When Descriptor is Diagnosis: An Autoethnographic Response to the Medical Treatment of Women with Vulvodynia.

Women with chronic vulvar pain experience symptoms that can affect their everyday functioning. These women are often diagnosed with vulvodynia, defined as vulvar pain without a medical explanation lasting at least three months. Yet while vulvodynia is presented by medical authorities as a diagnosis...

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Publicado en:Australian Feminist Studies Vol. 40; no. 124/125; pp. 161 - 182
Autores principales: Taylor, Josephine, Ridgway, Alexandra
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jun-Sep2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: When Descriptor is Diagnosis: An Autoethnographic Response to the Medical Treatment of Women with Vulvodynia.
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          Taylor, Josephine
          Ridgway, Alexandra
        affil:
          School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
          School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
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        Vulvodynia
        Diagnosis
        Therapeutics
        Symptoms
        Physical training & conditioning
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          Vulvodynia
          Diagnosis
          Therapeutics
          Symptoms
          Physical training & conditioning
      keyword:
        autoethnography
        diagnosis
        heteronormative
        heteropatriarchal‌
        lived experience
        medical knowledge
        vulvar pain‌
        vulvodynia
        women
      ab: Women with chronic vulvar pain experience symptoms that can affect their everyday functioning. These women are often diagnosed with vulvodynia, defined as vulvar pain without a medical explanation lasting at least three months. Yet while vulvodynia is presented by medical authorities as a diagnosis it is, more accurately, a descriptor of the physical condition. As such it does not have the ability to explain what causes this vulvar pain and, consequently, cannot determine an appropriate treatment pathway for all patients. As women with vulvodynia ('V women'), we use this article to highlight the issues posed by a descriptor camouflaging as a diagnosis, including the harm it can cause. Using literature in the field and autoethnographic vignettes, our article unravels the effects of receiving this diagnosis from disappointment at what it offers women like us in explanatory terms to how it pressures us to live up to ideas of the ideal heteronormative patient (and woman). While we use our experiences to speak to how medical descriptors can be used, through diagnosis, to undermine and damage women's bodies and voices, we also reveal possible paths for resistance through personal research, autoethnography and encouragement of the voices and agency of other 'V women'.
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      custom: Copyright of Australian Feminist Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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