On the Politics of Hysterectomy
From New York University Press
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“A new, surprising, and essential read in the wake of Dobbs, Get it Out will change how you think about the uterus.” ―Moira Donegan, The Guardian
“Get It Out engages a completely ordinary yet conspicuously neglected practice of everyday healthcare, and demands that an overdue womb-reckoning take place.” ― Sophie Lewis, author of Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family
“An inclusive, compassionate, and clear-eyed investigation. Like Hysterectomy itself, Get It Out speaks to the heart of who we are and how we inhabit our bodies”-Leah Hazard, author of Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began
“Becker’s book is provocative and powerful, and always rooted in the personal stories of their participants. Through this research, the hysterectomy becomes a microcosm that captures political and cultural questions of reproduction, social control, access to healthcare, and the value of trans lives, and thus has much to teach scholars and advocates alike.” -Gretchen Sisson, author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood
An examination of hysterectomy and the struggle for bodily and reproductive autonomy
At least one hysterectomy is performed every minute of the year, making it the most common gynecological surgery worldwide. By the age of sixty-five, one out of five people born with a uterus will have it removed. So, why do we seldom talk about this surgery?
Highly performed yet overlooked, examining the paradox of hysterectomy begins to unravel the various problems with how we medically treat uteruses and the people who have them. Get It Out weaves centuries of medical history with rich qualitative data from 100 women, trans men, and nonbinary people who had, want, or are considering hysterectomy. In compelling detail, Andréa Becker reveals how America’s healthcare system routinely deprives people of the ability to control their own bodies along race and gender lines.
When people ask for a hysterectomy, they are often met with pushback: Are you sick enough? Old enough? Have you had enough babies? Will you regret this? How will your future husband feel about this? Yet this pushback is not equally experienced. While some people are barred access, others are ushered toward a hysterectomy. These contradictory recommendations reveal the persistent biases entrenched within healthcare.
Get It Out interrogates how little choice people with uteruses ultimately have over their reproductive health, and explores what these “choices” signify amid interlocking systems of inequality.
ANDRÉA BECKER 