McKiernan, Amy L. Do Metaphors Matter? Fibromyalgia and Women's Embodiment. IJFAB: International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 11, no. 2 (2018): 112-134. https://utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/ijfab.2018.01.15

Amy McKiernan is a professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College.

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In this paper, I argue that women who experience fibromyalgia may find themselves in a double bind. They may feel the need to describe their pain as extreme weakness or violence to convince health care providers and loved ones of the severity of it, but having to describe themselves repeatedly in these ways may be internalized and lead to a diminished sense of agency, especially in a culture that already systematically denigrates the strength and credibility of women.

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