Lysol is currently used to clean floors, stovetops, toilets. In the 1930’s women were pressured and shamed to douche with Lysol to eliminate odor and bacteria. Similarly, powder deodorant was marketed to women for the same reasons which gave women cervical cancer. On top of men making up solutions to problems they create with their misogynistic views, men also made up solutions to very real reproductive health disorders and it has a lasting effect even today.

Women aren’t taken seriously for their reports of pain leaving them misdiagnosed and untreated. This has been happening for years. This problem originates in misogynistic stigmas put in place by the patriarchy. The only way to fix this problem is if you at home listen, believe, and support your fellow women.

The word ‘hysteria’ stems from the Greek word hystera, which means ‘uterus’. Due to male classical thinkers and physicians of the 19th and 20th century, Hysteria became a medical diagnosis for an assortment of complaints made by women, including bad moods, menstrual pain, and even seizures. According to Anouchka Grose, psychoanalysis and writer, Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna all believed the cause of Hysteria to be sexual dissatisfaction. Hippocrates believed if a woman hadn’t been having sex, her womb would dry out, becoming lighter and allowing it to float around the body.  Alternatively, Plato believed hysteria was caused by the mourning womb, which was sad when it wasn’t carrying a child. Avicenna suggested that the best cure to hysteria is an orgasm done by either the husband or a doctor because an orgasm brought by the woman herself makes the symptoms worse. Other treatments included electroshock therapy, exorcisms, and experimental drug doses. Hysterical women were prescribed months-long bed rest with no visits from friends and family and absolutely no mentally strenuous activities, such as reading and writing. It wasn’t uncommon for extreme cases to be admitted into insane asylums or be burned at the stake. At this time there were no female doctors. In fact it is no surprise that the peak of hysteria diagnosis was during the time women were seeking higher education. Women didn’t have the credibility to speak on their own bodies. They had to rely on men with their biases to treat them. This led to a belief that there was something inherently defective with women, further discrediting them. This is a basis for the stereotypes and stigmas women deal with today.

According to Jean Hailes for women’s health, a national nonprofit organization aimed to improving women’s health, premenstrual syndrome (PMS)  refers  to a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms experienced during the time leading up to a period and the related PMDD ( premenstrual dysphoric disorder) refers to specifically debilitating mood or psychological symptoms that interfere with daily lives. 90% of menstruating women experience at least one PMS symptom most months and 50% of women experience several symptoms each month. Up to 8% of menstruating women experience PMDD on top of physical symptoms. Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, with an estimated 176 million women worldwide having the condition. Keep in mind, these numbers only account for cisgender women that menstruate, leaving out large groups of people. Cara E. Jones, feminist philosopher, argues that “not all endo bodies are female bodies, nor are they necessarily even menstruating bodies: endometriosis has been found in infants, postmenopausal bodies, those who have had hysterectomies, and transgender men”. These disorders are way more common than we think and  that excluding cervical cancer, PCOS, the other less common reproductive health disorders, and chronic pain unrelated to the reproductive organs.

A study of gender bias in health care from  Pain Research and Management, states “compared to men, women have more pain, and it is more accepted for women to show pain, and more women are diagnosed with chronic pain syndromes.” However, “women, compared to men, received less effective pain relief, less pain medication with opioids, more antidepressants, and got more mental health referrals”. Women report more pain than men but are given less adequate treatment, proving they aren’t taken seriously. There is a mistrust between a healthcare provider and a female patient because of the gendered stereotype that women are overly emotional and over complain. Real physical symptoms are often too quickly dismissed as psychic manifestations of stress, resulting in the undertreatment of women or a gap between men and women in healthcare. This is not only dangerous but unfair and wrong.

In 1949, The Journal of Clinical Investigation asked the question, “women actually experience pain in childbirth, or are they merely reacting hysterically to a stressful situation?”. Using pain measurements normalized on male subjects, they concluded that childbirth is painful.

