Down With the (Female) Sickness
Books that highlight the ways gender roles have harmed women, often through assigning an inherent wickedness to the entire gender and using suffering or punishment to “liberate” women from our wickedness. Starting with The Yellow Wallpaper, in which Victorian standards for women expected purity and perfection. Imperfection, whether it be postpartum depression or strong opinions, was labeled as female hysteria and treated in a way that only further harmed women. Exploring empowerment & autonomy
created by myanempire
last updated October, 2026
Comments
The title of this list is AMAZING!! I honestly love this whole list
Thank you!!! I named it after an essay I wrote in undergrad about the yellow wallpaper and Victorian gender expectations 😄
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