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All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today Hardcover – February 13, 2024

4.6 out of 5 stars 318 ratings

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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.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Wow! This book will upend everything you thought you knew about your body while empowering you to make better decisions moving forward. Through storytelling, extensive research, and easy recommendations, Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given us all a priceless road map to reclaim our agency.” — Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play

All in Her Head accomplishes a remarkable feat of storytelling. By combining essential medical histories about women’s bodies with all the narrative propulsion of a medical thriller, Comen has written a must-read, compelling, and important book.” — Siddartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Song of the Cell

“Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given a priceless gift to women and the medical world, sharing profound insights from her experiences as a physician with touching compassion, empathy, wit, and a fierce determination to improve women’s health and health care. Brava for a book that really matters, that empowers patients to take charge of their health, that challenges healthcare systems to change, and will improve the lives of all who read it!” — Joann E. Manson, MD, DRPH, MACP, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

“This book exposes the shocking, infuriating, and heartbreaking medical myths and practices that have haunted the care and treatment of women for millennia—myths about the inherent inferiority and weakness of the female body that are still with us today. All in Her Head is not only personally empowering for women but it’s also a call to reimagine what medicine would look like if we valued what has been left out of our medical system: the high art and skill of caretaking.” — Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of Marrow and Cassandra Speaks

“Meticulously researched and conveyed in lucid prose, this fascinates and outrages in equal measure.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

 Elizabeth Comen, MD, has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-af­ter clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen is a Medical Oncologist specializing in breast cancer an Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU Langone. She earned her BA in the history of science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her resi­dency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Ketter­ing Cancer Center. She lives in New York City with her family.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Wave (February 13, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063293013
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063293014
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.08 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 318 ratings

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Elizabeth Comen
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Dr. Elizabeth Comen, M.D., has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. An award-winning, internationally sought-after clinician and physician-scientist, Dr. Comen is a Medical Oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She earned her BA in the History of Science from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She lives in New York City with her family.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
318 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book excellent for understanding women's health history, with one review noting how it's interspersed with good information. The writing quality receives positive feedback, and customers consider it a must-read.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

13 customers mention "Insight"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, particularly praising how it illuminates the history of women's health through entertaining anecdotes.

"...it’s a nonfiction book, Dr. Comen’s writing is so compelling and interesting it’s hard to put down...." Read more

"...Dr. Comen is such a great writer! I really enjoyed how she mixed in details around the historical treatment of women’s health issues with her own..." Read more

"A very interesting history of women’s healthcare. Hmmmm … interesting and horrifying would be better...." Read more

"...Told through entertaining anecdotes and interspersed with good information, can't recommend this read enough to all ladies, anyone in the medical..." Read more

5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with one describing it as a compulsive read and another noting it's important for women to read.

"This is an important book for women to read to better understand how the medical system has gaslit us for centuries...." Read more

"This is simply a must read...." Read more

"...When my wife read it she found it to be a compulsive read, a real page turner. So, I purchased 3 more copies and gave them to my 3 adult daughters." Read more

"...This is a must read!" Read more

5 customers mention "Writing quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, with one describing it as a real page turner.

"...Although it’s a nonfiction book, Dr. Comen’s writing is so compelling and interesting it’s hard to put down...." Read more

"I did not want the book to end! Dr. Comen is such a great writer!..." Read more

"...When my wife read it she found it to be a compulsive read, a real page turner. So, I purchased 3 more copies and gave them to my 3 adult daughters." Read more

"...Her prose is fluid and engaging, and she draws an impressive throughline through history to modern day issues in the treatment of women...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2024
    A woman. A healthcare provider of either gender. Someone who is interested in how bias against women has not only been a part of medical history, but still happens today. I first heard of this book when Dr. Comen was interviewed on NPR. The stories were heartbreaking & infuriating. I ordered the book that day. Although it’s a nonfiction book, Dr. Comen’s writing is so compelling and interesting it’s hard to put down. Halfway through I sent a copy to my daughter who is in grad school to be a therapist. Every woman should read this book. If you have ever had your concerns in a medical setting brushed aside by a doctor OR a nurse (yes female practitioners are also guilty) YOU should definitely read this book. Kudos to Dr. Comen for her extensive research and excellent writing.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2024
    I did not want the book to end! Dr. Comen is such a great writer! I really enjoyed how she mixed in details around the historical treatment of women’s health issues with her own present day practice caring for her patients. This book makes me reflect on my own health journey and the behaviors we, as women, have adopted and what we can do to change these behaviors to advance the quality of care, treatment, research, and attitudes around women’s health. Thank you, Dr. Comen, for pushing us all forward.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2025
    A very interesting history of women’s healthcare. Hmmmm … interesting and horrifying would be better. How women have been medically treated over time is explained and we are still trying to overcome this history. It’s an eye-opener!
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
    This is an important book for women to read to better understand how the medical system has gaslit us for centuries. Its important for the men in our lives to read so they recognize the misogyny in the medical (and societal) culture that has influenced how they may respond to our real physical needs. its not in our heads.

