When Will Women’s Health Finally Be Taken Seriously?
Bernadette Giacomazzo
Women’s health isn’t a niche topic or a pink-washed side project. It’s half the population and most of the daily decision-makers for families, yet the medical system still treats it like an afterthought. Symptoms get minimized, pain gets dismissed, and answers arrive late—if at all.
A recent episode of With Whit puts that frustration on the record. Host Whitney Port, who has openly shared her own fertility struggles and health advocacy journey, welcomed Dr. Thais Aliabadi and Mary Alice Haney—the powerhouse cohosts behind SHE MD—to discuss why women struggle to access care that’s timely, respectful, and grounded in research—not stereotypes.
The result is a conversation that moves past the usual “listen to your body” advice and into brass-tacks solutions. Women’s health deserves that shift: fewer shrugs, more receipts; fewer brush-offs, more action.
When Will Women’s Health Finally Be Taken Seriously?
Why women’s health still gets dismissed
The problem runs deeper than a bad appointment. For decades, medical research defaulted to male bodies, leaving gaps in diagnostics, dosing, and outcomes. In the exam room, gender bias amplifies those gaps. Women’s pain gets labeled “anxiety,” cycle symptoms get waved off as “normal,” and key differentials—endometriosis, PCOS, autoimmune flares—arrive late in the workup.
On the ground, those patterns appear to be missed diagnoses and years lost. That’s why Dr. Aliabadi, a board-certified OB-GYN, keeps emphasizing the practical realities of access and time. She makes it clear that volume-based care kills nuance when she says good medicine becomes impossible under overload. “You cannot give good care if you start seeing 40 patients a day,” she says. Education has to fill the gap in the meantime; as Aliabadi puts it, “Education is the great equalizer.”
How media and medicine can work together
Systemic change matters—more women in leadership, better-funded research for women-specific conditions, and clinical trials that represent the real world. But patients can’t wait for a policy memo to trickle down. That’s where the media meets medicine.
Mary Alice Haney, cohost of SHE MD, has seen firsthand how access to reputable information changes outcomes: “They pushed for an MRI when their doctor said no,” she shares about listeners who used evidence-based information to advocate for themselves. This isn’t about turning patients into medical experts. It’s about giving women the tools to have informed conversations with their healthcare providers.
Actionable steps every woman can take now
If breast cancer is the concern—and for many, it is—Aliabadi is clear about timing, tools, and the importance of understanding your personal risk profile. ”You need to know that number at least by age 30,” she says, referring to lifetime breast cancer risk. Use that information to guide your screening plan.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to get the number that guides your plan. The directive is doable and straightforward: “Go on SheMD, calculate your lifetime risk of breast cancer,” then use that result to request the appropriate orders. Those aren’t “demands”—they’re clinical standards based on your risk profile.
For example, if your calculated risk qualifies you for supplemental imaging, bring that proof to the visit and ask for it. “For dense breast [tissue], we recommend a three-dimensional mammogram,” Aliabadi notes—but you have to know to ask for it.
A quick reminder for anyone taught to be “easy” in medical spaces: Clear, specific requests help clinicians help you. You’re not being difficult when you come prepared; you’re being safe.
Make your women’s health appointment work for you
Ten-minute slots aren’t designed for complex questions, and women’s health is often complex by definition—multiple systems, cyclical symptoms, and overlapping conditions. That’s why preparation matters. Bring your risk score, a clean one-page timeline of your symptoms, and your top two goals for the visit. Ask what gets done today, what gets ordered, and when you’ll get the results.
If the annual check feels like a rushed box-checking exercise, you’re not imagining it. As Aliabadi says, “That’s not a well woman exam.” An actual preventive visit should address your medical history, current concerns, and screening needs—not just a quick refill and out the door. When the format can’t stretch, use it to secure the next step: labs, referrals, or imaging that move your care forward.
Women’s health finally gets taken seriously when the culture, the clinic, and the calendar align—respect in the room, evidence-based plans, and regular follow-through. That big picture needs funding and leadership, but it also moves when women show up with data and ask for what the data supports. When that happens consistently, it doesn’t just help individual patients; it also benefits the broader healthcare system. It pushes the entire system toward the equity in women’s health that it has been waiting for.
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