Women are impaled on the cross of self-sacrifice. Adrienne RichĪdrienne Rich’s review of Women and Madness in New York Times Book Review, 1972. Women and Madness is a pioneer contribution to the feminization of psychiatric thinking and practice. Such women are also assured of a psychiatric label.” Women who reject or are ambivalent about the female role frighten both themselves and society so much so that their ostracism and self-destructiveness probably begin very early. Combining patient interviews with an analysis of women’s roles in history, society, and myth Chesler concludes that there is a terrible double standard when it comes to women’s psychology.Ī conversation with Phyllis Chesler about Women and Madness, 47 years after publication, conducted by Jody Raphael.įrom Jody Raphael’s interview with Phyllis Chesler: In a nutshell, the book’s thesis is that women who are labeled “mad” and medically treated, or even institutionalized, are either “acting out the devalued female role or the total or partial rejection of one’s own sex-role stereotype. This definitive book was the first to address critical questions about women and mental health.
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