The Rise of Hysteria: A Feminine Phenomenon

"I hope she'll be a fool. That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Daisy Buchanan utters this straightforward hope for her daughter at the very start of the fated Great Gatsby. As a caricature of a woman, Daisy's desires were cast in a greedy and materialistic light, painting a replica of how author Scott Fitzgerald saw his wife, Zelda. He went to great lengths to describe Daisy's voice, while simultaneously silencing Zelda's. Through layers of misogyny and stigma, nobody knows how much of her husband's writing the eclectic woman was responsible for, but we know her tremendous talent was ignored for so long due to her reputation of insanity and infidelity.

The twenty-first century has brought along a glamorous renaissance for feminine insanity. A woman can find herself in almost every genre of media: film, pop culture, music, and books. The modern literary scene is a haven for deeply, irrevocably flawed women. Irish author, Sally Rooney, centers her work on mentally, physically, and emotionally ill women. The narrator of her 2017 novel Conversations with Friends, Frances is fully aware of how her past traumas and mental health struggles guide her life, and continuously makes self-destructive choices. Frances roots a significant part of her self-worth back in ‘traditional’ womanhood, despite not living the ‘traditional’ life of a woman, and upon her diagnosis with endometriosis, she is forced to shift her worldview and hopes for the future.

Ottessa Moshfegh’s books are some of the most extreme examples I’ve read. Moshfegh’s most reputable book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, spotlights a traumatized, irritable woman who, using an inheritance from her deceased parents, buys powerful medications that let her sleep for the remainder of that year. The nameless character ruins her life, relationships, and career without any regrets, which for women who’ve been taught not to take up space or make mistakes, reading from her perspective is almost cathartic. Making your way through the book, you slowly notice that her role in society barely changes: a woman is a woman. That theme shines through almost every example I could find of this mini-genre.

These ideas have been around at least as long as misogyny has— but social media seems to be what brought them to light. There’s something about admitting the control that womanhood can have over your life that instills itself in everyday life: our humor, inner thoughts, and relationships.