During the ‘natural childbirth’ movement  of the 1970s, there was still controversy as to why women felt pain during labor. According to Elizabeth Barnes, professor of philosophy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Some researchers suggested factors such as her closeness with her partner, his role in the delivery process, and her emotional stability during pregnancy determined how much pain a woman felt. Women were assured that birth should be enjoyable, if only they could just calm down. She says “Women’s pain, it seems, is hysterical until proven otherwise.” Current scientific research considers whether women’s emotions are a primary cause of the outcomes in the treatment of breast cancer, including pain during and after treatment. She says ”The problem is not that we’re interested in the psychological dimensions of breast cancer pain, but that we’re so much more interested in the psychology of breast cancer than in the psychology of testicular cancer or liver cancer. In just the same way, in the 1970s, we were interested in ‘natural’ childbirth but not interested in ‘natural’ kidney stone passage – or in researching the extent to which men’s emotional stability or closeness with their wives mediated their kidney stone pain. Society seems so much more concerned with the role of emotions when women’s health – and women’s pain – is at issue.”

 In two studies published in Health psychology,  doctors were given identical case descriptions for  hypothetical patients, a 48-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman. They had the same objective probability of a heart attack. In the first case, the patients were described as having chest pain, shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat. The majority of doctors suggested a heart attack diagnosis for both. In the second case, the patients were described with the same physical symptoms, but also experiencing stress. Stress raises the likelihood of a heart attack, regardless of gender. But while the majority of doctors still suggested heart attack for the male patient, a mere 17 per cent suggested it for the female patient. only 30 % suggested cardiology referral, compared with 81% for the male patient. Barnes says “Mentioning psychological factors seems to create a kind of gestalt shift when women are under consideration. Once we start talking about women’s emotions, it’s hard not to summon the spectre of hysteria.”

The pain of primary dysmenorrhea is caused mostly by prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are released from the lining of the uterus during menstruation and they cause the uterus to contract. Prostaglandins are also algesic substances, meaning they prime the nervous system for pain (or heighten pain). Prostaglandins also bring the joy of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that most women get with their periods. In 2016, John Guillebaud, professor of reproductive health at University College London, tells Quartz that  cramping pain is “almost as bad as having a heart attack.” However, Dr Jen Gunter, OB/GYN, pain medicine physician, and blogger, says “ if you need an analogy to describe period pain, use labor or cutting your finger off without an anesthetic. A heart attack is often not painful or only mildly painful, especially for women, so for me that analogy just doesn’t cut it.”

To this day, scientists and doctors don’t really understand if there’s a difference in the way men and women register pain. What we do know is that when women report pain it is usually followed up with questions concerning psychological behavior. This not only discredits women but also the mentally ill. Pain is pain. and biologically women have to live with more of it. It is important to believe them and sympathize with them.

 

JOHNSTON-ROBLEDO, Ingrid, and Joan C. CHRISLER. “The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma: Positioning Periods: Menstruation in Social Context.” Sex Roles, vol. 68, no. 1-2, Springer, 2013, pp. 9–18.

Samulowitz, Anke, et al. “‘Brave Men’ and ‘Emotional Women’: A Theory-Guided Literature Review on Gender Bias in Health Care and Gendered Norms towards Patients with Chronic Pain.” Pain Research and Management, vol. 2018.

Chiaramonte, G. R., & Friend, R. Medical students’ and residents’ gender bias in the diagnosis, treatment, and interpretation of coronary heart disease symptoms. Health Psychology, 2026

Gunter, Jen. Comparing period cramps with heart attacks isn’t useful or accurate. March 2018. https://drjengunter.com/2018/03/02/comparing-period-cramps-with-heart-attacks-isnt-useful-or-accurate/

Barnes, Elizabeth. The hysteria accusation. Aeon. June 2020. https://aeon.co/essays/womens-pain-it-seems-is-hysterical-until-proven-otherwise