Grand unified theory of female pain
Loosely connected series of observations and thoughts about women and pain, some literary, some from the author's own experience. One theme is how often womens' pain is ignored or downplayed as bid for attention.
Submission Medium: written
Wait times: Slipping through the cracks in the emergency room.
A man tells the story of watching his wife suffer agonizing pain for several hours from an ovarian torsion, eventually losing the ovary, and uses that as a starting point to describe how often women's pain is dismissed by doctors and other caregivers, especially other women.
The story could also prompt discussion of how to account for the health care provider behavior in this story. Do we blame incompetent and insensitive health care providers? What features of their working conditions might produce the behavior this story recounts?
The cookie jar
A rare Stephen King short story that's both publicly available in a literature magazine and on point for a health narratives course. It has the SK mark of supernatural weirdness/ unexplainability and also nicely profound messages about why human beings turn down unlimited good things - like fresh baked cookies - in favor of something horrible, like war. Mental health struggles become a superpower and there's symbolism to keep a literature class well engaged for a class period.
The ART of infertility
This is the link to a website for a national arts organization based in Michigan and Wisconsin. The organization curate art exhibits that portray living with infertility, designes curricula and writing worksins, plans outreach events, and advocates for infertility rights. They dsribe their missions as follows: "Through art, we break the silence around reproductive grief and push back against common misconceptions. We invite you to join us in our fight to make infertility visible."
The site includes galleries of exhibitions, including photos with artist statements and a blog that features personal narratives about the experiences of infertility.