Eng 160 BOM Project

The Classics as Cultural
Artifact : Girl Interrupted

Haley and Sophia
Historical Context
In the 1960s, women's mental health was often misunderstood and stigmatized. Many
psychiatric diagnoses were overly generalized and biased against women, leading to
inappropriate treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy and tranquilizers. Women's
experiences were often dismissed or pathologized, contributing to further marginalization
and limited access to appropriate care.
"Girl, Interrupted" is a memoir by

Susanna Kaysen that explores her
experiences as a young woman in a
psychiatric hospital in the 1960s.
About the author
Susanna Kaysen was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 1967 after a brief consultation
with a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder. Kaysen's
experiences leading up to her hospitalization included struggles with depression, feelings
of disconnection, and a suicide attempt. However, the decision to admit her to the hospital
was controversial, and Kaysen herself has questioned the validity of her diagnosis and the
necessity of her hospitalization.
The film
The film mainly follows Susanna Kayson, an 18-
year-old, was admitted to a menal hospital following
a suicide attempt. She meets many friends at the
hospital that taught her memorable things. Susanna,
including the other patients, struggle to understand
their mental illnesses. They also struggle to work
against the staff in the hospital, who are not given the
right resources to take care of the patients in the right
way. The characters deal with the stigmatization of
mental illness against women in society. They are
also struggling with the societal expectations of being
a women in the 1960s.
Portrayal of patriarchy and gender differences in society
Susanna’s psychiatrist can be seen as a representative of a patriarchal society. This is because he sees
Susanna’s reaction and resistance to adult women expectations in society as symptoms as a personality disorder.
Some think that BPD in the past was used as a mask instead of using the term “hysteria”. Mental institutions
like this were mostly filled with “troubled” women. Men almost never got diagnosed with mental illnesses, because
they were not seen as hysterical and emotional. It is still unclear whether or not Susanna was actually mentally ill,
but it is possible that she had been misdiagnosed by her parents and doctor. She was not acting the way society
wanted a woman to act in the 1960s. She was unladylike, didn’t know what she wanted to do in the future, and was
upset with how things were going in her life and how people were treating her. They saw this as mentally ill.
This film also shows how the way women act has its reasons. All of the different girls in the film had gone
through some kind of abuse, trauma, or troubles. All of these reasonings was because they were forced to grow up
as women in a patriarchal society.
“Maybe I was really crazy, maybe it was just the 60’s or just a girl, interrupted”
This quote shows her feelings of feeling crazy because mental health issues were not
normalized. Also, the added struggles of being a teenage girl in society.
“As far as I could see, life demanded skills I didn’t have”
This can show that maybe one of the big reasons of Susanna’s mental illness could be
based on the expectations of women in the 1960s.
“Was everybody seeing this stuff and acting as though they weren’t? Was insanity
just a matter of dropping the act?”
This shows how stigmatized and hidden mental health and illness was in the 1960s. It
seems like any type of mental illness, even if it is not as extreme as a personality disorder,
was known as “insanity”. This quote shows that Susanna thinks that everyone is pretending
and acting to be super happy with everything in their lives. If they drop this “act”, then they
are seen as terrible mentally ill.
Criticism of the Film
While most of the reactions from society were good, there
was still some heavy criticism towards this movie. Most of the
harsh critics were, to our surprise, men.
In 1999 when the film premiered, critic Stephen Holden
wrote, “Girl, Interrupted is a small, intense period piece with
a hard headed tough-love attitude toward lazy, self-
indulgent little girls flirting with madness: You can drive
yourself crazy, or you can get over it. The choice is yours.”
There is obviously a lot to unpack here. It is important to
remember comments like these were made about women’s
mental health only 25 years ago. This critic is explaining how it
is women’s fault for reacting badly to growing up in a
patriarchal society that treats them horribly.
Impact on society
"Girl, Interrupted" had a significant impact on society by raising awareness about
women's mental health issues and the challenges they faced in the 1960s. The memoir
sparked discussions about the stigma surrounding mental illness, the flaws in
psychiatric diagnoses and treatments, and the importance of autonomy and self-
expression for individuals with mental health struggles.
However, it also had a significant impact on literature itself. The Plaid Press writes,
“The entire genre of personal memoirs was really pioneered by Kaysen’s novel, an
early entry before a memoir boom. The genre itself succeeded due to the readers
feeling a personal connection with the author/narrator of the book. For a long time, the
autobiography of a powerful person was very marketable, however, this new feeling of
relatableness popularized memoirs written by normal people.”
Goodreads

Eng 160 BOM Project

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Eng 160 BOM Project

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Eng 160 BOM Project

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Classics as Cultural

Artifact : Girl Interrupted

"Girl, Interrupted" is a memoir by

You might also like