Endometriosis is an extremely common condition that affects about 10% of women of reproductive age around the globe. Even though it has been known for thousands of years, it was only correctly understood during the 20th century. In the USA’s healthcare system, many studies show that women tend to wait longer for medical treatments, and are less likely to get pain relief than men. Studies also show that women and girls are more likely to be told that their pain is “all in their heads,” than males. Women are more than half of the world's population, yet there are still so many unmet gaps in medical knowledge and social equality for women. Why is women’s health still not being treated fairly?

 

        There are so many reasons why women’s health is so underdeveloped compared to men’s and general health. A lot of the lack of understanding of women’s health comes from old, incorrect ideas that a lot of women’s bodies, such as menstrual pain, are “normal, and part of women’s life”, and that women are not equal to men. 

 

        These biases and misinformation about women began thousands of years ago, like in Ancient Greece. Many philosophers, such as Aristotle and Plato, debated incorrect opinions about women’s bodies, like the idea that women were malformed men. Some of these incorrect theories are still being believed today, like the belief of using women’s emotions to explain their symptoms and diseases, rather than looking into actual causes.

 

        Plus, women’s health has taken the backseat because of the idea that women were “special populations”, and that men’s bodies were the “normal” ones. This thinking caused much research to avoid investigating females. All drugs developed between the 1950s – 1990s were only tested on men. Until the mid-90s, women were not included in clinical trials at all and are still not equally included today. Results from women that were different from men's results were labeled as “inconsistent”, “abnormal”, and “unusable”. This is why it is urgent to look at all medical conditions that affect women.

 

        Finally, according to the World Health Organization, another reason that prevents women and girls from getting the best medical care they can is due to physical, emotional, and sexual violence. This can make healthcare feel untrustworthy or unsafe for women, stopping them from getting proper treatment.

 

        While there have been lots of improvements to help progress women’s health, there remain many inequalities. These inequalities stem from thinking thousands of years ago and still affect us today. As Professor Mahmoud Fathalla, founder of the Safer Motherhood Initiative and a world-renowned academic, clinician, and activist for women's health says, "Women are not dying of diseases we cannot treat. They are dying because societies have yet to decide that their lives are worth saving."