Unwell Women
| Company type | Book |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Founder | Elinor Cleghorn |
| Products | Factual book on women's health and medicine |
Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World is a 2021 factual work authored by Elinor Cleghorn. The book investigates how misogynistic attitudes have shaped and influenced Western medical traditions and healthcare approaches.
Summary
In Unwell Women, cultural historian Elinor Cleghorn from Britain delves into the historical neglect and improper treatment of female health concerns within Western medicine. The feminist analysis centers largely on medical systems in the UK and US. Cleghorn’s study covers a timeline exceeding two millennia, beginning with Hippocrates and extending to contemporary medical practices. The narrative unfolds through eighteen chapters divided into three segments: from Ancient Greece through the 1800s, the late 1800s up to the 1940s, and from 1945 onward.
Development
Following over ten years of symptoms, Cleghorn received a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus in 2010, after her second childbirth. This experience motivated her to investigate lupus during the nineteenth century, shedding light on how women's pain was historically managed and often mishandled by medicine. Her personal journey with lupus is recounted within Unwell Women.