Push to change ‘misogynistic’ name of one of the world’s most common surgeries

[Sly Saint]

Have you had a tonsillectomy (your tonsils taken out), appendectomy (your appendix removed) or lumpectomy (removal of a lump from your breast)? The suffix “ectomy” denotes surgical removal of the named body part, so these terms give us a clear idea of what the procedure entails.
So why is the removal of the uterus called a hysterectomy and not a uterectomy?

The name hysterectomy is rooted in a mental health condition – “hysteria” – that was once believed to affect women. But we now know this condition doesn’t exist.

Continuing to call this significant operation a hysterectomy both perpetuates misogyny and hampers people’s understanding of what it is.

From the defunct condition ‘hysteria’​

Hysteria was a psychiatric condition first formally defined in the 5th century BCE. It had many symptoms, including excessive emotion, irritability, anxiety, breathlessness and fainting.

But hysteria was only diagnosed in women. Male physicians at the time claimed these symptoms were caused by a “wandering womb”. They believed the womb (uterus) moved around the body looking for sperm and disrupted other organs.
Because the uterus was blamed for hysteria, the treatment was to remove it. This procedure was called a hysterectomy. Sadly, many women had their healthy uterus unnecessarily removed and most died.

The word “hysteria” originally came from the ancient Greek word for uterus, “hystera”. But the modern Greek word for uterus is “mitra”, which is where words such as “endometrium” come from.

Hysteria was only removed as an official medical diagnosis in 1980. It was finally recognised that it does not exist and is sexist.

“Hysterectomy” should also be removed from medical terminology because it continues to link the uterus to hysteria.

MSN

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

Cos' it isn't breastectomy, it's mastectomy, like pneumonectomy, colectomy, nephrectomy, vasectomy, hypophysectomy, partial hepatectomy, oophorectomy.

 

[Utsikt]

The word “hysteria” originally came from the ancient Greek word for uterus, “hystera”. But the modern Greek word for uterus is “mitra”, which is where words such as “endometrium” come from.

Would «mitrectomy» be an appropriate name?

 

[richie]

Llawdriniaeth i dynnu'r groth is the best for Aneurin's NHS

 

[Sasha]

I don't think the argument makes any sense. 'Hysterectomy' isn't 'rooted in' 'hysteria' - both words come independently from the ancient Greek word for 'womb'.

 

[Utsikt]

I don't think the argument makes any sense. 'Hysterectomy' isn't 'rooted in' 'hysteria' - both words come independently from the ancient Greek word for 'womb'.

«Hysterectomy» first came into use in the late 19th century (etymonline). «Uterus» was already in use in the 14th century (etymonline).

If they wanted a neutral word for the procedure, they would have gone for «Uterectomy». The doctors in the late 19th century would have been well aware of the connection to «hysteria».

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

The doctors in the late 19th century would have been well aware of the connection to «hysteria».

In the way that a baker would be well aware of the connection between a Dundee cake and 'it's a piece of cake'. Language serves all sorts of purposes and etymology is never a good basis for arguing what the significance of words is. As in 'bucket list'.

 

[Sasha]

«Hysterectomy» first came into use in the late 19th century (etymonline). «Uterus» was already in use in the 14th century (etymonline).

If they wanted a neutral word for the procedure, they would have gone for «Uterectomy». The doctors in the late 19th century would have been well aware of the connection to «hysteria».

They'd have been well aware that the connection was the word for 'womb'. And they were looking to creating a word to mean 'removal of the womb'. I don't see anything pejorative about it. What is the negative implication supposed to be? That women have wombs?

 

[Utsikt]

In the way that a baker would be well aware of the connection between a Dundee cake and 'it's a piece of cake'. Language serves all sorts of purposes and etymology is never a good basis for arguing what the significance of words is. As in 'bucket list'.

I’ve looked a bit further. According to this publication, there were no words containing «hyst-» used to describe the reproductive organs in medical literature in England up until and including the 18th century. The womb was called «womb», «matrix» or «mother». «Uterus» is also mentioned, but I don’t understand their categorisation there.

The first abdominal hysterectomy was performed in Manchester in 1843, but the Germans popularised the vaginal hysterectomy for cervical cancer in the 1870s. (That’s ignoring multiple accounts of partial of full hysterectomies by e.g. midwives centuries earlier).

The Germans referred to cervical cancer as Gebärmutterkrebs, translating literally to birth-mother-cancer. Gebärmutter means uterus/womb.

Somewhere along the lines, someone decided to use «hysterectomy» instead of «uterectomy».

