Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn

21 reviews

radfordmanor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bee_sib's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer

catherineleigh's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, and Rape

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts

gentle_garbage_baby's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Very interesting history of the trouble that women (in the West) have had regarding illness, medicine, and doctors. There's a consistent theme of women not being listened to when describing their own pain, with doctors deciding it is 'hysteria' or other sexist interpretations. Unfortunately, some of these attitudes still exist today, and I'm sure there are many women who have read this book who can relate to aspects of it, including myself. Some sections can be quite distressing, so I wouldn't recommend this to people who get particularly upset by the subject matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Infertility, and Abortion

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

rosalind's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation

tetedump's review

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Colonisation

gabyrachel's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma

marybsimp's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Unwell Women is a sweeping historical look at how women have suffered as patients at the hands of Western medicine, from ancient Greece to present. Peppered with historical case studies and the author's own heart-wrenching journey to a lupus diagnosis, the voices of women rise up through the narrative to be heard where they are so frequently suppressed.

Cleghorn's dry humor was much appreciated throughout this journey to balance the horrific nature of the trends and stories she shares. I found the ancient history amusing, with the Greek concept of "the wandering womb" especially hilarious. But the lived realities of these experiences are far from funny. Seeing medical knowledge peeled back to reveal the insidious tentacles of patriarchy creeping through everything was somehow both liberating and disheartening. Women have survived some horrible shit, sometimes with no help from doctors, and others in spite of the very medical attention meant to cure their ills.

Of the many topics covered, here are just a few that will stay with me:

 • hysteria, hormones, and the other excuses to dismiss women's pain altogether or root it in psychology
 • abortion, forced sterilization, birth control, eugenics, and all the ways women's reproduction is more valued than her own well-being and decided by the medical apparatus
 • the way medical knowledge has been accrued without female input or consent in so many cases -- I was especially horrified by accounts of research done on enslaved Black American women and the more recent trials of The Pill on Puerto Rican women without knowledge of the risks
 • the lack of knowledge, empathy, and support for women with chronic pain conditions

This is far from a complete history, but I don't think that's feasible for one book, anyway. It's largely focused on the US and UK, but I was relieved that the author addresses race, class, and gender identity as intersectional factors in women's health. I will carry these thoughts into my own experiences as a patient, and I want to learn even more about this topic and advocacy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment