Kimberle Crenshaw, a civil rights advocate and academic, in a video elaborates upon a case that led her to develop the concept of intersectionality. Reading a legal opinion, she found the case of a black woman named Emma DeGraffenreid, who couldn’t get a job in a factory and filed a discrimination case against the employers. The interesting thing was that the employer in question hired both women and black people. Naturally, DeGraffenreid’s case was dismissed.Looking closely, Crenshaw notes how the employer hired black men for manual labour and white women for receptionist roles. DeGraffenreid could have got the first job if she was a man and the latter if she was white. It was a case of double discrimination that the court failed to see.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Curiously, Crenshaw recognises it not as a law or a policy problem but as a naming problem. She explains that the judge at that time could not see the discrimination DeGraffenreid was facing because there was no name to make it visible.This led her to frame the idea of intersectionality, which gives us a framework to understand how several socio-political identities intersect to create a unique experience of discrimination or even privilege. If naming something can influence people’s perception of a thing or a phenomenon, then naming it correctly can change how people view, engage and treat something.This has been the rationale behind changing the name of the condition hitherto known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). This change was the outcome of years of collaboration between professional organisations and patients with lived experience. It was announced in May at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.PMOS is a hormonal condition that affects adolescent girls and women in their reproductive years, with its metabolic disruptions lingering way beyond their reproductive years. It is characterised by irregular periods, a high level of androgens and small cysts in ovaries.It has long been understood as a gynaecological concern whose treatment centred around making and keeping a woman fertile. This is even as it has metabolic disturbances that are far more generalised, such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, possible infertility, eating disorders and even anxiety. The name change is an effort to capture these broad clinical features instead of viewing it as a pathology of the ovaries. PCOS is a misnomer as ovarian cysts are absent in many women who have this condition.Women are no strangers to their lived experiences escaping existing frameworks and terminologies. Their genuine health concerns have historically been dismissed as hysteria. Post-partum depression remains medically and socially unacknowledged, and the severity of sexual harassment has long been hidden behind the euphemism of “eve-teasing”.Also read: PCOS is Now PMOS. What to Know About the Name Change and What it Means for CareMedical anthropologist Emily Martin in her classic analysis of medical texts has described how medical science has described female biological processes using metaphors and imagery from fairy tales. This has led to the egg being described akin to a passive and helpless princess, while the sperm becomes a warrior. The latter braves the darkness of the female reproductive tract to reach the egg and awakens it for reproduction. The description has a remarkable parallel with the tale of the sleeping beauty who is brought back to life by the prince’s kiss.Against this backdrop, removing the word ‘polycystic’ and inserting terms such as ‘endocrine’ and ‘metabolic’ should be seen as an acknowledgement of the body-wide and lifelong metabolic disruptions that PMOS can cause.PMOS remains undiagnosed in most women due to their treatment-seeking behaviour that only motivates them to seek medical help when they are planning to have children. However, medical practices also misdiagnose it or focus the treatment and medical advice around fertility.While there is no denying that PMOS is a leading cause of infertility and may drastically alter how pregnancy and motherhood are experienced medically and socially, the correct nomenclature may lead to the disentangling of women’s health from their reproductive health and to more comprehensive healthcare for them.India already has PMOS cases higher than the global average. While one in eight women are affected globally, studies suggest that in India one in five suffer from PMOS. Some statistics are even more staggering: for instance a study has shown that the prevalence of PMOS in a conflict-ridden state such as Kashmir can be even higher than the national average.India’s rapid and mostly unplanned urbanisation has made this crisis even more intense. With sedentary lifestyles, unwalkable cities and the ready availability of processed food in cities, PMOS is emerging as a major urban health concern. While stigma, late diagnosis, misinformation and unequipped medical practitioners continue to be a problem, it is good to finally have a name that can encompass the condition’s far-reaching impact.Also read: Eggs Off the Plate? The Science Behind the Mid-day Meal DebateIt is yet to be seen if the name change will lead to any changes on the ground in a country like India, which sees more PMOS cases than the global average – in other words whether there will be a change in treatment-seeking behavior, awareness as well as clinical perceptions and practices.But Crenshaw’s idea of intersectionality indicates that changes in naming and framing are usually the first step towards changes in practice and policy-framing. Having a name that recognises the wide-ranging effect that PMOS can have on a woman’s body and her life cycle may lead to comprehensive care – care that addresses insulin resistance, mineral deficiencies and several other health problems alongside infertility.Because just as motherhood is not womanhood, women’s health cannot be reduced to their reproductive health. Now the medical nomenclature acknowledges it.Shweta Rani teaches anthropology and public health at Azim Premji University. Views are personal.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click.