Why We Know So Little About Women’s Bodies

The scientific community has long overlooked women's health. So just how big is this knowledge gap, and how is it affecting women’s health today?

Thanks to Rainbow Light for sponsoring this episode.

Editor's Note: At Seeker, we recognize that people of many genders and identities have vaginas and uteruses, and are affected by the topics that fall into women’s health. For this first episode, we interviewed experts who generally referred to people with vaginas and uteruses as women.

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This is Body Language, where we’re gonna talk about all the stuff the world usually tells us not to. I mean, we know so little about female reproductive systems in the first place that when things seem a little off, issues like ovarian, uterine, cervical cancer, can go undiagnosed for way longer than they would if we like...actually understood what ‘normal’ is supposed to be.

There’s a gap between our common understanding of ‘health’, and what that means for bodies that aren’t, well…male. When we talk to you about the difference between women and men, it's not just the cells in our body and how our organs interact with each other or how our systems work together within our bodies, but it's also about how we experience the environment.

The more data we have, the more we’ll understand about all these essential questions, like what kind of birth control do you need, how is it going to affect your specific body, or how can you better understand your own menstrual cycle to take more control of your health?

So in this new series I hope we can all get a little more comfy with asking some of those questions, and I’m so excited that you’re along for the ride as we explore the answers we do have, and highlight the places that need more. Our bodies are awesome. And I hope you think so too.

#womenshealth #healthgap #health #wellness #seeker

Read More:
Why Is Endometriosis So Poorly Understood? The Gender Health Gap May Explain
https://www.endofound.org/why-is-endometriosis-so-poorly-understood-the-gender-health-gap-may-explain
“Studies have found that women are less likely to feel listened to and taken seriously, and are assumed to have a higher pain threshold. One of the main side effects of endometriosis is chronic pain...not having their pain believed can be particularly harmful.”

‘It’s infuriating and shocking’: how medicine has failed women over time
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/08/unwell-women-elinor-cleghorn-book
“...the legacy of disenfranchisement and discrimination persists even today, resulting in the underrepresentation of women in medical trials, prevailing ideas that women’s pain is psychological or emotional, and an inadequate, at times hostile system that’s more likely to offer women antidepressants and tranquilizers than referral for further diagnosis and more targeted care.”

The Gender Health Gap Is Seriously Impacting Reproductive Healthcare, Suggests New Study
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicebroster/2021/04/29/the-gender-health-gap-is-seriously-impacting-reproductive-health-suggests-new-study/?sh=179dc2a21ad0
“Going to your doctor about intimate health issues can be nerve-wracking but a recent study has highlighted that women, trans men and non-binary people with gyne organs are five times more likely to feel not listened to when seeking medical help for their reproductive health.”

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Body Language is Seeker’s latest series diving into the world of women’s health, and their bodies. For so long, the medical field only used men to conduct research, creating a gap in terms of what we know about women’s bodies. So in this series, we'll be talking to experts to get a better understanding of some of these issues, and what we actually know about them. So join us as we discover how incredibly cool the female body is and how much more we still have to learn about it.

Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.

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