Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Unwell Women

  • A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World
  • By: Elinor Cleghorn
  • Narrated by: Hanako Footman
  • Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (155 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Unwell Women cover art

Unwell Women

By: Elinor Cleghorn
Narrated by: Hanako Footman
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Rebel Bodies cover art
Wordslut cover art
Doctors on the Edge cover art
Lost Connections cover art
Divided cover art
You Are Your Own cover art
Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient cover art
The Invisible Kingdom cover art
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat cover art
Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness cover art
Hormonal cover art
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth cover art
Am I Normal? cover art
Brain Energy cover art

Summary

Medicine carries the burden of its own troubling history. Over centuries, women's bodies have been demonised and demeaned until we feared them, felt ashamed of them, were humiliated by them. But as doctors, researchers, campaigners and most of all as patients, women have continuously challenged medical orthodoxy. Medicine's history has always been, and is still being, rewritten by women's resistance, strength and incredible courage.

In this ground-breaking history Elinor Cleghorn unpacks the roots of the perpetual misunderstanding, mystification and misdiagnosis of women's bodies, illness and pain. From the 'wandering womb' of ancient Greece to today's shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation and menopause, Unwell Women is the revolutionary story of women who have suffered, challenged and rewritten medical misogyny. Drawing on Elinor's own experience as an unwell woman, this is a powerful and timely exposé of the medical world and woman's place within it. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Elinor Cleghorn (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Seamlessly melding scholarship with passion, Unwell Women is the definition of unputdownable." (Telegraph)

"A richly detailed, wide-ranging and enraging history.... Unwell Women is not just a compelling investigation, but an essential one." (Observer

"A passionate and indignant history." (The Times

More from the same

What listeners say about Unwell Women

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    112
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    99
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    97
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must must read!

Everyone must read this book! So insightful, so fascinating. At times so eye-opening and infuriating and difficult to listen to. But an absolute must, despite the shocking stories and examples.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really fascinating

Brilliant book, gained so much more knowledge about the history of women and medicine. Very well read too, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book. EVERYONE must read this

I did not know, you most probably will not know, we should all know, we need to know.
Expertly written and beautifully read this book is FANTASTIC

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Leaves a lasting impact

This book delves into deeply unsettling subject matter of the history of women’s pain, yet its power to inform and enlighten is undeniable. A must-read for all seeking knowledge and understanding. Its informative approach shines through, leaving a lasting impact. Highly recommended!

Listened to it on 1.2 speed and worked well

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book!

I loved this book, it provides a highly interesting and engaging overview of the history of women and medicine and the ways that medicine is not made for women and therefore often fails them. I really appreciated how intersectional this book was and especially the discussion of trans women at the beginning was very carefully written and very well done in my opinion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Life changing

This book should be compulsory reading for everyone. It has totally changed my whole outlook of how my body and my friend’s bodies have been treated by the medical establishment. I found myself having profound moments of deeply disturbing realisation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An important book!

An enlightening book to listen to, for women who are experiencing the lack of support in their medical needs it explains why they are struggling. For the rest (including the men in our lives) it shows just how women have been ignored, belittled or treated as small men for centuries.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential reading for women

I thoroughly enjoyed this intelligent, entertaining and highly informative book. Beautifully written and performed. The extensively researched history of the treatment of women’s health and well-being through the ages, which sadly shows that attitudes by male doctors to ‘difficult‘ women’s problems has not changed much over the centuries. A must read for anyone with a female body wishing to be more enlightened as to why we are so dismissed in our health concerns by the establishment, and should be prescribed reading for all the others!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

This book is fantastic!
A must for all women suffering.
Educational and inspiring.
Recommend to anyone looking for answer or hope.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely fascinating

Absolutely fascinating, a huge subject that could have become a political call to arms, instead its a call to all people to be more understanding of everyone, not just women, we are all fallible, honest mistakes were made as well as subjugation of women.
I just found the narrators voice a bit to soft to get the point across sometimes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful