First published in 2024

368 pages

Medical History, Feminist, Informative

I spotted this bright pink book across the library and immediately gravitated toward it. As a woman who is now fully responsible for my personal health, I felt it necessary to do some preliminary research about the history of modern women's medicine. I was aware of some horror stories about the nonconsensual experimentation on black women in the name of science, but this informative and empower book shed much needed light on our medical history. It is written in a way that's easy to understand, even if you have no medical background.

It is a collection of stories that cover all eleven major organ systems and how archaic medical histories have informed our understanding of female bodies today. It shows how the very foundations of women's medicine are built on the bodies of abused women and how the information is not only wrong, but actively harmful. Many of these medical understandings are alive and well today, perpetuating biased beliefs about how a woman's body "should" be. If you're looking to educate yourself about your own body, or to be aware of the struggles of someone you know, this is a great starting point.