the order that they are studied in medical school. Some of the information wasn’t surprising but I felt I learned a lot.

My qualms with the books are as follows:
-thanks to this book I now have a large fear of getting osteoporosis
-made me fearful of aging and menopause
-some statements about trans youth at the end of the endocrine chapter that I felt lacked nuance and were a bit problematic.

[britt_brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all women; for all humans. Why would you not strive to learn more about our species? I didn’t expect to laugh out loud so much. Not in a funny haha way, but at the preposterousness of the things people believed, and continue to not understand, about women and their bodies. Stop telling us our “issues” are psychosomatic simply because you don’t know, nor care to find out, the answer!! Such a good read.

[Ellie Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was devastating and horrifying and fascinating …. Everyone in medicine needs to read this book

[JoEllen Carter]

I’m heartbroken for all women, and I’m appalled by a system that continues to overlook, devalue, and hurt them. What about benevolence, compassion, integrity, and respect for autonomy? Sad. It feels wrong to rate this book- I didn’t love it, but I also believe that if you are a woman or you care for women at all, you should read it. I can’t believe how uniformed I was about the history of women in healthcare… as a woman… with a career in healthcare :/