Review: Cramped
Did you know that women are more likely to die in car accidents than men? I remember reading this article from The Guardian years ago that laid out this idea. If you pop over to the National Institute of Health and this 2024 study you will find it is still true. Women are more likely to die in car accidents than men.
Why, you may ask? The answer is frustratingly simple. The crash test dummies used to measure safety reflect the average American man. It may not seem like a big deal, but the truth is tall people and short people are also more likely to die in car accidents regardless of their gender. Yet, we still use the average American man crash test dummies.
As we know, most things are based on male perspectives and averages, even in female-centered spaces. It’s seen in these crash test dummies, in PPE equipment, and beyond. These are examples that we can analyze and count in very obvious ways. We can’t really count how many young girls are subjected to changing their clothes because it’s too distracting to men, or how women change their habits around men versus other women. We can only quantify what we can count. Unfortunately, this also impacts our medical care.
The female body has been shrouded in a degree of scientific shadow. Is it because it’s not proper to talk about our bodies? Is it uncomfortable for the male dominated fields to study how our bodies work? That’s not the point, but it is the baseline question. Get yourselves ready, “Because we never really studied the female body” isn’t just a catchy tune by Farideh - it’s the theme song to this podcast.
This is a Cramped a podcast first at first about period pain, and what to do about it. From the small to the disruptive, everyone with a uterus probably has some. This show has reminded me of so much I wish I didn’t have to remember. When I was in high school, I had a lot of issues to the point where I was missing school when I had my period. My grandfather could look at me and tell if it was “that time of the month”. Luckily, I was able to get these things under control and live a manageable life with my uterus. Which is a pretty low bar, don’t we think? Manageable.
Host Kate Downey takes us on a personal journey of discovery. This is a path that aims to discover why she gets “death cramps” - cramps so bad that she tends to throw up and pass out. This road of discovery starts with why this shockingly common pain has been so ignored. What I love is that it is not just for the sake of openly talking about these terrible instances of menstruation. It is also an introduction to what is being researched about uteruses and cramps in general.
Across these 40-minute or so episodes, I felt both validated and extremely frustrated with the realities I knew, but didn’t want to acknowledge. Downey lays out truth through dark humor, self-awareness, curiosity, and determination. The production style is clean and bright, with charm woven in seamlessly. Listening doesn’t feel like it takes 40 minutes.
Through this podcast I have learned more about what is happening in my body than I have in nearly 30 years of lived experience. “Because having a microphone gets you more answers than having a uterus” is true. Downey takes what she finds, runs with it, and is a champion for comprehension and empathy.
Cramped is interviewing to doctors and researchers, which can be daunting. Downey easily breaks down the information into simple bits- without being condescending. The show also talks to people who experience these pains, carefully popping between lived and researched perspectives. There is an empathy here that many podcasts can learn from. We find the layers of women’s bodies and healthcare. The way this podcast navigates them is personal and easy.
Especially when considering episode 5 “How Do I Balance My Hormones?”. I am often skeptical of anyone online who tells me to stop taking hormones and to “balance them” instead. I am worried that this idea of “balancing hormones” is a ploy to get women to stop using medication that helps them. The fact is, as much as we have safety in medication, we also have a system that doesn’t or can’t find the answers because studies have only recently been taken seriously. In a world where women’s rights are being scratched away, I think it is normal to be concerned in both directions. However, Downey brings humbling understanding and empathy. The reality is, if I had the amount of pain that some of these women experience, I would also be looking for anything to help - even the anecdotal solutions.
What I want people to take from this podcast is this: Don’t just have conversations with your medical professionals, but also have them with your friends and family. This includes partners and children, and the men in our lives. Part of the reason I was able to be taken care of as a young person was because my family talked about their normal versus what I was experiencing. My friends knew what I was struggling with, and from that experience we built a network of trust that followed us into adulthood. I am very thankful that we can now talk about our changing normals. This isn’t just to catch things, but it’s also because talking about it helps us process the pains and struggles. This “talking about it helps” isn’t just about periods and period pain, by the way. It’s about anxieties and grief, and everything in between.
We all should probably talk more about something half the population experiences at least once a month for decades of our lives. Listening to a podcast like Cramped is a great introduction, and way to open doors to conversation and understanding.
Listen to Cramped below.
Do you like my review? Check out some others like The Retrievals or Hysterial. Subscribe to my free newsletter for monthly updates. If you want to support these reviews via dollars, you can tip me here or on my ko-fi.
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