For centuries, women’s emotions were blamed on their bodies—specifically, their uteruses. In this episode of The Modern MILF Podcast, we unpack the disturbing and fascinating history behind the term “hysteria” and its connection to hysterectomy surgery.

From ancient Greek medical theories of a “wandering womb” to 19th- and early 20th-century practices that medicalized women’s emotional distress, this episode explores how female behavior, pain, and mental health were historically misunderstood—and in some cases, surgically “treated.”

Using historical medical documentation and published research by medical professionals, we examine how hysteria became a catch-all diagnosis for women, how hysterectomy was once promoted as a cure for emotional and psychological symptoms, and how modern medicine has since reckoned with these deeply biased foundations.

This episode is a reminder of how language, power, and medicine intersect—and why understanding this history still matters for women’s healthcare, autonomy, and advocacy today.

🎧 If you’ve ever been told you’re “too emotional,” this one’s for you.

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Credits: Writing, recording, and editing by me, Bethany

Theme music by MobyGratis

1. The Secret Malady: Women, Men, and Hysteria in Victorian England — Joan Busfield, Routledge, 1996.
2. Hysteria: The Disturbing History — Andrew Scull, Oxford University Press, 2011.
3. “Hysteria and its Histories” — Ed. Claire Hooker, Elizabeth A. Wilson, History of the Human Sciences, 1998.
4. Gynecology and Hysterectomy: A Historical Review — Journal of Medical Biography, 2013.
5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) changes around conversion and somatic symptoms — American Psychiatric Association.
6. From Witchcraft to Hysterectomy: The Medicalization of Women’s Bodies — Women & Health Journal, 2018.