Pain and Prejudice - by Gabrielle Jackson (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves."--Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting:

• Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men
• Shares the author's journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis

In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctor's offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show that--at nearly every level of healthcare--men's health claims are treated as default, whereas women's are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of this bias? Women are losing time, money, and their lives trying to navigate a healthcare system designed for men.

Almost all medical research today is performed on men or male mice, making most treatments tailored to male bodies only. Even conditions that are overwhelmingly more common in women, such as chronic pain, are researched on mostly male bodies. Doctors and researchers who do specialize in women's healthcare are penalized financially, as procedures performed on men pay higher. Meanwhile, women are reporting feeling ignored and dismissed at their doctor's offices on a regular basis.

Jackson interweaves these and more stunning revelations in the book with her own story of suffering from endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of American women but is poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed. She also includes an up-to-the-minute epilogue on the ways that Covid-19 are impacting women in different and sometimes more long-lasting ways than men.

A rich combination of journalism and personal narrative, Pain and Prejudice reveals a dangerously flawed system and offers solutions for a safer, more equitable future.

Review Quotes

"This book could not be more timely or important."
--The Guardian

"A powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care....a passionate survey that will motivate readers to advocate for themselves. With its wealth of information, this hits the mark."
--Publishers Weekly STARRED review

"Jackson's approach is both broad and deep, going beyond individual stories to force more complex questioning of the embedded values of Western health-care systems."
--Chatelaine

"Pain and Prejudice is an excellent, eye-opening book that I will recommend to my patients, my trainees--and my friends."
--Dr. Lori Brotto, author of Better Sex Through Mindfulness

"Gabrielle Jackson is a brilliant journalist and a wonderful feminist, and incapable of being dull."
--New Scientist

"Gabrielle Jackson gives a spirited 21st-century voice to a tale-as-old-as-time issue. As part of a growing body of literature on women's pain, Jackson seeks to understand why, but she also challenges us to ask 'what next?' Pain & Prejudice is not simply a call out of the history of women's health--it's a clear-eyed call to action for all of us to do better now."
--Abby Norman, author of Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain

"Gabrielle Jackson deploys facts to tear away the destructive myths that surround women's health."
--The Guardian Australia

"A major contribution to feminist writing of the 21st century."
--Caroline de Costa, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, James Cook University

About the Author

GABRIELLE JACKSON is an associate news editor at Guardian Australia. She was first diagnosed with endometriosis in 2001, and since 2015 she has been writing about how women's pain is treated in modern healthcare systems.