The Wrong Prescription for Women

This groundbreaking book challenges the medicalized approach to women's experiences including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause and suggests that there are better ways for women to cope with real issues they may face. Before any woman diets, douches, botoxes, reduces, reconstructs, or fills a prescription for antidepressants, statins, hormones, menstrual suppressants, or diet pills, she should read this book. Contesting common medical practice, the book addresses the many aspects of women's lives that have been targeted as "deficient" in order to support the billion-dollar profits of the medical-pharmacological industry and suggests alternatives to these "remedies." The contributors-psychologists, sociologists, and health experts-are also gender experts and feminist scholars who recognize the ways in which gender is an important aspect of the human experience. In this eye-opening work, they challenge the marketing and "science" that increasingly render women's bodies and experiences as a series of symptoms, diseases, and dysfunctions that require treatment by medical professionals who prescribe pharmaceutical and surgical interventions. Each article in the book addresses the marketing of a specific "condition" that has been constructed in a way that convinces a woman that her body is inadequate or her experience and behavior are not good enough. Among the topics addressed are menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, post-partum adjustment, sexual desire, weight, body dissatisfaction, moodiness, depression, grief, and anxiety.

Maureen McHugh spent her career leading organizations through transformational change. Working with individuals and teams to recognize opportunities was the foundation of her success. Now, she utilizes her talent as an Executive Leadership Coach focusing on professionals who seek to find their voice and lead with integrity and authenticity. What has she learned? As we face challenges early in life, we question who we are and craft internal messages based on fear vs. opportunity. These messages are internalized and carried with us until we realize they no longer serve us. For some, these messages last a lifetime, but what opportunities might we have missed along the way?The rhythm of my life is grabbing life's opportunities and seeking new adventures. This outlook granted me exciting opportunities as well as relationships that I treasure. Isn't that what all of us seek? I believe finding our voice is essential to discovering our unique path and purpose in the world. In Cleo Finds Her Voice, Maureen teaches the young reader how to ask for help when feeling overwhelmed and to build a growth mindset. By being curious and creating positive messages, readers learn for themselves how to support and encourage their future success.

Series Foreword Michele A. Paludi, Series Editor Foreword Paula J. Caplan Introduction: The Medicalization of Women's Bodies and Everyday Experience Maureen C. McHugh and Joan C. Chrisler 1. Pregnancy and Birth as a Medical Crisis Ruthbeth D. Finerman, Adriane M. F. Sanders, and Lynda M. Sagrestano 2. (Re)Productive Disorders: The Expanding Marketplace of Infertility Medicine Emily Breitkopf and Lisa R. Rubin 3. The Medicalization of the Menstrual Cycle: Menstruation as a Disorder Jessica Barnack-Tavlaris 4. The Medicalization of Women's Moods: Premenstrual Syndrome and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Joan C. Chrisler and Jennifer A. Gorman 5. Menopause: Deficiency Disease or Normal Reproductive Transition? Heather Dillaway 6. Menopause and Sexuality: Resisting Representations of the Abject Asexual Woman Jane M. Ussher, Janette Perz, and Chloe Parton 7. Women's Sexual Problems: Is There a Pill for That? Leonore Tiefer 8. The Thin Ideal: A "Wrong Prescription" Sold to Many and Achievable by Few Mindy J. Erchull 9. From Fat Shaming to Size Acceptance: Challenging the Medical Management of Fat Women Ashley E. Kasardo and Maureen C. McHugh 10. Medicalizing Women's Weight: Bariatric Surgery and Weight-Loss Drugs Julie Konik and Christine A. Smith 11. Can Women's Body Image Be "Fixed"? Women's Bodies, Well-Being, and Cosmetic Surgery Charlotte N. Markey and Patrick M. Markey 12. Women's Loss of Self through Antidepressants: The Depression Diagnosis as a Form of Social Control Alisha Ali 13. Mourning Matters: Women and the Medicalization of Grief Leeat Granek Index About the Editors and Contributors