Abby Norman is an American science writer. She is the author of the 2018 nonfiction book ''Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain''.

Biography

Norman had a troubled home life and became an

emancipated minor Emancipation of minors is a legal mechanism by which a minor before attaining the age of majority is freed from control by their parents or guardians, and the parents or guardians are freed from responsibility for their child. Minors are norma ...

at age 16. She attended

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

but dropped out after experiencing severe pain that was eventually diagnosed as

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

. Norman wrote about her experience of endometriosis, including her efforts to get doctors to take her pain seriously, for '' Seventeen'' magazine, and started curating online essays on reproductive system health into a website called ''Ask Me About My Uterus''. In 2018 Norman's book ''Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain'' was published by

Nation Books Type Media Center (formerly The Nation Institute) is a nonprofit media organization that was previously associated with ''The Nation'' magazine. It sponsors fellows, hosts forums, publishes books and investigative reporting, and awards several ann ...

. The book connects Norman's personal experience to a longer history of medical practitioners dismissing women's pain, for example by treating their experience of pain as "

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

". ''Ask Me About My Uterus'' also critically examines the popular understanding of

as a "white woman's disease". Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Randi Epstein called Norman "a terrific storyteller with a gift for weaving memorable anecdotes" and noted that the book "tells a story that will resonate with anyone (man or woman) who has ever experienced pain". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' described the book as "compelling and impressively researched" and "an unsparing look at the historically and culturally fraught relationship between women and their doctors". Erin Blakemore of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' summarized the book as "a torrent of disconcerting information about the continued struggle to understand and value women’s bodies".

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

named Norman as one of its 2018 Rule Breakers.

Bibliography

* ''Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest To Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain'' (New York: Nation Books, 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Abby Living people Sarah Lawrence College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American science writers