I thought since we are reading a book a female patient in a mental hospital I thought I would research abotu society's attitude toward female mental patinets.

Heres a passage I found that describes society outlook on female mental patients in the Victorian Age, which I think connects to women in the 1960s

"Women during this time were deemed to be highly susceptible to becoming mentally ill as they did not have the mental capacity of men, and this risk grew greatly if the woman attempted to better herself through education or too many activities. In fact, women were seen as most likely having a mental breakdown sometime during their life as "the maintenance of [female] sanity was seen as the preservation of brain stability in the face of overwhelming physical odds" (Ussher 74). Thus, women often suppressed their feelings, as to not appear mad and reassumed the passive, housewife role."

)Taken from:http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/madness.shtml#attitudes)

I found this quote to be sexist in a way where society back then believed that women were somewhat more prone to being reguarded as mental unstable. When in reality I find that something like having a mental disorder isnt biased and is more based on the person themselves then their sex.

I also found some reason why women back then would have put in a hospital:
-Hysteria (madness was associated with menstruation, pregnancy, and the menopause)
-Anorexia
-Nymphomania (irresistible desire for sexual intercourse)
-Spinsters and Lesbians

I found it interesting how lesbians were put into mental hospital when today in 2010, many people are for "gay or lesbian" marriage between two people of the same sex.
What do you guys think?
Posted By: Allison OHagan