If Venus Williams Can’t Get Answers, What Does That Mean for the Rest of Us?
Dismissal isn't the exception, it's the norm in women's healthcare.
“It’s just a part of aging.”
That’s what Venus Williams was told when she started throwing up from menstrual pain, missing matches, and barely making it through the day.
She was 37 and still one of the top athletes in the world. She knew her body better than anyone, and she knew something wasn’t right. But instead of answers, she was dismissed.
She just shared her story publicly for the first time. And while it’s infuriating, it’s not surprising.
Eventually, Venus was diagnosed with fibroids. But it didn’t happen right away.
It took years of being brushed off and told to wait it out. Years of being in pain while trying to push through in silence.
That’s not just frustrating, it’s dangerous. And it’s happening to women everywhere.
If a woman like Venus Williams, with every resource at her fingertips, can be ignored, what does that mean for the rest of us? What happens to the woman who can’t afford multiple appointments or doesn’t have the energy to fight for a second opinion? What happens to the woman who is told the same thing over and over again and eventually starts to believe it?
And what does it say that Venus is also a Black woman, part of a community that faces even higher rates of medical dismissal, underdiagnosis, and complications from conditions like fibroids?
This is what medical gaslighting looks like.
It sounds polite or like concern. But at its core, it’s a refusal to listen. It’s a failure to treat women’s pain as real. And it’s one of the reasons so many of us spend years confused, suffering, and blaming ourselves.
I know this because I’ve been there. I spent years trying to understand what was happening to my body, only to be told that I was stressed, that it was normal, that I should come back if it got worse.
It took six doctors before someone even mentioned menopause. By then, I was already spiraling, physically and emotionally.
Stories like Venus’s make headlines because of who she is. But this isn’t about celebrity. It’s about how easy it is for a woman to be overlooked, even when the symptoms are loud and clear. Even when she’s advocating for herself and she’s doing “everything right.”
We’re told to accept pain as part of womanhood.
We’re told to be strong, to be patient, to carry on. And when we do, we’re praised for our resilience, not questioned about why we needed it in the first place.
We need to stop calling this normal. We need to stop treating aging as a catch-all explanation. And we need to stop pretending these stories are rare. They’re not.
Venus speaking out isn’t just brave, it’s necessary. Because every time a woman tells the truth about what she’s gone through, it gives the rest of us permission to stop whispering and start demanding better.
No woman should have to convince someone she’s in pain. And no woman should have to wait years for her health to be taken seriously.
We all deserve better than that. And it starts by refusing to be quiet about it.
This can be such an incredible time in life.
I want you to know that and having a community around it makes all the difference. That is why I am so glad you are here. If you want to learn more:
Listen to my podcast: The Tamsen Show
Get a copy of: How To Menopause
Lots of free tools resources: TamsenFadal.com
xo Tamsen