Lupita Nyong’o is using her platform to expose how women’s pain, particularly Black women’s pain, is routinely dismissed. In a personal essay, she reveals that doctors discovered 30 fibroids in her uterus, which had been silently growing while her symptoms were minimized. She writes that she was “encouraged to just put up with it” and describes how female suffering is often treated as an acceptable, even expected, part of life.
Nyong’o links her ordeal to a broader culture of “normalization of female pain,” arguing that women are socialized to endure instead of being believed and treated. She notes that this pattern is especially harmful for Black women, who already face racial bias in health care settings and higher risks in reproductive health. Her story underscores how dangerous it can be when medical professionals downplay what women, and particularly women of African descent, report about their bodies.
She details the fear and uncertainty of undergoing surgery to remove the fibroids and the relief she felt afterward, using that experience to call for change. Nyong’o insists that “we must reject the normalization of female pain” and urges women to advocate for themselves, seek second opinions, and push back when their suffering is brushed aside. By speaking publicly, she turns a private medical crisis into a powerful critique of the racial and gender disparities that shape who is heard, who is helped, and who is left to cope alone.
See: “Lupita Nyong’o Reveals She Had 30 Fibroids Removed: ‘We Must Reject The Normalization Of Female Pain’” (July 16, 2025)
