In this study the author asserts that the most basic biological and medical terms we use to describe our own bodies - male and female, healthy or sick - are indeed cultural constructions. To illustrate this, Barbara Duden delves into the records of an 18th-century German physician who documented the medical histories of 1800 women of all ages and backgrounds, often in their own words. This record of complaints, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments reveals an alien understanding of the female body and its functions.