All in Her Head

The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today

By: Elizabeth Comen

Narrated by: Anna Caputo

USA Today Bestseller

A surprising, groundbreaking, and fiercely entertaining medical history that is both a collective narrative of women’s bodies and a call to action for a new conversation around women’s health.

For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women’s own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal leg­acy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.

While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women’s health and relationships with their own bodies.

Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician’s knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.

Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives— for us and generations to come—All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women’s medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women’s history and bodies.

©2024 Elizabeth Comen (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

what I've always known.

This is a fantastic, thought out, well-researched collection of what a lot of us women already know. We've been being dismissed in the medical community for years. This puts it into greater perspective & I thoroughly enjoyed this listen.

Historical and hopeful

“To the readers who still need to partner with that imperfect system, I have a different message - that despite its copious and well documented flaws, it is staffed by people who are called to practice medicine because they do care. The purpose of this book is not to ruin your faith in medicine, nor to point fingers at the men who made it what it is, but to illuminate the narratives that began with them and still surround us today. About women’s bodies, women’s health, women’s needs and desires… Having heard these stories, can you imagine choosing to tell a different one?”

Holy S@#$

You you want to be educated, sad, and angry all at the same time? This book is for you

A Must read / listen for women & medical professionals

Loved the framework for the book, and the human narratives interwoven with history. Infuriating and eye opening. Audible narrator is awesome! Funny and snarky and empathetic.

All in my head

This was excellent and eye opening. I saw myself in several of these chapters and examples. I often go w out care not because I don’t have health care access but because I assumed certain aspects of being a woman included discomfort and challenges. I will be sure to talk to my daughter about her health in a way my mother never did. She didn’t know.. just like I didn’t until now

Impressively persuasive and intelligent

The content was incredible and the story teller was amazing. Truly provided the underlying truth and feeling. I cannot emphasize enough how excellent this is to provide women with an understanding about how others have viewed their bodies.

A must-read for everyone — all humans!

Exceptionally documented, narrated, and championed entreaty that all females be seen, listened to, and cared for by the medical profession — research that actually includes women, research on the complexities of women, and equal care for the health and mental and physical well-being of females.

Mandatory Read For Everyone

As an Anthropologist - this book is key to anthropology of feminist theory & medical anthropology. A great book that should be a mandatory read for all students of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences.

women and health care

Wow! so very informative. came a long way but still a long way to go. With Roe v Wade overturned, I am scared for our women of all ages.

Too Important to Pass Up

Women, this brilliant piece of writing will make you will feel vindicated, furious, and empowered. Men and everyone else, this is imperative information to know and understand. A remarkable piece of research by a talented, wicked smart and thoughtful woman and doctor.