Ask Me About My Uterus

This book is Abby Norman’s memoir, advocating for women’s health recognition. In 2010, Abby Norman, a dancer, lost forty pounds and developed gray hair. Despite repeated hospitalizations for excruciating pain, doctors dismissed her condition as a urinary tract infection and sent her home. Unable to attend class or work, Norman dropped out of college and began a years-long journey to diagnose her illness. She found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis after securing a job in a hospital and educating herself in the medical library.

Norman describes the dismissal of her pain and the need for validation. She puts her trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, showing that women’s bodies have long been the battleground for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth.