As March marks both Women’s History and Endometriosis Awareness Month, the township library honored both with a recent public screening of the 2023 documentary, “Below the Belt: The Last Health Taboo.”
Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue behaves similar to the lining of the uterus, thickening and shedding with each menstrual cycle. The condition often causes severe abdominal pain – especially during periods and infertility – as well as fatigue, bloating, nausea and other possible symptoms.
The documentary follows four women from different backgrounds and regions who all suffer from endometriosis. They include Kyung Jeon-Miranda, an artist trying to conceive a child; Emily Hatch Manwaring, the teenage granddaughter of late U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah; Jenneh Rishe, a nurse trying to overcome the pain caused by the condition; and Laura Cone, a Canadian woman who had to leave her job caring for autistic children because of severe pain.
Tierney Miller is the head of reference at the library.
“I didn’t go into it with a lot of personal knowledge of endometriosis,” Miller said, “but as far as I can tell, and it seemed borne out by the folks in the audience who had more personal experience than I did, it gave a pretty strong, broad picture of what different people’s experience of the disease can be … Different ages – all the way from a teenager to middle age – some of the challenges that exist in the medical community, in the government.
“I thought it did an excellent job of giving as full a picture as possible in less than an hour.”
The film focuses on the difficulties that come with endometriosis, including lack of adequate treatments; the cost of treatments as a barrier to access; struggles getting pregnant; losing or having to leave a job; and having to take an average of 14 different drugs, all with potentially serious side effects, to manage symptoms and pain.
At the conclusion of “Below the Belt: The Last Health Taboo,” viewers at the library screening used the points discussed in the movie as a jumping off point for further discussion.
Stephanie Foran is a Cherry Hill resident who has personal experience with endometriosis, having suffered from it for years. She was able to find a specialist in the area who performed surgery that helped relieve her pain.
“I thought it was very well done,” she remarked of the film. “I thought it gave a very accurate experience of what women with endometriosis go through. It depicted it well, and I liked how it showed the realism of the losses and the hope in the end.”
Attendees of the screening also discussed why it is so difficult for people to be diagnosed with endometriosis, a conclusion that takes an average of four to 11 years after the onset of symptoms.
Many of the women in the documentary and at the screening discussed often not feeling believed about their pain, with Rishe telling the filmmakers that she will often let her boyfriend speak for her, feeling her symptoms are taken more seriously when he does the talking.
Michelle Brown is a licensed massage therapist and midwife who practices holistic care for patients seeking alternatives to traditional medicine for pain management.
“I think it’s great, the things that are being offered for Women’s History Month …” she noted. “I think that’s an interesting timing to have it coming out now. I have a lot of friends and family in the sciences, and the funding that was a kind of an emphasis of what the film was discussing has been severely, really severely cut right now …
“The film itself, I think it was great,” Brown added. “And I just wish there was also some more awareness that there are more things to do besides only pharmaceuticals and surgeries.”
The only way to see the film is at a screening or by purchasing the screening rights directly. Foran first suggested the library present the documentary when it was released, though fees at the time were too steep.
“It’s such an important topic, and one of our focuses here at the library is education on physical and mental health,” Miller observed. “So this fit right in line with our mission. I was thrilled to be able to do it after all.”