It might simply be because «-ectomy» is Greek so they went with the Greek root, but it’s not too uncommon to combine Latin and Greek (tonsillectomy, postsynaptic, psychosocial, neonate, neurotransmitter, liposuction, hyperextension, dysfunction, chloroform, and claustrophobia are examples of medical hybrid words).

Seeing as «hyster» was pretty much only used in the context of «hysteria» or related conditions at the time, it could be argued that it was at least poor taste to use the root that was so loaded.

PS. I did find a reference to «balsamum hystericum» in an old English text about midwifery that exclusively used mother, womb or uterus(-ish). A Norwegian encyclopedia links it to this concept (from Wikipedia)

Globus pharyngeus (also termed globus sensation) is the persistent but painless sensation of having a pill, food bolus, or some other sort of obstruction in the throat when there is none. [added: also named globus hystericus, which combines Latin and Greek.]

They'd have been well aware that the connection was the word for 'womb'. And they were looking to creating a word to mean 'removal of the womb'. I don't see anything pejorative about it. What is the negative implication supposed to be? That women have wombs?

So to answer this: «hyster» (or derived terms) wasn’t used to describe the womb at the point in time in question. They used uterus or womb (or mother-related words in German). I think it can be argued that if they wanted something that made sense with the terminology at the time, they could have gone for «uterectomy».

 

[Kitty]

So there are wars breaking out and people going hungry and we're in the middle of a slow moving environmental catastrophe, and people are worried about this?

Except of course they're not, because it's just absurd clickbait.

 

[Sasha]

«Hysterectomy» first came into use in the late 19th century

I'm still finding it impossible to be offended by the choice of some doctor 150 years ago to chose the Greek rather than the Latin word for 'womb' to describe the removal of a womb.

In the present time, if any woman was to be told by a doctor that she needed a hysterectomy, would she genuinely think that the doctor meant to insult her in some way? These days, I think that everyone just thinks of a hysterectomy as the removal of the womb. Just look at the amount of digging that you've had to do to try to convince us that something nefarious might have been going on a century and a half ago. No one knows this stuff.

Truly awful things are happening to women in our society. I don't think we need to look for arcane insults that no one means to deliver. We can just look at the horrific online abuse that women in public life get, for starters. No ambiguity there.

 

[richie]

They based hysteria on hyster and that is the pejorative idea. I do not think the use of hyster in the context of wonb removal is pejorative per se. The term hysteria is or was. So are numerous words in origin.

 

[Sean]

Hysteria was only removed as an official medical diagnosis in 1980. It was finally recognised that it does not exist and is sexist.

Nah. After a brief pause for the sake of appearance they just relabeled it as Functional Neurological Disorder.

The concept never went away.

 

[Peter T]

For me what is more important is not the historic development of the word, but how people currently feel about it. If women feel uncomfortable with or devalued by the word ‘hysterectomy’ and its potential association with the word ‘hysteria’ then that is good grounds in itself for changing the term for this procedure.

The procedure itself is no small thing and it has so many potential ramifications both physiologically and in terms of a sense of who you are, such that anything, including the naming of the procedure, that can be done to make the woman subject to it more comfortable is a good thing.

There are many historic prejudices and inequalities that have been fossilised in contemporary language. In the 1970s and 1980s I remember sexism encoded in language was an important issue within feminism and words such as ‘female’ and ‘woman’ among many others were challenged. Perhaps it is easy for me as a man to say this, but is changing words just for the sake of it particularly useful, rather we should be asking what words now make women feel uncomfortable or devalued and change them, otherwise we could endlessly be interrogating the historic negative associations of language: the word Gael used by the Scottish Gaelic to describe themselves means foreigner; and if I remember correctly the origin of the words Wales and Welsh are linked to an old word for slave; also the modern English word slave comes from Slav or Slavic the Eastern European ethnic grouping which could be seen as insulting to them; etc.

Also changing words does not guarantee the prejudices behind them go away. You see this with words designating learning disability, where terms such as Down’s Syndrome or Special Needs were introduced to escape the pejorative implications of previous terminology become in turn used as insults themselves. Or as @Sean points out, the negative connotations inherent in the word hysteria have for some been disguised in the modern terms conversion disorder and even the superficially neutral term FND.

 

[Snow Leopard]

«Hysterectomy» first came into use in the late 19th century (etymonline). «Uterus» was already in use in the 14th century (etymonline).

If they wanted a neutral word for the procedure, they would have gone for «Uterectomy». The doctors in the late 19th century would have been well aware of the connection to «hysteria».

Agreed. I don't see why there is push-back against changing the name.