    I bought two copies after a recent discussion with my GP, a woman in her 40s who recognizes that her medical training for women was significantly hampered by a biased medical system. She didn't mention this book - just her own experience. I am recommending it to any woman with whom I get into a discussion about health topics; which in this stage of my life, is just about everyone.

    Buy it. Read it. Recommend it to others. Give it to others. And advocate for yourself!
    17 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2024
    Jolting look at medicine's treatment of woman throughout history! Told through entertaining anecdotes and interspersed with good information, can't recommend this read enough to all ladies, anyone in the medical field, and I suppose all the men too.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2024
    This book is a bit too long, but should be required reading for every doctor and for women and for the men in their lives. It helps understand where some of our biases come from and what we need to do to get rid of them.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2024
    Women have to be leading to charge to the best outcomes for women’s health. They can listen better & better understand a women & what she might be going through.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2024
    I a,ways felt that my own, educated, business successful and damned great role model was ignored for at least 18 months before finally being tested for cancer. “Your husband isn’t well, you are worrying, you know you have ulcers which get worse when you are upset,” This is what my Mother heard. She had Pancreatic cancer that had begun in the tail of her pancreas and would have been surgically treated and likely successful if her doctor had run tests that if she was a man would haven routine. Only after my father passed, did her doctor run a blood test. Her doctors in PA, besides scorning the FL doctors who routinely dismiss older women, felt she would have had a great chance of surviving if it was diagnosed even 6 months sooner. She lasted 5 months.

    If you are a woman, this is a must. It may Dave your life
    15 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Jackie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Women’s history is WILD.
    Reviewed in Canada on March 19, 2025
    Everyone should read this. Especially those in the medical world, or anyone going through it (for me the it is endometriosis).
  • Matou
    5.0 out of 5 stars Le sexisme dans la médecine hier et encore aujourd'hui, un livre important
    Reviewed in France on July 14, 2024
    C’est un livre important, voire essentiel pour la santé des femmes qui mérite une très large audience.
    C'est sans doute le réquisitoire sérieux le plus sévère et le plus féroce contre le sexisme et la misogynie patriarcale dans la médecine passée et actuelle depuis la parution en 1970-1973 de l'ouvrage du collectif de femmes de Boston « Our Bodies, Our Selves », maintes fois réédité et traduit dans plus de 30 langues.

    Elizabeth Comen a tous les titres du savoir. Médecin depuis une vingtaine d’années. Elle est oncologue, récipiendaire de distinctions et de prix, spécialiste renommée du cancer du sein au prestigieux Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center à NY et Professeure au Weill Cornell Medical College. Elle a un BA en Histoire des sciences et un Doctorat en médecine de Harvard.

    Sous le signe d’une approche réflexive, elle a écrit dans son identité de femme, de scientifique, d’historienne de la médecine et de femme-médecin pleine de compassion. A l’instar de « Our bodies, Our Selves » il y a un demi-siècle, ce livre s’adresse aux femmes. Avec succès. Dès sa parution en février 2024.

    « A brief History of sexism in Medicine : The Truth and the Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why it Matters Today» intéressera également les médecins et futurs médecins ! Et bien d’autres encore.

    Son réquisitoire serré se déploie sur onze chapitres : 1. La peau : c’est ce qui est à l’intérieur qui compte ; 2. Les os, squelette : crânes, corsets ; 3. Le muscle, musclé (e) : qui est la plus faible ; 4. Le sang : circulation, affaires de cœur ; 5. Le souffle, le système respiratoire : les femmes respirent un air différent ; 6. Les intestin, la digestion : le prix à payer en suivant ou non vos intestins 7. La vessie et l’appareil urinaire : Un millier d’années à se retenir ; 8. La défense immunitaire : l’auto-sabotage ; 9. Les nerfs, nervosité : ces femmes sont folles ; 10. Les hormones et le système endocrinien : la gueule de bois hormonale ; 11. Le sexe et la reproduction : la mère de toutes les paniques morales ; Conclusion. Index.

    Certains feront des prises de conscience salutaires pour les progrès de la médecine et pour une meilleure prise en charge des malades du sexe féminin. Car son vaste panorama montre que de trop nombreux travers sexistes se sont maintenus à travers les âges et continuent encore aujourd’hui d’être enseignés et publiés au grave détriment de la santé des femmes… Certaines spécialités de la médecine sont plus sexistes que d’autres, mais aucune spécialité n’y échappe.

    Pierre-Emeric Mandl
    Report
  • CASwpggr99
    5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional
    Reviewed in Canada on May 25, 2024
    Both validating and infuriating. The history opens up why doctors still treat women as they do. Now more of Dr. Comes to fix a broken system. Illuminating for sure.