If you are a female and have a period with painful cramps or debilitating symptoms, you know the frustration of going to the doctors and being told there is nothing that can be done to help you. Endometriosis, PCOS, pelvic floor syndrome, etc. are examples of conditions only women have, that male doctors simply can’t empathize with. My friends and I love to joke around about how if men had uteruses and cramps and all the horrible things that come with it, all of those conditions listed above would have abundant solutions and be practically cured. Though we joke about this, we are entirely correct. Cancers that affect male reproductive organs/systems have higher chances of survival and possible treatment options while most female cancers such as ovarian or uterine cancer can be life-ending most of the time. This discovery wasn’t a huge shock to me. In fact, it entirely makes sense. Men have dominated the medical field for centuries due to constant sexism. Due to this, most research done for the “betterment of mankind” has been produced to help those same male doctors solve their own issues out of them wanting to live longer and healthier. Most of the time, the thought of helping women do the same wasn’t a blip on their radar.
A great example is the range of contraceptives that are available right now. Almost all of them are geared towards women. IUDs, the patch, the pill, the shot, etc. are all for women to take to prevent themselves from getting pregnant. All of these contraceptive options tend to come with pages and pages of side effects that can be debilitating, life-threatening, or painful. Why is this? Why is birth control marketed towards women even though a woman can only get pregnant once every nine months while a man can get multitudes of women pregnant at any given time? In the end, it comes down to the same thing, men don’t want to take responsibility for female reproductive issues and therefore hand off the responsibility to their female counterparts. Though recently there was the creation of male birth control, it is still in the early stages and isn’t highly effective.
So, the next time you go to the ER or to your doctor for any type of period pain or period side effects/symptoms, just know that what is happening to you isn’t in your head and you have every right to push and stand up for yourself. You should be able to want an answer and a solution to your pains and symptoms. So don’t stop. Ever.