''Women and Madness'' is a 1972 book by

Phyllis Chesler Phyllis Chesler (born October 1, 1940) is an American writer, psychotherapist, and professor emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island (CUNY). She is a renowned second-wave feminist psychologist and the author of ...

. In the book, Chesler argues that women are negatively impacted by

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

due to the dominance of men in those fields. The work explores the effects on women in same-sex relationships and psychiatry/psychology in the

third world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

. Claudia Pitts of

National Louis University National Louis University (NLU) is a private university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. NLU enrolls undergraduate and graduate students in more than 60 programs across its four colleges. It has locations throughout the Chicago metropol ...

wrote that the book was "one of the earliest works of the

second wave feminist movement Second-wave feminism was a period of Feminism, feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist ...

to address issues such as the mistreatment of women, particularly in rape and incest; female role models; and spirituality in mental health services." Miriam Greenspan of the ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

'' described it as "a cultural watershed exposing how male-dominated psychiatry damages women."

Background

Phyllis Chesler is a feminist psychotherapist. As part of the writing process, Chesler conducted interviews.

In the book Chesler includes an analysis of famous women who had negative endings to their lives and mythological stories from Western tradition involving female characters with negative endings, as well as quotations from psychotherapists and male authors and quotes from female authors, some of whom were feminists. She also included statistics from hospitals.

Reception

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

stated that the book "has been reprinted many times in the United States and internationally."

Reviews

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "th ...

, in an article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', concluded that ''Women and Madness'' "is a pioneer contribution to the feminization of psychiatric thinking and practice." Rich stated that the book at times makes an assumption that the reader is already familiar with the relevant fields. Roland Jaccard of ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' wrote that "like any important book, ''Women and Madness'' has the immense merit of 'troubling the world's sleep.'"Jaccard, Roland.
Les femmes et la folie
''Le Monde''. June 13, 1975. Accessed 2016-06-16. The quote in French reads: "Réquisitoire violent et tendre, juste et injuste à la fois, ''Les femmes et la folie'', comme tout livre important, a l'immense mérite de 'troubler le sommeil du monde'." Salvatore R. Maddi wrote in '' The Saturday Review'' that it is "an extremely important book, a signal that the women's liberation movement is coming of age."

References

External links

*
Women and Madness
' - Phyllis Chesler official website 1972 books Books by Phyllis Chesler Feminist books

Background

Contents

Reception

Reviews

References

Further reading

External links