WOMEN AND MADNESS, by Phyllis Chesler, PhD

Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D.
Women and Madness
Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition

"Intense, rapid, brilliant, controversial, Women and Madness is a pioneer contribution to the feminization of psychiatric thinking and practice." — Adrienne Rich

Originally published in 1972, Women and Madness was met with great acclaim — and controversy. Chesler, a Ph.D. in psychology, suggested to the male-dominated worlds of psychiatry and psychology that sex-role stereotypes were at the heart of the diagnosis of mental illness, in particular for women.

Now, with over two million copies sold worldwide, the book has come to be acknowledged as a feminist classic, essential reading. As the author's new introduction proves, this work remains frighteningly up-to-date.

In Women and Madness, Chesler explains how women who exhibit what are perceived by society to be traditional male traits — independence, self-assertiveness, dominance — are often typed as mentally ill. Women whose behavior is more typically feminine — passive, underachieving, retiring — are labeled depressed, compulsive.

An acclaimed psychologist and feminist, Phyllis Chesler is a professor of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and women's studies. She has published seven books and is currently at work on Letters to a Young Feminist (winter 1997-98) and a collection of essays (fall 1998) for Four Walls Eight Windows.

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