If you are a woman (or identify as anything other than a cis-gendered man) then this book will be vital to your navigation of the health care system as it stands. Women, people of color and members of the LGBTQI+ community have long known, anecdotally, that we receive inferior healthcare at every turn. In “Sex Matters” McGregor provides the scientific back-up for that truth and well explains how to advocate for yourself within the male-centric system.
Like Dusenbery’s “Doing Harm” and Saini’s “Inferior,” “Sex Matters” opens each chapter with a solid discussion of how male-centric medicine has become the standard from the bottom up. Each chapter provides a primer on how the science behind care gets its sexist start. With much in depth research and further reading suggested, the “how” of male-centric care comes to light.
Anecdotes of McGregor’s patients outline cases where thinking outside the male-centric box was required for care and provide real-life examples of how women, and providers, can better advocate for quality diagnosis and treatment. The crown jewel of each chapter, and the book as a whole, is the well outlined suggestions for action on behalf of the reader. These guidelines will help patients navigate the healthcare system, arrive to appointments well researched and help us all prepare to be our own best advocates.
If you need to use the healthcare system, and eventually we all do, add this book to your toolkit.
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