Let’s hope 2018 is the year when more women’s voices are heard and women lead. Toward that end, here’s a starter list of women who write about health and medicine and share my interest in framing our world in terms of what matters to readers. I have not been blogging much this year, but some great work is out there. If you are tired of seeing all-male, one token female, and few people of color listened to, these voices are worth hearing.
On Aging
Judy Graham (Kaiser Health News) and Paula Span (New York Times) write about navigating aging. Judy also hosts a Facebook group titled Navigating Aging with Judy Graham. It covers a soup-to-nuts discussion on challenges growing older, retiring, getting healthcare, and more. Paula Span writes regularly for the NYTimes Old Age. Margaret Morganroth-Gullett has also written two books worth your time: Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America and Ending Ageism or How Not to Shoot Old People. Ashton Applewhite’s This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism is also worthwhile. These are good places to go if you are interested in aging.
Environment/Public Health
The reporting of Liza Gross stands out in this area. She did some stellar work investigating the adverse impacts of pesticides in California: Fields of Toxic Pesticides Surround the Schools of Ventura, California: Are They Poisoning the Students and A New Study Suggests That the Toughest Pesticide Regulations Aren’t Nearly Tough Enough. Her piece on suicide and the Golden Gate Bridge was also well done. You writes for many outlets. You can follow her on twitter @lizabio.
Genetics
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more iconoclastic blogger about genetics than Ricki Lewis, who runs the DNA Science blog at PLOS. Ricki is not afraid of turn upside-down the dark side of genetics (White Supremacy: The Dark Side of Eugenics) or alerting you to problems at clinicaltrials.gov.
Women’s Health etc.
Don’t miss Dr. Jen Gunter’s blog and tweets. She’s an ob/gyn with some snark who claims she is devoted to building a better medical internet. She also wrote The Preemie Primer.
A Few News Services
Echoing Ida is worth backing and reading. With the byline of “Amplifying Black voices and nonbinary writers,” Echoing Ida aims to position their members “as the experts they are…as go-to thought leaders. It’s a great place to hear what black women and nonbinary writers have to say. The group makes it plain that it follows the legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the muckraking black journalist devoted to exposing racism and sexism and pushing for equity for all.
Rewire
Lots of women writers have plenty to say about reproductive rights, abortion, and equity for women. Few are as intersectional as Rewire. You’ll find bylines of a diverse group of women writers, including women of color and nonbinary writers.
BEYOND THIS STARTER SET
I don’t have the wherewithal to rank any of the above. Assume this is just an intro to hearing more women with good ideas.
But consider this. For decades, I have listened to often inarticulate men mansplaining about health and medicine, be it clinical medicine or policy. They rarely engage their readers as many women writers do. Consider standing down not only any all-male panels, but those with a token woman in 2018. How many more times are we going to have to look at photos of Harvey Weinstein? It’s time to listen to a heck of a lot more sharp women journalists and bloggers.