This paper analyses the experiences of women with endometriosis and uterine fibroids in terms of the role of language and metaphor in medicine. Engaging in a critical dialogue with Susan Sontag, the author argues that in gynaecological conditions, the primary source of oppression is not an excess of meaning, but the “violence of transparency” and the absence of metaphor. She posits that trivializing these diseases leads to the erosion of sexual capital and an identity crisis among women patients. Using netnography to analyse narratives from Facebook support groups, the study demonstrates that biology stripped of cultural recognition condemns women to diagnostic delays and medical gaslighting. The findings indicate that virtual communities function as “language laboratories”, restoring to pain the status of a social event. The paper postulates the search for and use of “supportive metaphors” as a tool for rebuilding women’s agency and integrity.
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