Content Warning: sexual violence; gynecological and obstetric violence. Vaginismus is having a moment. A sexual disability that is medically classified […]
“Just a Pinch:” Pain, IUDs, and Consciousness-Raising
“I’m still pretty traumatized from my first [intrauterine device (IUD)] insertion experience,” TikTok user @redaces93 recounted. “Yes, they fed me […]
The Sixteen Year Gap: Women in Medical Trials and the Side Effects Today
Historically, women have been excluded from clinical trials creating a gender gap in pharmacology. This means that medication is geared […]
Informed Transitions
Transitions can be hard, especially when one has spent decades teetering on shifting sand. With my menopause comes an emptying nest […]
Learning What We Do Not Know: The History and Experience of Menopause
In January 2021, I willingly underwent a procedure to implant testosterone pellets into the flesh at my hip. I had […]
Reproductive Designs and the Stories Behind Them: A Review of Designing Motherhood
Today almost all IUDs (intrauterine devices) look like the letter “T,” with arms that slightly droop and a string that […]
The Women’s Health Movement and the Dream of the Diaphragm
Half a century after the emergence of the women’s liberation movement, “the pill” remains ingrained in the iconography of second-wave […]
Breast Cancer Care: Sexism and Knowing versus Doing
A Rise in Unnecessary Breast Cancer Surgeries A troubling trend in breast cancer treatment has surgeons scratching their heads. Since […]
A Tale of Two Midwives across Four Centuries
What happens when the person who delivers most of the babies in her community is arrested? This is a tale […]
Between the Pages: Victorian Women’s Letters to H. Lenox Hodge
This essay was first published at Fugitive Leaves, the blog of The History Medical Library of The College of Physicians […]