Women and Madness

Term Paper # 46252

African-American Studies > Gender
Women Studies
Women Studies > Culture
Women Studies > Women and Society

Women and Madness

A detailed look at society's vision of madness in women, focusing on African-American women. Discusses madness as a stereotypical temporary or long-term substitution for identity.

2,335 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

The analysis compares and contrasts different forms of so- called "madness" in female characters from the following novels: "Praisesong for the Widow," "Nervous Conditions," and "Juletane." It focuses on the battle for personal identity to overcome madness.

From the Paper:

"What if mad people weren't mad? What if certain types of behavior which simple ordinary people call madness, were just wisdom, a reflection of the clear sighted hypersensitivity of a pure, upright soul plunged into a real or imaginary affective void?" (Juletane, 2) Madness: a term so frequently used to describe nearly every socially deviant thing one might do or attribute to. If I were to spontaneously up-root myself and move to entirely new place (be it across the state, country, or sea) for no logical reason (in the mind of the one pushing labels), I might be considered mad. Someone in the grocery store cursing the tomatoes in aisle five, for being so ripe, may be considered mad. If one were to commit a homicide, they would surely be titled "mad." If you like green eggs and ham, Dr. Seuss fans might just label you mad. If you have metal all over your face and tattoos on your arms and legs, certainly you are mad. But then, what is this madness? If someone can be labeled as "mad" for all of the aforementioned, can we assume that "mad" is just a stereotype for one who deviates from the so-called norm? In this essay, I aim to prove that madness is indeed a stereotype aimed at differentiating between the socially "normal" and socially deviant individuals; represented by loss of identity and tradition, by guidance of the novels Praisesong for the Widow, Nervous Conditions, and Juletane."