The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women

by Anushay Hossain

Overview

Explore real women’s tales of healthcare trauma and medical misogyny with this meticulously researched, in-depth examination of the women’s health crisis in America—and what we can do about it.

When Anushay Hossain became pregnant in the US, she was so relieved. Growing up in Bangladesh in the 1980s, where the concept of women’s healthcare hardly existed, she understood how lucky she was to access the best in the world. But she couldn’t have been more wrong. Things started to go awry from the minute she stepped in the hospital, and after thirty hours of labor (two of which she spent pushing), Hossain’s epidural slipped. Her pain was so severe that she ran a fever of 104 degrees, and as she shook and trembled uncontrollably, the doctors finally performed an emergency C-section.

Giving birth in the richest country on earth, Hossain never imagined she could die in labor. But she almost did. The experience put her on a journey to explore, understand, and share how women—especially women of color—are dismissed to death by systemic sexism in American healthcare.

Following in the footsteps of feminist manifestos such as The Feminine Mystique and Rage Becomes Her, The Pain Gap is an eye-opening and stirring call to arms that encourages women to flip their “hysteria complex” on its head and use it to revolutionize women’s healthcare. This book tells the story of Hossain’s experiences—from growing up in South Asia surrounded by staggering maternal mortality rates to lobbying for global health legislation on Capitol Hill to nearly becoming a statistic herself. Along the way, she realized that a little fury might be just what the doctor ordered.

Meticulously researched and deeply reported, this book explores real women’s traumatic experiences with America’s healthcare system—and empowers everyone to use their experiences to bring about the healthcare revolution women need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982177775
Publisher:	S&S/Simon Element
Publication date:	10/26/2021
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,126,731
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Anushay Hossain is a writer and a feminist policy analyst focusing on women’s health legislation. She is a regular on-air guest at CNN, MSNBC, and PBS, and her writing on politics, gender, and race has been published in Forbes, CNN, USA TODAY, The Daily Beast, and Medium. Hossain is also the host of the Spilling Chai podcast. The Pain Gap is her first book.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xv

1 The First Feminist I Ever Knew 1

2 A Bangladeshi Girl on Capitol Hill 9

3 A Tale as Old as Ti me 23

4 Invisible Conditions 37

5 We Don't Know What We Don't Know 53

6 Pregnancy in a Pandemic 113

7 Seeking Alternatives 139

8 How to Be Your Own Best Health Advocate 169

9 The Truth about Treatment for Women of Color 193

Conclusion 201

Acknowledgments 205

Notes 209

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

"The Pain Gap is an eye opening exploration into the deeply rooted sexism and racism that pervades the American health care system." —Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts

"The Pain Gap is a book that is timely and masterfully written. Anushay Hossain takes us on a journey with women who have experienced the health and wellness gap in America. She has presented us with an amazing work of empathy, honesty, and a roadmap to how we can fix this gap and make healthcare safe for all women, not just white women." —Sophia A. Nelson, Bestselling author of The Woman Code & Black Woman Redefined

"Anushay Hossain brilliantly tells the essential and shocking story of what is happening to women - their health, safety, rights, and long-term wellbeing - every day in America. This is a must-read.” —Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

"In The Pain Gap, Anushay Hossain paints a startling picture of a nation that imperils women's lives and then tells them they're crazy for believing something might be wrong. Every woman, and every person who cares about women, should read this crucial book." – Jill Filipovic author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness and OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.

"Written with a heart full of hope, a belly full of rage, and the meticulous mind of a veteran journalist, The Pain Gap is both an unsparing account of our country's murderous indifference toward women of color, and a roadmap out of that hell. It should be mandatory reading for every policymaker and health care professional in the country." –Jaclyn Friedman, editor of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Sexual Power and a World Without Rape and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World.

“Hossain synthesizes a great deal of qualitative and quantitative data in this effective overview of bias in American medicine, particularly women’s and maternal healthcare. An especially welcome addition to healthcare policy, women’s studies, and race studies collections at public or special libraries.” –Library Journal

Named one of Cosmopolitan’s Most Compelling Fall 2021 Books to Add to Your Reading List

Named as one of the 21 of the most anticipated books coming out in the second half of 2021 by Fortune Magazine

"As [Hossain] reveals, it's not about that one insensitive, inattentive doctor here and there. It's about the institutionalized forces that deeply influence how we treat heart disease, chronic pain, Covid, and every other physical condition that impacts women's health." —Salon.com

From the Publisher

10/01/2021

Growing up in 1980s Bangladesh, journalist Hossain (host of the podcast Spilling Chai) thought the United States had better women's and maternal healthcare; upon immigrating to Washington, DC, she found the truth was very different. This debut recounts Hossain's own traumatic pregnancy, reports other women's experiences of American medicine, and presents deep research that outlines gender and racial inequities entrenched in the U.S. healthcare system. The book's tone effectively conveys Hossain's determination to change Western medicine's model of care, particularly for patients who are women of color; it's a call to arms for patients, to advocate for themselves and others. Pregnancy and childbirth are a central focus, but there's also valuable general information about patient empowerment; it pairs well with Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. VERDICT Hossain synthesizes a great deal of qualitative and quantitative data in this effective overview of bias in American medicine, particularly women's and material healthcare. An especially welcome addition to healthcare policy, women's studies, and race studies collections at public or special libraries.—Elizabeth J. Eastwood, Los Alamos, NM

Library Journal