Women's Madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness?

by Jane M. Ussher

Why do an overwhelmingly larger proportion of women than men suffer from depression and emotional distress? Is it because, as feminists would argue, that women are reacting to a misogynistic world? Or is their madness mental illness, as the "experts" would claim?

In this book, Jane Ussher examines these opposing viewpoints and proposes both a new understanding of women's mental distress and constructive alternatives to present treatments. Using an historical perspective, she analyzes the evidence for misogyny in different cultures and its effects on women. In a detailed examination of witchcraft -- and the contradictory arguments that witchcraft was either evidence of misogyny or mental illness -- Ussher sets the background for her investigation of women's madness from the Victorian era to the 20th century.

She moves on to assess various critiques of the concept of madness, including those from sociologists, Marxists, the 1960s' anti-psychiatrists and feminists, and exposes their ultimate failure to explain or understand women's experience of what is called "madness". She surveys how and why women become "mad", or are labelled "mad" and conducts a critical analysis of the present forms of intervention from psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists. Finally, she suggests constructive alternatives which reconcile the needs of individual women with the needs of women as a group.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Mental Health, Psychology, Research, Psychiatry, Womens

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jane M. Ussher is Professor of Women's Health Psychology, and leader of the Gender Culture and Health Research Unit: PsyHealth, at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. She has published widely on the construction and lived experience of health, in particular women's mental health, the reproductive body and sexuality. She is editor of the Routledge Women and Psychology book series and is author of a number of books, including The Psychology of the Female Body, Women's Madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness?, Fantasies of Femininity: Reframing the Boundaries of Sex, Managing the Monstrous Feminine: Regulating the Reproductive Body, and The Madness of Women: Myths and Experience . She has also edited a number of books: Gender Issues in Clinical Psychology; The Psychology of Women's Health and Health Care (with Paula Nicolson); Psychological Perspectives on Sexual Problems ; Bodytalk

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ussher’s book began as a feminist rant that infuriated me. I came as close as I ever have to throwing the book across the room in disgust. However, in the end, I was thoroughly convinced of Ussher’s main argument: that women’s mental health issues are most definitely related to our relegation as “the second sex,” that patriarchal society makes us ill, and that solutions are elusive. Perhaps most surprisingly, the author takes the radical feminists to task:

“This theorizing…establishes a cosy elite which can be entered only by the chosen few. Yet the few women who manage to survive the perils of patriarchy to reach the feminist utopia are likely to share many of the characteristics of the castigated male oppressors. These women are invariably white, able-bodied, middle-class, without dependants, well educated and articulate. The majority of women who fight for survival on a daily basis, whose worries centre around feeding their families, arranging childcare, and maintaining some semblance of sanity in the face of adversity, will be completely alienated by this brand of feminist rhetoric. Who can take a psychic journey when the reality of unpaid bills, screaming children and an unsupportive partner are glaring her in the eye? Such women may, from the radical feminist view, be duped by patriarchy; but can they enter a state of higher spirituality when the demands of reality are so overwhelming?” [p. 225]

Ussher concludes that women’s madness is about mental illness and misogynism. It is both, she says, and it is neither:

“It cannot be encapsulated within one explanation, one interpretation. As women, we are regulated through the discourse of madness. But the woman herself is real, as is her pain – we must not deny that. So we must listen to women.” [p. 306]

The answers, Ussher argues, lie in interdisciplinary approaches that crosscut the boundaries between medical theory, literary theory, sociology, psychology, psychoanalysis, and anthropology. Similarly, treatment for mental illness must also be multidimensional in nature.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

'labelling us mad silences our voices. we can be ignored. the rantings of a mad woman are irrelevant. her anger is impotent'

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Technically only read about half of this, but I will be quoting it in my diss so I feel like that counts?

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult to fairly review this book, written in the early nineties, when sat in 2021. There's clearly gaping spaces of information missing here, particularly in the area of trauma which there is barely a mention of but 30 years is a long time especially in medical fields when knowledge and advancements move so quickly. Unfortunately too much of this book is still relevant and ongoing. Our knowledge base has advanced but our society hasn't. Yet. I remain ever hopeful even if I know this won't happen in my life time.

I was impressed at the non bias stance of the author, critiquing the critics as well as her own judgements and ideas which is often missing with many academics.

An overall interesting book on the subject matter with a good covering of historical knowledge but further reading needed if you want an understanding of modern influences and breakthroughs.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an academic work. Tends toward repetition and relies heavily on a few theorists for much of its underpinnings. I didn't like the use of multiple quotations to start every section without glosses. The writer often references her mother but says little about her or how a new psychotherapy might have affected her. To some extent, the work has been caught by time, but in others it remains a valuable critique of seeking the one true answer.

[izad]

REF: La imaginación feminista: Debates y transformaciones disciplinares en el capítulo de Dau García Dauder

[Grace Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing this book, I feel the same way I felt at the end of reading Eli Clare’s Brilliant Imperfection: my eyes have been opened to an essential new perspective. Can’t wait to be a therapist fr

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read this to find a single supporting statement for an essay years ago, and it's become another constant companion. I don't normally classify myself as a feminist because my personal belief is that male/female is not nearly as big an issue as have/have not, but this book is incredibly intelligent, well thought out, convincing, all that good stuff.

[Alannah Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book. I really thought Ussher's argument was really interesting to read as she had her own experiences with her mother. I really found the chapter on women and witchcraft so interesting as I was always interested in witchcraft while studying history. I am so glad my 'madness' in literature tutor recommended this book to me. I think it will prove very useful to me this year.

[Sherah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a little dated now, although it sets out both sides of the argument between a reductionist and cultural reading of women and madness. I didn't like the essentialist implications in the discussions of French feminist theory.

[marie-anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

such an excellent book. ussher examines the role of misogyny and affect within psychiatry and offers thought provoking takes on madness and anti-psychiatry movements. it’s a bit out-dated now as more recent research exists on feminist perspectives of psychiatry, but worth the read for sure.

[Lisa]

Women's madness : misogyny or mental illness? by Jane M. Ussher (1992)