Show Me Where it Hurts

Personal essay meets pop-culture critique in this unflinchingly honest collection about chronic illness and misogyny in medicine, by Adelaide writer Kylie Maslen.

My body dictates who I am. I work the way I do because of my body, I vote the way I do because of my body and I live the way I do because of my body. It is not my body that is at fault, but society's failure to deal with bodies like mine. I might be in pain, but I am whole. I refuse to have the difficult parts cropped out.

Kylie Maslen has been living with invisible illness for twenty years—more than half her life. Its impact is felt in every aspect of her day-to-day existence—from work to dating; from her fears for what the future holds to her difficulty getting out of bed some mornings.

Through pop music, art, literature, TV, film and online culture, Maslen explores the lived experience of invisible illness with sensitivity and wit, drawing back the veil on a reality many struggle—or refuse—to recognise. Show Me Where it Hurts is a powerful collection of essays that speak to those who have encountered the brush-off from doctors, faced endless tests and treatments, and endured chronic pain and suffering. But it is also a bridge reaching out to partners, families, friends, colleagues, doctors—all those who want to understand what life looks like when you cannot simply show others where it hurts.