In this provocative study Barbara Duden asserts that the most basic biological and medical terms that we use to describe our own bodies—male and female, healthy or sick—are indeed cultural constructions. Duden delves into the records of an eighteenth-century German physician who meticulously documented the medical histories of eighteen hundred women of all ages and backgrounds, often in their own words. This unparalleled record of complaints, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments reveals a deeply alien understanding of the female body and its functions.

Translated by: Thomas Dunlap