Content note: This essay contains discussions of sexism in medicine, as well as (briefly) graphic descriptions of painful rough sex in porn that may or may not be fully consensual.
As I was lying here holed up in bed this morning for the 3rd day in a row with excruciating pain radiating through my neck, shoulders, arms, hands, hips, knees, and ankles, I stumbled across this article about a new study which found that women’s pain is not taken as seriously as men’s.
The article notes that during the study, “when male and female patients expressed the same amount of pain, observers viewed female patients' pain as less intense and more likely to benefit from psychotherapy versus medication as compared to men's pain, exposing a significant patient gender bias that could lead to disparities in treatments.” As I read this, I rolled my eyes, laughed, and thought, “YA THINK???”