The Hormone Myth: How Junk Science, Gender Politics, and Lies About PMS Keep Women Down

Description

It s time for women to reject the hormone myth and own their emotions in a healthy and realistic way. This provocative book exposes pervasive myths about women s hormones and shows how flawed, obsolete research and sexism have combined to keep women in their place. Although the idea that women become raving lunatics when their hormones fluctuate is firmly entrenched in American culture images of hormone-crazed women are prominent on TV and in movies, books, and magazines a thorough examination of the evidence overwhelmingly tells us otherwise. This book will confront the pervasive myth that women are at the mercy of their reproductive hormones, and illustrate how the perpetuation of this stereotype harms women.Scientific evidence shows that the majority of women do not experience major mental or physical symptoms linked to their hormones. Rather, much of women s supposed irrationality can be attributed to environmental factors and the cultural and social realities of being a woman in the Western world.With a thorough exploration of women s hormonal lives, from the initiation of menstruation through menopause, The Hormone Myth will help you reject the negative stereotype of the hormone-crazed woman and gain an appreciation for the natural changes that occur over time.

Robyn Stein DeLuca, PhD, is a research assistant professor in the department of psychology at Stony Brook University, and was a core faculty member of the women's and gender studies program for fifteen years. She has taught a multitude of courses on health, gender, and reproduction, and her research on postpartum depression and childbirth satisfaction has been published in scholarly psychology journals. Her TEDx Talk "The Good News About PMS" has had over one million views and has been translated into eleven languages.

The Hormone Myth is a bracing, accrurate breath of fresh air. It turns conventional wisdom about hormones on its head, and provides a far more liberating view of women's health than what we've all been taught. * Christiane Northrup, MD *