i was originally going to rate this a bit higher until i did some digging on some of the authors “facts”. for example, using an outdated and inaccurate term multiple times for a heart condition that i personally have. i was super excited that it was featured and that i was learning something new until i did some digging and found out how inaccurate and harmful that term is. it made me start to question the rest of the authors “facts” and information. 

as many other people have mentioned, there are some fact dumps but not a lot of actual solutions to the problems. a lot of the points are also painfully reiterated too many times. 

lastly, the lack of intersectionality and the inclusion of harmful comments about trans individuals is just not acceptable. so much of medicine and research lacks intersectionality and the fact that the author only really touched on one “type” of woman/person with a uterus, is just not okay. it leaves so many groups of people out of this very important conversation and perpetuates ignorance about other groups. 

Stories of women not being listened to in health care is its own genre of horror literature 

I loved this book so much that I recommended it to any and everyone who would listen—even before I had finished it. The boom is narrow in scope, in that it only address the medical misogyny is the American medical system, and it does have a very basic intersectional approach to its history; however, it still does addresses the interconnectedness of race, disability, and gender on a broad scale. This book was very informative and very validating to learn about the deeply entrenched patriarchal origins of American medicine. It gave context for the experiences that myself and so many other women have had trying to access medical care throughout our lives. Truly, I cannot recommend this enough as an accessible starting point into the gender disparity in the medical system.