#abbynorman

and last but not least, fan art! Abby Norman belongs to my dear friendo @marblesodah

I have been trying to think of a good caption for this book because this book deserves one. I picked a time to read this book when (and where) I knew I would get some opinions that I didn’t agree with, but I wasn’t expecting some blatant “it shouldn’t be women’s reproductive healthcare. It should be all reproductive healthcare.” Not only this, a running joke was whenever I got passionate or a bit loud I was accused of only doing it to him because “he has penis” Don’t worry, he later informed me that I had Eve to blame because she at an Apple. I suppose eating an apple should very much be linked to the pain in my abdomen that happens monthly to the point I can’t move, my legs go numb, and I can sleep for days because I am too tired to get up. An apple in exchange for that seems fair. Guess life isn’t all that fair. Anyway, this book is, in fact, the best representation of what it is like trying to convince a male physician (and sometimes females too) that I in fact have the red devil in my belly. Abby Norman writes a WONDERFUL history of women in healthcare throughout the beginning of healthcare. And you may grumble “but women get the same medicine and treatment I do! There is nothing unequal about it!” Well, the inequality comes from, up until recently, women weren’t allowed to be in medicine trials. They weren’t seen by doctors for pain, they were seen by psychologists. Hysteria was a common diagnosis for women who complained of the same things as a man, but he would be seen by a doctor. Several of the men, who joked with me about the title, became very uncomfortable when I actually started talking about the contents of the book. Women with health problems make people uncomfortable. No one wants to talk about periods. That is a woman’s problem. Actually it is everyone’s. The stigma around it and the lack of knowledge about how menstruation affects a person with a uterus as a whole, is a problem. You have to be uncomfortable but willing to talk. So, ask me. Open a dialogue. And please, for the love of God, do not tell me that I have the same experience at the doctor as the male in the next room. #abbynorman #askmeaboutmyuterus #femalereproductivemedicine