When Endometriosis Shows Up on Screen
When Endometriosis Shows Up on Screen
I didn’t learn what endometriosis was from a doctor. I knew it from years of pain. My body was screaming, and no one seemed to hear it. From ER visits where I left with a shrug and a half-hearted “ it’s just bad cramps.” From that slow, quiet unraveling that happens when you start to wonder if you’re the problem. When endometriosis shows up in TV or movies, even in small ways, it hits in a place that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it. Representation isn’t just a nice bonus. For endo warriors, it can be the moment your nervous system exhales and goes, "Oh." It’s not just me. Because for so long, it felt like it was just me.
If you’ve ever sat in an ER parking lot debating whether you’re “sick enough” to go in, you know what I mean. That voice in your head that says: “Maybe I’m being dramatic.” “Maybe I’m weak.” “Maybe this is normal, and I just can’t handle it.” Endometriosis thrives in silence and confusion, and confusion thrives where there’s no mirror. I spent years being told versions of the same thing: “Your scans look fine.” “It’s probably anxiety.” “Some women just have painful periods.” “Have you tried birth control?” “Maybe it’s IBS.” “Maybe it’s in your head.” And the worst part? After enough of that, you start repeating it to yourself. Representation matters because it interrupts that cycle. When you see endo portrayed honestly, you don’t just feel “seen.” You feel validated. Your story stops sounding like an overreaction and starts sounding like reality. When an endo warrior sees a character on screen curled up on the bathroom floor, sweating through clothes, missing work, missing school, cancelling plans, and trying to push through pain nobody understands, something shifts for people like us because it’s not entertainment to us.
It’s recognition. It names the invisible. Endo is one of those diseases that can own your life while looking totally normal from the outside. Seeing it depicted tells the world: this is real, even if you can’t see it. It challenges the “just cramps” narrative. There’s a world of difference between a painful period and a disease that can fuse organs, wreck digestion, affect fertility, and steal years. When the media gets that right, it educates without lecturing. It gives people language sooner. I think about how many of us could’ve received help earlier if we’d had words for what was happening. Representation can plant a seed in someone watching who’s whispering to themselves, Wait… that sounds like me. It chips away at medical gaslighting. Whether we like it or not, culture shapes women's healthcare. The more endo is understood in the public eye, the less room there is for doctors to dismiss it as “normal female pain,” and when Representation Is Bad, We Feel That Too!
Let’s be real, sometimes TV and movies get it wrong. They reduce it to a punchline or a “women’s issue,” or they show a character who gets diagnosed in 20 minutes and then magically gets better. That kind of representation doesn’t just miss the mark; it can be harmful. It reinforces the idea that endo is simple, rare, or easy to fix, and none of us live that story. The real endo story is long. It’s messy. It’s grief, rage, and resilience sitting together in the same room. So when the media chooses to tell it honestly, not perfectly, just honestly…. It matters.
When I watched the shows “Transplants”, “Conversations with Friends,” and “Waterloo Road,” I felt those familiar throat-tightening moments. Not because it was sad, but because it was TRUE.
In the episodes where endometriosis was highlighted, it reminded me of the version of myself who kept trying to get someone to listen to me, the girl who minimized her symptoms because I didn’t want to burden friends or family. The woman who walked out of appointments feeling crazy and alone. If that’s you too, I want you to hear this clearly: You are not dramatic, you are not weak, you are not imagining this, and you never were. Representation is a Lifeline, not a Trend, and I think people underestimate how deep this goes. Representation isn’t just about awareness. It’s about survival. When you don’t have representation, you don’t have a roadmap. You don’t have proof. You don’t have community. You don’t know where to place your experience, so you carry it alone. When endometriosis is shown on screen, especially with care, it becomes a lifeline for the person watching in silence. It becomes a mirror for the person who’s been told over and over that nothing is wrong. And maybe, most importantly, it becomes permission. Permission to seek help. Permission to trust yourself. Permission to stop apologizing for your pain. I want every Endo Warrior reading this to think to themselves, “That’s me. I’ve been there. I am there.” I see you because I am you. You deserved to be believed the first time. You deserved more than endless ER excuses. You deserved healthcare that didn’t require you to prove you were suffering, and you deserve to see your reality reflected to you in stories, in culture, and in the world. The truth is we’re not rare, we’re not exaggerating, and we sure as fuck are not invisible. Our stories are finally starting to show up where everyone can see them.
Your Endo Buddy,
Callie
TV shows with endometriosis represented
Conversations with Friends (BBC/HULU, 2022) Episode 11,12.
EastEnders (BBC,2021) Episode 6243.
Waterloo Road (BBC, Series 15, 2004-2005)
Transplant (NBC/CTV,2020) Season 1, episode 2
The Good Doctor (ABC,2025) Season 21, episode 16.
Love is Blind UK (Netflix,2024) Season 1, episode 3.
The Bachelor (ABC) Season 28, 2024.
Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 2025) Season 21, episode 16
Films and Documentaries with Endometriosis represented
All About Nina (2018)
Joy (2024)
Below the Belt (2023)
Endo What? (2016)
The Painful Truth
A Thousand Needles
End-o
The resilience of Women in Pain
