When Your Body Becomes a Diagnosis: The Medicalisation of the Female Body

There’s a particular kind of silence that descends when a woman says:

“All my tests are normal… but I know something isn’t right.”

If you’re a woman, you probably know that silence.
It lives in the gap between “You’re fine” and the deep inner knowing that you’re not.

We’ve inherited a long history where women’s bodies have been framed as problems to fix, rather than intelligent systems to listen to. That history still echoes through the way many of us are treated today.

A small language note 🌿

In this article I use words like “women,” “female body,” and “womb” because I’m speaking mostly from and to the experience of midlife women who were raised and treated as female in medical systems. I also honour that not everyone with a womb identifies as a woman, and not all women have a womb. Please read in the way that best fits your own body and identity.

Hysteria: When the Womb Was the Problem

For centuries, “hysteria” was one of the most common labels applied to women.

The word itself comes from hystera — Greek for womb.

Too emotional?
Too sexual?
Too outspoken, sad, angry, creative, or “unmanageable”?

Clearly: hysteria.
Clearly: the uterus was to blame.

The idea was that the womb was misbehaving or “wandering” around the body, causing all kinds of symptoms. If a man was driven, intense, or haunted, he might be called passionate. If a woman was any of those things, she could be called hysterical.

Once something becomes a diagnosis, it can be used to silence, dismiss, or control.

When the “Solution” Was Removing the Uterus

If the womb was causing the trouble, then the “cure” seemed obvious: remove it.

Hysterectomy absolutely has valid, life-saving uses. But woven through its history is a darker thread: it was sometimes presented as a treatment for “hysteria,” nervous complaints, and women who wouldn’t stay inside their prescribed roles.

Too much grief?
Too much anger?
Too much desire or refusal to comply?

The message underneath was:

“Your body is the problem. We’ll manage it for you.”

A woman’s deepest creative centre was treated as pathology rather than power.

Medicine Designed Around the Male Body

Fast forward to modern times, and the pattern continues in a quieter way.

For decades, medical research was done primarily on male bodies. Men’s physiology became the template, and women were often considered “too complex” or “too variable” to include.

So much of what is considered “normal” is based on:

• male immune patterns
• male hormones
• male symptoms

When women present differently, they’re more likely to be told it’s:

• stress
• anxiety
• hormones
• “just part of being a woman”

There is a big difference between:

“Your hormones are part of this picture; let’s support you…”

and

“It’s just your hormones; you’re overreacting.”

One invites partnership and curiosity.
The other quietly undermines your trust in yourself.

Too Close to Nature, Too Much of Everything

Layered over this is an old belief:

• Men = rational, stable, logical.
• Women = emotional, changeable, “too close to nature.”

Cyclical, sensitive, responsive bodies were treated as unreliable.

We learned to see our own:

• mood shifts
• energy dips
• cycles
• desire

as proof that we are “too much,” “too messy,” or “too complicated.”

Over time, this seeps in as self-doubt:

“Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe nothing is wrong. Maybe I should just cope better.”

This is the quiet violence of medicalisation: not just in what is prescribed, but in what is implied.

When Pleasure Became a Procedure

Here’s the irony.

The same system that distrusted women’s emotions and bodies also developed one of the earliest “treatments” for hysteria: manual stimulation and later mechanical devices — early ancestors of what we’d now call a discreet device.

Orgasm was reframed as a “hysterical paroxysm” and treated as a medical procedure.

Women’s pleasure wasn’t seen as theirs.
It was something to be controlled, clinical, useful — a way to keep them calmer and more compliant.

Even here, the female body was not honoured as sovereign. It was a site for intervention.

And yet, the body spoke anyway.

From “Fix Me” to “Listen With Me”

This is not an anti-medicine rant.
Modern medicine saves lives, and many of us wouldn’t be here without it.

What I’m interested in is a different stance:

From…

“Fix me. Tell me what’s wrong with me. Make this go away.”

to…

“Listen with me. Help me understand what my body is saying. Support me to respond, not just suppress.”

In this shift:

• Your symptoms stop being proof you’re broken.
• Your emotions become information, not evidence of weakness.
• Your sensitivity becomes part of your guidance system, not a flaw.

You’re no longer just a “difficult patient” or a diagnosis. You’re an active participant in your own healing.

Your Body Is Not a Problem to Fix

The medicalised story says:
“You are too much, too emotional, too hormonal, too sensitive.”

A wiser story might say:
“You are complex, cyclical, responsive and deeply connected to life.”

Your womb — whether you still have one or not — is not a curse.
Your hormones are not a character defect.
Your desire for pleasure, rest, support or change is not hysteria.

They are signals.
They are invitations.
They are part of your medicine.

If you’ve ever been told “it’s just your hormones” or “everything looks normal” while your body is clearly asking for more… you’re not alone.

In the months ahead, I’ll be opening spaces that honour exactly this: your body as wise, your nervous system as central, your sovereignty as real.

For now, perhaps just notice:

Where have you quietly agreed with the story that your body is the problem?
And what might change if you began to see it as an ally instead?

With steadiness and wonder,
Shamarie Flavel
Field Explorer & Mystic Interpreter of Living Patterns

If this reflection spoke to you, I’d love to stay connected.
You can explore this topic in more depth and join the conversation —
leave a comment on my blog at shamarie.com.au/blog ,
or join our private Facebook community Evolve Courses Group to share in a more personal space.

Join me in exploring how energy, awareness, and daily life weave together to create a sanctuary of coherence and calm. 🌿
Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @ShamarieFlavelEnergy,
visit shamarie.com.au  to explore more, or discover my courses at evolvecourses.shamarie.com.au .

👉 Be the first to know when BOB lands in the world (and get launch-only bonuses) – add your name to the BOB waitlist.