Maya Dusenbery is an American journalist and author. She is the executive editor for editorial at feminist blog

Feministing Feministing.com was a feminist blog founded in 2004 by sisters Jessica and Vanessa Valenti. It had 1.2 million unique monthly visitors at its peak. The blog helped to popularize the term '' slut-shaming'' according to its directors Lori Adelman ...

and the author of the book ''Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick''.

Career

Dusenbery has said that she became motivated to become involved with feminist movements as a teenager when she read about abstinence-only education: "I clearly remember in high school reading about the Bush administration restricting funding for HIV prevention to groups that were abstinence-only and I remember thinking that was the most absurd thing I ever heard, almost criminally ridiculous." Dusenbery began her career working as a communications assistant at NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the

National Institute for Reproductive Health National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. Since 2009, she has reported on issues of reproductive health, including abortion stigma, rape culture, and masculinity, for Bitch Media,

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

, Cosmopolitan, the Huffington Post, and Mother Jones (where she was a fellow in 2012) and

Pacific Standard ''Pacific Standard'' was an American online magazine that reported on issues of social and environmental justice. Founded in 2008, the magazine was published in print and online for its first ten years until production of the print edition ceas ...

, where she is a columnist. In 2013, she became the editorial director of feminist media outlet

. Dusenbery wrote a chapter for the Feminist Press anthology ''The Feminist Utopia Project'' imagining a future without rape. In March 2018,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

published Dusenbery's book ''Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick,'' an analysis of gender bias in modern medical treatment in the United States. Dusenbery's personal experience motivated her to write the book: She was diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and ...

at the age of 27 and was surprised to learn that 50 million Americans suffer from

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly ...

s, the majority of them women.

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

gave the book a starred review, saying it "skillfully interweaves history, medical studies, current literature, and hard data to produce damning evidence that women wait longer for diagnoses, receive inadequate

pain management Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professionals p ...

, and are often told they are imagining symptoms that are taken seriously in men." The book also received a positive review from Kirkus Reviews, which described it as a "sturdy account of how sexism in medicine is hobbling women’s health care." ''Doing Harm'' was highlighted as a recommended read by

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

, Harpers Bazaar, and Bitch Media.

Personal life

Dusenbery is a native of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

and received a B.A. from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowlin ...

in 2008. She now lives in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusenbery, Maya Living people American women journalists Carleton College alumni Journalists from Minnesota Year of birth missing (living people)