Naomi Elster

Naomi Elster

Naomi Elster is a writer and a scientist. She has a PhD in breast cancer. Her nonfiction covers science, health, and an evidence-based approach to women’s issues. You can find her on Twitter @Naomi_Elster.

[Photo: An illustration of Sigmund Freud listening to a female patient speak. The word 'hysteria' and his notes are superimposed on the background.]

I’m Not Hysterical—but You’re Sexist

Naomi Elster

Over the years, people in power have used “hysteria” to denigrate women’s bodies.

[PHOTO: Red mural of smiling South Asian woman and a woman with small children kneeling.]

Ireland’s Repeal of the Eighth in Retrospect: Evidence and Empathy Won the Day

Naomi Elster

We talked about "compassion in a crisis." But did pro-repeal campaigners miss opportunities to talk about autonomy, the right to abortion, and medication abortion's safety when we fought the country's draconian abortion ban?

Behind the Pap Smear: A Wife Whose Husband Scraped Her Cervix Daily (!)

Naomi Elster

That couldn't have been comfortable for Mary Papanicolaou, but their work gave us the best way of screening for cervical cancer.

A Short History of the ‘Biological Clock’: It’s Been Ticking Off Women for 40 Years

Naomi Elster

Can we let the term slide into history's dustbins? Maybe ... if we had less media scaremongering and more rigorous science.

Naomi Elster

I’m Not Hysterical—but You’re Sexist

Ireland’s Repeal of the Eighth in Retrospect: Evidence and Empathy Won the Day

Behind the Pap Smear: A Wife Whose Husband Scraped Her Cervix Daily (!)

A Short History of the ‘Biological Clock’: It’s Been Ticking Off Women for 40 Years

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