Well done! This is an important topic that needs discussion. Given the politicization of women's bodies, this book addresses obstacles faced by women well. As someone with endometriosis, this book addressed so many barriers and the way you can get treated in a doctor's office depending on your age/SES/etc.

As a nonbinary person looking to get a hysterectomy in the future, this book was a fascinating read. And yet I also think than anyone with a uterus would benefit from such a read.

Becker opens the book with a introduction explaining the origins of hysterectomies, when they were first performed, why, and under what conditions. She also takes great care in underlining the different politics that come into play depending on your race or gender identity in getting this procedure and how the racist history of gynecological care impact BIPOC people to this day. She also highlights that around half of the people she interviews are women and around half fall under the transgender umbrella. I felt like this was a diverse study group.
I learned a lot reading this introduction and really appreciated all the caveats and notes given on how getting a hysterectomy differs from people to people.
The book is then divided into five chapters each dealing with a different aspect of the process of getting a hysterectomy. How hard or how easy it can be to get one, how endometriosis and other gyno issues affect the necessarity of the procedure, etc. She uses the interviews she conducted as a starting point for her arguments. She underlines all the different reasons why people might want this procedures, what steps they had to take in order to get it, and how the people who got it feel afterwards.

All in all a very informative book, even if it can feel a little repetitive at some points. It is a short but dense read that I would recomment to anyone interested in the subject, or not, as I feel it is important to learn more about reproductive health options and trans healthcare. As I learned in the book, 1 in 5 people with a uterus will get a hysterectomy before the age of 65, so it is a subject worth discussing.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. Find my reviews on Goodreads, The StoryGraph, and Fable.

Wow this is as such a profound and important read. Hysterectomy is truly a microcosm of all the ways healthcare fails individuals with uteruses and the power that healthcare choices bring.

From the origins of hysteria to the examination of the different sides of eugenics logic (the paternalistic gate keeping of healthcare to disregard for the well being of patients) - I learned so much. I read through this section at a sprint - I couldn’t believe what I was reading- and I had to know more.

The interviews in this book, while insightful, do drag it on, occasionally falling into repetition. But ultimately I wanted to read every word of their stories.

I greatly appreciated how thoroughly this author investigated the varied experiences with and feelings about hysterectomy.

I came away from this book with a better understanding of history, patriarchy in healthcare, and the current state of gynecological care. Highly recommend!

Rarely does a title grab my attention and simultaneously create an emotional connection. But I’m sure every woman or uterus-having person has thought once: get it out. For me, personally, I thought it and eventually did, in fact, have it “out.” So, I’ll state my bias upfront for loving this book for forging connection regarding an under-researched, underfunded, and under-cared for topic. The author drew powerful parallels between the shared histories and history we all inevitably share. It’s a book that will physically grace my shelves upon publishing.

Note: I appreciate NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by the author, publisher, or any third party. My reviews are voluntary and not sponsored in any way.

As a woman going through the process of getting a hysterectomy this was a wonderful to read others insight into the broken system with this procedure.

"Get It Out: On the Politics of Hysterectomy" by Andréa Becker focuses on the social dynamics that shape the battle for bodily and reproductive autonomy, as told by a diverse set of voices. Becker uses the stories and experiences of 100 people with uteruses (i.e., cisgender women, trans men, and non-binary people) to underscore a long history of hysterectomies. For people who would ask for a hysterectomy, there is so much pushback from the medical community that is often centered around the needs of others (including but not limited to concerns of hypothetical husbands and potential future children, whose imaginary lives are given precedent over the care and health concerns of the patient themselves. Futhermore, Becker takes a nuanced approach by directly discussing the differentiating impact that the intersection of identities can have on bodily autonomy, in the context of medical procedures like hysterectomies are concerned. Here, the history of hysterectomies as a form of eugenics is presented in a straightforward way.

As a social scientist and educator in a similar field, I found the writing in this book to be informative and poignant. While I don't do much qualitative work myself, I recognize that the data that Becker gathered here feels both rich and spans a number of perspectives that tend to be underrepresented. I feel that this book is an important (and accessible) read for anyone who has any interest in the study of bodily autonomy, especially in a political climate where freedom of choice regarding the uterus and the people who have them is increasingly shrinking, especially from both a historical and feminist perspective, and I would be happy to recommend this to any of my colleagues who do work in the areas of medical sociology and/or who focus on bodily autonomy in any form.

This is such an inclusive and informative guide to hysterectomies and the politics of the procedure - very insightful and an enlightening read.

I'm so glad this book exists. I've been there and done that and now I get to read about it! Thank you to Becker for creating this gem of a resource. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.