Gynocide: Hysterectomy, Capitalist Patriarchy and the Medical Abuse of Women

by Mariarosa Dalla Costa

Nonfiction. Feminism. Women's Health. Political Science. Translated from the Italian by Danila Obici and Ralph D. Church. The powerful essays (and accompanying glossaries and testimonials) collected in GYNOCIDE examine the historical, legal, ethical, psychological, and medical aspects of deeply sexist practices in defining and treating these issues of contemporary women's health. Contributors draw on the important theoretical insights and perspectives developed in recent decades by radical Italian feminism, revealing the complicity of widespread assumptions about the structures and roles of gender, the nuclear family, educational practices, and the state.

Genres: Feminism, History

150 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2007

Reviews

[didi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every single word has a precise meaning and, given the poverty of spoken language that has characterized recent years, we, as doctors, must be very careful about what we say to our patients. We should exercise our patience and learn to listen. We must even invite and prod our patients to express their problems more fully.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I understand that Nineties feminist writing is massively different than anything we'd think it today, there's a lot of assumptions made about how no person with a uterus would want a hysterectomy. There are a lot of issues with coerced removals of uteruses and ovaries, but the downplaying of issues such as endometriosis sufferers who seek a permanent solution for their pain. Many of these statistics aren't cited but the personal stories are impactful. I had high hopes for this but pretty disappointing.

[Bart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe this book would have been interesting to me if I knew Italian law or if it was not so dry (academic) or heterosexist or if the description of the book matched the contents or if the contributers shared somewhat similar ideologies as Mariarosa Dalla Costa. A lot of parts in this book bothered me, and immediately after I finished, I thought that it was because the ideas were very second wave. But then I realized that many second wave feminists would not have put up with some of the crap in the book, especially discussions on "unsightly" scars from hysterectomies (one woman's testimonial explains how she is upset about the hysterectomy because her husband wouldn't have sex with her any longer because of the scarring and then left her). Another woman's testimonial decrying hysterectomies is from a person who was friends with a woman who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion after having a hysterectomy. While there were some cogent arguments against abuse of this surgery, this was not one of them.

[Rosalina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me equivoqué con el libro. Pensé que era un ensayo histórico sobre el abuso del cuerpo femenino a través de las épocas, pero en realidad trata un tema de actualidad. Y no es que esta conducta se desligue de prácticas pasadas, sin embargo el enfoque es absolutamente vigente: los pocos escrúpulos y miramientos que la institución médica tiene al tratar y operar el cuerpo femenino, movido por diversos factores (el económico es el más repugnante y de peso). A su vez también habla de la silenciación absoluta del conocimiento natural que una mujer tiene de su cuerpo, el heredado de sus antepasados y transmitido a través del tiempo. El libro es una colección de ensayos en el que el de la autora es el más extenso, tratándose de una versión extendida de una conferencia que ella misma ofreció en Italia.

No creo que el libro sea malo en sí mismo, pero me parece que su base la medicina y su terminología, además de la imprescindible referencia del sistema legal italiano, dos factores que desconozco y que no me permitieron disfrutarlo.