Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power

Description

Women have always been seen as monsters. Men from Aristotle to Freud have insisted that women are freakish creatures, capable of immense destruction. Maybe they are. And maybe that’s a good thing.... Sady Doyle, hailed as “smart, funny and fearless” by the Boston Globe, takes readers on a tour of the female dark side, from the biblical Lilith to Dracula’s Lucy Westenra, from the T-Rex in Jurassic Park to the teen witches of The Craft. She illuminates the women who have shaped our nightmares: Serial killer Ed Gein’s “domineering” mother Augusta; exorcism casualty Anneliese Michel, starving herself to death to quell her demons; author Mary Shelley, dreaming her dead child back to life. These monsters embody patriarchal fear of women, and illustrate the violence with which men enforce traditionally feminine roles. They also speak to the primal threat of a woman who takes back her power. In a dark and dangerous world, Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers asks women to look to monsters for the ferocity we all need to survive. CONTENTS Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Introduction: Domestic Terror Part I DAUGHTERS 1. Puberty 2. Virginity Part II WIVES 3. Seduction 4. Marriage Part III MOTHERS 5. Birth 6. Family 7. Bad Mothers Conclusion: The Woman at the Edge of the Woods Appendix: Resource Guide Acknowledgments Notes