Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the hormone progesterone, and specifically its conceptualization related to endometriosis treatment and research.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I examine the ways in which the role of progesterone is described in the treatment and biomedical research of endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory disease in which cells alike those in the uterine wall form lesions in different parts of the body. Progesterone offers an interesting focal point to study gendered conceptualizations of hormones in endometriosis. It is mostly considered the hormone that prepares and helps the womb to maintain pregnancy. In biomedical research, progesterone is frequently coupled with estrogen as an example of female “sex hormones”. Still, recent research argues that progesterone has not received adequate attention. Through examinations of clinician interviews and biomedical research publications I ask how the role of progesterone is perceived in relation to endometriosis. While endometriosis is often defined as an estrogen dependent disease, knowledge about progesterone has been central in shaping its medical treatment. Designed originally to mimic pregnancy, progestin-based hormonal treatment continues to be standard medication for endometriosis. However, there is increasing interest in the ways in which endometriosis lesions become resistant to progesterone, demanding more systemic approach to hormonal interactions in the body. In this paper, I will (1) map the ways in which the reference to progesterone in endometriosis treatment and etiology has changed in the late 20th and the 21st century and (2) consider how these changes relate to shifts in understanding of the intertwined hormonal relations, as the research moves further in considering endometriosis as a systemic disease.