"You have Endometriosis": Making Menstruation-Related Pain Legitimate in a Biomedical World

Health Communication
Kallia O Wright

Abstract

In this essay, the author reflects on how biomedical and gendered perceptions of reproductive health can impact an illness experience. Using a narrative lens, she relays the frustration of attempting to have her excessive menstrual pain legitimated and treated when loved ones and medical professionals trivialized it and refused to let her take on the sick role. She recounts incidents that demonstrate the embedded and limiting persistence of gendered perceptions of pain. In the end, she argues that only through strong patient self-advocacy and knowledge can one rewrite the social scripts assigned to how women cope with menstrual pain.

References

Jun 1, 1997·Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America·K M Hoeger, D S Guzick
Jul 15, 1999·Social Science & Medicine·E E JohanssonG Lindgren
Aug 28, 2001·The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics : a Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics·D E Hoffmann, A J Tarzian
Feb 18, 2003·International Journal of Nursing Practice·Helen CoxChantal Ski
Apr 22, 2003·Qualitative Health Research·Anne WernerKirsti Malterud
May 5, 2007·Qualitative Health Research·Frances Strzempko Butt, Catherine Chesla
Mar 21, 2008·Qualitative Health Research·Lenore MandersonMilica Markovic

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Citations

Apr 27, 2019·Health Communication·Emily Krebs, Kelsea V Schoenbauer
Apr 17, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Young-Jae KimJeong-Hyung Cho
Apr 4, 2021·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Yael Friedman

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