Unwell Women cover art

Unwell Women

A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Unwell Women

By: Elinor Cleghorn
Narrated by: Hanako Footman
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

Medicine carries the burden of its own troubling history. Over centuries, women's bodies have been demonised and demeaned until we feared them, felt ashamed of them, were humiliated by them. But as doctors, researchers, campaigners and most of all as patients, women have continuously challenged medical orthodoxy. Medicine's history has always been, and is still being, rewritten by women's resistance, strength and incredible courage.

In this ground-breaking history Elinor Cleghorn unpacks the roots of the perpetual misunderstanding, mystification and misdiagnosis of women's bodies, illness and pain. From the 'wandering womb' of ancient Greece to today's shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation and menopause, Unwell Women is the revolutionary story of women who have suffered, challenged and rewritten medical misogyny. Drawing on Elinor's own experience as an unwell woman, this is a powerful and timely exposé of the medical world and woman's place within it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Elinor Cleghorn (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group
Gender Studies History & Commentary

Critic Reviews

"Seamlessly melding scholarship with passion, Unwell Women is the definition of unputdownable." (Telegraph)

"A richly detailed, wide-ranging and enraging history.... Unwell Women is not just a compelling investigation, but an essential one." (Observer)

"A passionate and indignant history." (The Times)

What listeners say about Unwell Women

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Feminism 101

If you don't come away from reading this book, a feminist, I don't know what to say. This was a fantastic book. I learnt so much about how women's health has been viewed throughout history and have already recommended this to people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Medical misogyny beautifully dissected

An incredible, vital, and shocking yet not surprising truth of ingrained misogyny in the medical industry and social psyche.
As someone with trauma as a result of medical sexism, this book so aptly unveils the horrific history that had brought us to where we are today. Inspite the density of research in this book, it is so beautifully and creatively written that it never feels like a slog of information. I can't even fathom the amount of work this must have taken to research and write, but I thank Elinor from the bottom of my heart for doing the work to lay out the historical implications.
It is harrowing to hear how so many women have suffered, yet empowering to know that my experiences of a woman in the medical industry is mirrored through so many other stories. It is not in my head, I am not being sensitive.
The narration and pace is also just so engaging, ai adore Hanako, just an incredible book to listen to all round.
I highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone, anyone with a uterus or without.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

LISTEN TO THIS BOOK

As a medical student, and as a woman, this book is absolutely brilliant in understanding how women have been (and are still) treated (or not treated) in medicine. Beautifully written, and an empowering piece of literature.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such an important work!

Elinor Cleghorn has done the work to succinctly outline the way the medical institution has failed and harmed women due to a world view that sees men as normal and women as somehow subversive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Medicine still has a long way to go towards equality

Very insightful book about women and their symptom histories. Doctors egos being more important than truely listening to patients stories. The gaps still present in modern day medicine and research around women's health and wellbeing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A book I've always felt I needed to know about

A very informative and engaging account of Women's Health history, I'm a proud survivor of many health and trauma related issues. Thank you for bringing this book to light and I wish the author all the best for her future 😁

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Evidence Based Slay of the Medical Industry

Interesting insight to the origins of many women's focused medical treatments, associations, assumptions and discriminations.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Cognitive dissonance spoils a good book

The book is about how women (females) have been oppressed because of their biological sex by imposing sexist stereotypes and assumptions (gender) on them. It articulates how women have erased and ignored in medical knowledge and research and asserts that females are biologically different to males and require different health care. However, the book is scattered with inconsistent and contradictory terminology that conflates sex with gender and refers to women as 'people with vaginas'. The book also does not address the current wave of experimental medicalisation of young women who do not conform to gender stereotypes. This is a failed opportunity because what is happening now is clearly underpinned by the historical misogyny described in the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Almost Excellent

I agreed with so much of what this book was talking about. I do not think that gender ideology belongs in a book about women’s health though. This book spoke at length of the biological reality and socialization and oppression faced by women so that felt like a slap in the face.

I did enjoy the rest of the book and feel it’s an important topic to explore though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This should have been epic...

The author lost me when she started dragging gender ideology into a book that's meant to be about natal females in the first chapter. The author clearly missed the mark when I felt disempowered by a book meant to be about medical gaslighting of biological females over the centuries. I agree with the other reviewer, the cognitive dissonance stopped this from being excellent. Such is the world of identity politics and cancel culture that WOMEN cannot even have our own book abour our own experiences of not being believed. I'm saddened and repulsed by the authors lack of bravery to stand up against cancel culture and address what this book should have.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.