How to Dismiss Women’s Pain
A satirical comic about how women's pain gets dismissed in clinical settings, and the research behind why it happens.
Tweens & Teens (12+) Bias and inequity in pain care Healthcare Providers Pain myths and facts Acute Pain Chronic Pain Procedural Pain Bias and inequity in pain care Pain Management Pain myths and facts
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About This Resource
This comic is about women’s pain and the hurtful myths that too often get in the way of caring for it. It uses satire to get there: the dismissive lines so many women know by heart. The research behind each panel is real — women’s pain is taken less seriously, treated less adequately, and studied far less often (like how chronic pain affects 70% of women, yet 80% of pain studies are conducted on mice or human men). We made this comic to spark conversation about how women’s pain is treated, and to help change it. For the research and references, read “But You Look Fine…”: Gender Bias And Pain Care by Dr. Grace Kao, a brilliant pain psychologist and writer. Also shout out to the Meg Foundation Creative Director and Illustrator, Ben Claassen for his incredible work on this.
How To Use This Resource
Share it with the people who care for women’s pain: providers, students, friends, and family. Post it, print it for the break room, or send it to anyone who could use the reminder that their pain deserves care and they deserve to feel seen. For more on how bad information creates more pain, our article on pain myths and facts is a good next read.
Who Is This For
Healthcare professionals, and every woman who’s ever felt like their pain wasn’t taken seriously.
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A Note About Keeping This Free
Good pain care should be a right, not a privilege.
We’ve spent our careers treating pain and medical anxiety, and we know that comfort and control come from putting the power where it belongs: in your hands. Everything here is free and open source by design. No parent should have to pay to learn how to get their child through a vaccine or a bad headache. No provider should have to hunt for what they need to do their job well. Hundreds of thousands of people have used Meg tools, and not one of them has ever been asked to pay.
But free still costs something.
We rely on the generosity of people like you to keep it that way. It takes about 1 in 30 of us, each giving $15 a month, to keep these tools available for free. If they helped you and you’re able, $15 a month keeps these resources available the next time you or another family need them.
Thanks for being here. Whether you are able to give or not, I’m so grateful a kid somewhere has you in their corner.
— Dr. Jody, Founder and CEO
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