Pain and Prejudice: How the Medical System Ignores Women – And What We Can Do About It
Author: Gabrielle Jackson
Released: March 8^th, 2021
Received: Edelweiss

I received a copy of Pain and Prejudice in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As you might guess from the title, Pain and Prejudice: How the Medical System Ignores Women – And What We Can Do About It revolves around pain, the medical world, and women. Written by Gabrielle Jackson, this novel is a must-read for any woman who experiences chronic pain. Or for anybody who has a family or friend going through that. Really, it’s a vital read for many (if not all) people.

Gabrielle Jackson is an investigative reporter, one with a very personal connection to this novel. She has endometriosis, and her experience looking for (and getting) treatment seemed to start her on this path. It’s one that I am personally very familiar with, and is the main reason why I knew I had to pick up Pain and Prejudice.

Okay, I’ll confess that the title actually did a fantastic job of catching my attention – being a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice. But it quickly went beyond that.

“Let’s look at chronic pain. Currently, 70 percent of chronic-pain patients are women but 80 percent of pain studies are conducted on men or male mice.”

Over the course of this book, Jackson provides a comprehensive view of medicine and women’s pain. Everything from the history to modern complications, and everything between. Some of the revelations are deeply unsettling, yet that doesn’t diminish the truth in the least. If anything, it increases the import behind reading Pain and Prejudice.

The timing and importance of Pain and Prejudice cannot be overlooked. I know I am almost certainly biased, being a woman who has spent her entire life dealing with chronic pain. Yet I also care about every other person affected, and want to see them have a better life. Learning about the nature of pain, and any biases that might prevent treatment, is the first step.