health

a thin, brownskinned man with short, black hair and wearing a gray shirt holds his hands over his ears and screams

Numbers Game: Pro-Ana, Incels, and the Incessant Policing of Women’s Bodies

by Katherine Furl
February 23, 2021 at 10:31am
For incels and pro-ana alike, conforming to beauty standards is the only path to happiness and success. Read more »
White hands with pink nails typing on a laptop. Next to the laptop is a stethoscope.

Bravado and Branding: Instagrammable Startups Can’t Save Trans Healthcare

by Niko Stratis
February 23, 2021 at 9:54am
We can’t rely on the economy of influencers to solve a healthcare disparity. Read more »
a pregnant Indonesian woman poses in profile in a rice hat and bright blue shirt

Can Pregnant People Take the COVID Vaccine? Nobody Knows.

by Devon Haynie
December 23, 2020 at 2:32pm
Pregnant women are simply presumed to be unfit for trials, when in fact, they should be presumed to be integral. Read more »
a screen print of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman with her hands on her hips, collaged in a Lady of Guadalupe style surrounded by cutouts of flowers and a glowing outline, on top of an image of cells in a rainbow gradient.

The Cautious Gene: Genetic Testing Inherits a Legacy of Distrust

by Marissa Evans
December 17, 2020 at 10:28am
The complexity of working with and understanding DNA is steeped in institutional racism and the historical mistreatment of people of color by the medical community. Read more »
an Asian woman with shoulder-length blond hair is wearing a black mask across her face as she stares into space

Our Healthcare System Is Completely Unprepared for Long COVID

by Naseem Jamnia
November 19, 2020 at 10:54am
How will our healthcare system accommodate an influx of post-viral symptoms weeks, months, and even years after the pandemic is under control? Read more »
a white hand with a cross tattoo on her middle finger are posed against a black background

Out of Network: What’s Really Behind “Health-Sharing” Ministries?

by Hannah Amaris Roh
October 7, 2020 at 11:14am
The pandemic has underscored how one person’s “faith” can be weaponized against others to worsen an already shared precarity. Read more »
A Black woman with long, black, curly hair, stands on a college campus in a mask, touting books in her arms

Colleges Are Fumbling Their Response to Coronavirus—Again

by Brooke Knisley
September 15, 2020 at 9:53am
It didn’t have to be this way, but this is what happens when colleges are more concerned with sports, the money they get from dormitories, or the ability to charge facility fees than they are with the health of their students and their professors.  Read more »
A woman crosses the street in a polluted area

World on Fire: Environmental Racism and COVID-19 Are a Deadly Combination

by Izzie Ramirez
August 4, 2020 at 10:00am
Ultimately, the only cure for environmental racism is to entirely dismantle the structures that allow it to fester. Read more »
Jenara Nerenberg, a white person with shoulder-length brown hair, stares at the camera

Collective Softening: Jenara Nerenberg Seeks to Empower Neurodivergent Women

by Maya Dusenbery
June 9, 2020 at 10:09am
A flawed medical system leaves women with neurological differences, such as ADHD and autism, overlooked and misunderstood. Read more »
illustration of wellness motifs like turmeric lattes, Guatama Buddha, Deepak Chopra, among images of brown and white people

Continental Grift: Wellness and the Western Consumption of India

by Mallika Khanna
June 1, 2020 at 9:00am
A cultural obsession with Indian-centered wellness also comes from a place that acknowledges that everyone, sick or not, is in some way fundamentally broken. Read more »

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Best of Bitch

Critical Conditions: For Trans Individuals, Seeking Medical Care Can Be a Minefield

by Kari Mugo
Fall 2015 • Blood & Guts
When trans individuals encounter the medical system, they're often met with discrimination and misunderstanding. Read more »