The women who apologize to me for being sick are part of a medical legacy, passed down over hundreds of years and still visible today. From that legacy, a story has emerged. It’s a story about what a woman’s body should look like and how it should feel, in work, in play, in learning and thought, in sex, in motherhood, in sickness and in health—and yes, even on her deathbed. It is a story whose authors have long since left us, although their names and likenesses can still be seen in museums, on plaques, in textbooks that guide today’s medical students on their journey to becoming practicing
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