Women's bodies deserve more respect

Women's bodies are the topic of unusual scrutiny at the moment, but that's a far cry from being given the kind of respect that they deserve.

Not all hormones are treated equally

I spend a lot of time thinking about women's bodies. For the past few years I have been particularly focused on menopause - the symptoms, the available treatments, the conversations people are/aren't having, and the response from the mainstream?medical profession (mostly, HRT).

What I have found in that time and through the research and development process for our products and treatments, is that women's minds and bodies are still not given the respect that they deserve. It's generally not coming from a space of wilful misogyny, but if a woman has a problem that could be related to her hormones or sexual health, there is a notable lack of empathy, followed by one of three broad solutions:

• Antidepressants
• Hormones (HRT or the contraceptive pill)
• Have a baby (I have heard this said multiple times to very young women experiencing endometriosis)

It's on the rare occasions that women find the cause of their hormonal health issues are properly treated. If treatment isn’t possible, it’s even less likely that the professionals they turn to for help seek to understand the woman behind the symptoms. Furthermore, the whole conversation around women when their hormones begin to drop (menopause), becomes divisive and derogatory - the people themselves become invisible.

Gender stereotypes work against us

It's not just about the understanding of hormones however, gender stereotyping has a lot to answer for as well. For example, in the UK, as men are notoriously bad about going to the doctor when something's wrong, GPs are cash incentivised to roll out the red carpet and every test under the sun if a gentleman turns up with a sniffle.

However, if a woman turns up thinking she's losing her mind because her oestrogen levels are through the floor, she's invariably given a prescription for HRT without so much as checking her vitamin B levels (HRT can deplete vitamins B6 and B12, folic acid, and magnesium—critical for not only heart health but also mood).

The ripple effect of Roe v Wade

As if we needed more evidence of a lack of respect, the US Supreme Court's decision on Roe v Wade the other week is having a ripple effect around the world, reasserting the debate around abortion with an uncomfortable and unkind zeal.

The tentacles of this ruling are far reaching, with concerns that private information on period tracking apps could be used in prosecution cases against women who have sought a suspected abortion (which could also plausibly be a natural miscarriage).?There are even concerns that travelling for an abortion could become an offence.

Bloomberg reported: "The majority of the states’ pre-Roe bans make it a felony punishable by fines and/or jail time to perform or attempt to perform an abortion."

They cited a chilling and heartbreaking case where "A Texas woman was just arrested in April on murder charges after she allegedly caused “the death of an individual ... by self-induced abortion.” Ultimately the charges were dropped, but the experience that woman must have gone through beggars belief.

Looking in the mirror

While the conversation rages on, what this really seems to come down to is an ongoing lack of respect for women and their bodies in general. We have come a long way over the decades when it comes to equal rights, but there are still insidious indications of where women's bodies are not given the respect they deserve - intentionally or otherwise.

We see it in heart attack advice, which is largely based on male symptoms and therefore leave women more vulnerable (women present very differently); we see it in hormonal care; and now we are seeing it in a tidal wave of disrespect that somehow comes across as a judgement about a deeply personal, private experience that only deserves compassion.

I know enough about the law to know that none of this will play out exactly as we think it will. The story is not all written and there will be more to come - good or bad. However, while the specifics of Roe v Wade are left to be thrashed out, I think there's a more subtle question we need to be asking ourselves about the way we treat women and their bodies. It seems that perhaps as a society and as a legal system, we haven't come as far as we thought.