The German Left Party leader Heidi Reichinnek is a guest on a talk show – when the presenter asked her a question about the number of rental apartments in Germany, she did not have the exact number ready and justified this with a persistent migraine. She then received ridicule, malice and hatred. Some accused her of using migraines as an excuse for insecurity or ignorance or completely denied her competence as a politician.
These reactions are nothing new: the widespread disease migraine has been trivialized for decades – for example as an alleged “excuse” when women don’t want sex. In many well-known series such as King of Queens, the Nanny or A terribly nice family Migraine is used as a humorous tool to portray women who avoid physical closeness.
This discourse not only shows a chauvinistic and sexist world in which a woman’s no is not taken seriously. The way Reichinnek’s statement is handled on social media exemplifies how deeply anchored this cliché still is and at the same time provides an explanation for why there are hardly any effective remedies against this disease to date – even though so many people suffer from it.
Downplayed and under-researched
Around 1.2 million people live with migraines in Switzerland. 85 percent of those affected by chronic migraines are women. In adulthood, women are affected three times as often as men. How is it that this neurological disease is still largely under-researched? As with many diseases that predominantly affect women, there is also a massive gender gap here.
For centuries, diseases that primarily affect women have been downplayed – especially those related to the female cycle. Hysterical, emotional, too weak: the lack of awareness in society has a direct impact on medical research. Conversely, the level of research has a major influence on the image of women and how they are treated in society.
In adulthood, women are affected three times as often as men.
But why is that so? Men continue to be considered the standard in medicine. Or as the author and activist for greater gender equality, Caroline Criado-Perez, says: “Our world is made by men for men and tends to ignore half of the population.” What does this mean specifically in the area of health? Heart attacks in women are often recognized too late or not recognized because the symptoms appear differently than in men. And diseases that disproportionately affect half the population are given less priority.
Federal parliamentarians are discussing measures against endometriosis and don’t even know what it is – even though one in 10 women in Switzerland is affected by it! A parliamentary proposal for better treatment of migraines was rejected in the National Council and dismissed by an SVP National Council as one of those proposals that can safely be deleted. With the justification: “But tell me, Mr. Colleague: Did a person have fewer migraines after your suggestion than before?”
Understanding is not a given
The fact that this grievance, this gap, is still being denied and ridiculed today is incredibly infuriating. And it is one of the reasons why we have to work so hard for an equal and feminist world. It is the reason why I decided to write this text. I have friends who have endometriosis but have been undiagnosed for years. Pain is just part of the cycle, right? I know dozens of women whose everyday life is severely limited by migraines – especially in politics.
Talking about it, as Heidi Reichinnek does, is often difficult for many because migraines are practically invisible from the outside. This is precisely why it is so important to make this disease visible. Like many women, I too have been suffering from migraines for almost twenty years. As a politician, as in many other professions and areas of life, this is a challenge. Some days I find large, noisy rooms with bright lights, such as parliamentary chambers, almost unbearable. On days like this, I sometimes can’t give my speeches, have to cancel TV appearances, or drag myself to appointments where it’s only with great effort that I can meet the demands that are placed on me and that I set for myself.
I do not want to accept that half of the population continues to be ignored in many areas of life.
Many women feel the same way in other everyday situations: women still take on the majority of unpaid care work and are often exposed to multiple burdens. In addition, there are professional environments and workplaces that deal with chronic illnesses differently. I can count on great understanding in mine, but that’s not the case for everyone.
So I’m trying to get away from the fact that I could appear whiny or incompetent if I’m limited or unable to work due to a migraine attack – and the pain and neurological breakdowns aren’t visible. I try to live with the illness, accept the limitations and talk openly about it. What I don’t want to accept, however, is that half of the population continues to be simply ignored in many areas of life: that diseases that primarily affect women continue to be dismissed by parts of society and in the public as pure hypersensitivity or as an excuse to devalue women. And I do not accept that, for these reasons, the health sector that ensures equity is underfunded, thereby paralyzing important progress in improving health care.
So instead of continuing to use misogynistic clichés, we should finally start treating migraines for what they are: a neurological disease that limits millions of people in their daily lives. We must work to close the gaps in gender research and medicine. Politically, in the world of work, but also as a society. We have to finally stop ignoring half of the population.
