Sidelined

Through personal stories and extensive research, Sidelined: How Women Manage (and Mismanage) Their Health examines the many ways in which women unwittingly neglect their own health. Researcher and writer Susan Salenger describes how women tend to place their needs behind the needs of their families, how they blame themselves for getting sick, and how they too often hesitate to question their doctors’ advice.

But women’s attitudes toward themselves and their health don’t exist in a vacuum—which is why Salenger also examines the cultural and medical history that has conditioned women not to act in their own best interest, offering insight into the gender biases of the medical community and exploring why women are misdiagnosed more often than men and why we’ve been routinely omitted from clinical trials. Designed to help women—particularly women over thirty-five—become more aware of why they make the decisions they do and Sidelined will equip readers with the knowledge, language, and skill sets they need to get the best healthcare possible.

Author: Susan Salenger

Pub Date: April 12, 2022

Description

2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Health/Wellness (Non-Fiction)
2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Women’s Issues (Non-Fiction)
2022 Foreword INDIES Book Awards Bronze Winner in Health (Adult Nonfiction)
2022 Living Now Book Awards Silver Medalist in Sexuality/Femininity

“Simply wonderful! An indispensable resource for women who have ever felt daunted by their interactions with caregivers.”
—Carole Browner, PhD, MPH, Distinguished research professor at UCLA’s Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the Departments of Anthropology and Gender Studies

“Why do so many women have difficulty feeling heard and understood when they visit their doctor? Why are they misdiagnosed more frequently and later than men—even when their symptoms are exactly the same? And why do they suffer more side effects than men from the medications they’re prescribed? Sidelined helps to answer those questions. Backed by extensive research, part memoir, part personal stories, this excellent and informative book offers a voice to those women who have been told (and believed) that their symptoms are ‘all in their head.’ It provides a useful road map on how to get the most effective healthcare and will be a valuable resource for all women interested in improving the quality of their healthcare and making more fully informed decisions.”
—Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD, author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage and Ways of Knowing about Birth: Mothers, Midwives, Medicine, and Birth Activism

“Enjoyable to read and meticulously researched, Sidelined offers profound insights into the unique challenges women face as they handle their healthcare. Salenger includes personal narratives and mines the rich fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, medical history, and current medical research to think deeply about what women need to know to take the most effective care of themselves. This is definitely a book every woman (and every doctor) should read!”
—Jill Warburton, PsyD, Berkeley, CA

Sidelined is a book I immediately asked my wife to read because it is so beautifully written and well-researched. The essence of this book is succinctly captured in the sub-title — how women manage and mismanage their health. Readers will understand why women easily make the wrong choices when it comes to healthcare decisions and the social context in which such choices are made. They will understand that playing nice at times or putting others first may often do them a disservice. Sidelined teaches women a unique skill — the ability to take care of themselves properly so they can stay strong by their families. Most importantly, Salenger provides compelling insights and writes in a voice that is compassionate, and authoritative, and in prose that is simply gorgeous. Sidelined is the best gift anyone can give a woman.”
—Romuald Dzemo, Book Commentary

Sidelined is a thought-provoking and informative guide for women. The book describes how women manage the health of their families while simultaneously mismanage their personal health. The book also goes into what women can do to take charge of their health and medical issues. Sidelined is an important book for women everywhere. It could also be a wake-up call or the motivation and inspiration that some women need to make sure they are heard at their next doctor’s appointment. Women are often more concerned over the health of their children, going to as many doctors as needed and asking tons of questions until they get answers, but often they don’t take that same care with their own health. This book might be just what the doctor ordered to take charge of our health once and for all.”
—Readers’ Favorite

About the Author

Susan Salenger was born and raised in Los Angeles, and for more than twenty-five years owned Salenger Films, which produced corporate training and development films and distributed them around the world, with her husband. Sue wrote the scripts and the workbooks that accompanied the films. Once her children had grown up and she had some time for herself, Sue took some anthropology classes at UCLA. Her final project for one of those classes was a study of women who had undergone hysterectomies; that study was the catalyst for this book. Sue’s wonderful husband has passed away, but she has two fabulous daughters and four incredible grandchildren. They all live in Petaluma, California, and see each other often.

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