Aesthetic disqualification, narrative imagination, and gender bias in endometriosis experiences

Aesthetic Disqualification, Narrative Imagination, and Gender Bias in Endometriosis Experiences Endometriosis is a gynaecological condition which affects approximately one in every ten women (Bullo,.Despite this high projection for the number of women affected by endometriosis, Stella Bullo notes that "the worldwide average length of diagnosis is 7.5 years" due to knowledge deficits, the perpetuation of harmful myths, misdiagnoses, and dismissal of chronic and debilitating pelvic/menstrual pain as "normal to womanhood" ("Exploring" 569-570).In addition to the above-mentioned medical issues which affect women's healthcare, it is crucial to consider socioeconomic and racial barriers which further contribute to medical rejection of women suffering from endometriosis.These barriers create major inequities in care and research, resulting in a poor understanding of the condition and its manifestations. Employing Tobin Siebers' theory of disability aesthetic and human disqualification and MarthaNussbaum's idea of narrative imagination as cultivating compassion in humanity, this essay will explore persistent misogynistic and racially charged myths, as well as systemic obstacles which impact medical care experiences for women seeking help and diagnosis for endometriosis.Through highlighting these challenges, this essay aims to demonstrate the way in which systemic misogyny causes gender-based discrimination in the medical world, which leads to negligent healthcare for women-discrimination which is intensified for women of colour.Disability theorist Tobin Siebers discusses the way visible disability can lead to someone being disqualified, oppressed, and/or discriminated against within society based on aesthetic principles (1486).Siebers explains that other human aesthetic-characteristics, including gender