One Woman Explains Why She’s Thankful for Her Hysterectomy

Writer Lisa Gastaldo published a piece on Medium’s Ask Me About My Uterus, in which she dares to look at her hysterectomy with positivity, and even some humor.

In “10 Reasons I’m Thankful for My Hysterectomy,” Gastaldo lists the perks of living uterus-free, ranging from being able to wear white all-month long and no longer needing to keep track of cycles. She also discusses coming to terms with losing a part of her body she had seen as definiteively feminine.

“Even after our family was complete,” Gastaldo writes, “I bought into the stigma that I would abandon my femininity if I had a hysterectomy. Why do we feel pressured to continue to harbor an organ that has betrayed us? Much like an inflamed appendix that served no purpose except to produce debilitating pain, it had to go. It only took me 17 years to accept the notion that I was more than the sum of my procreative parts.”

Read Gastaldo’s full piece here.

 

Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.

By Sarah Halle Corey on February 18, 2016
Sarah is a writer, filmmaker, and digital content creator who produces work about pop culture, feminism, feelings, and everything in between. You can find her work on her website . Sarah is usually drinking way too much coffee and/or tweeting.