Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly

10 reviews

geerbeer's review against another edition

dark informative reflective fast-paced

1.0

Just not my cup of tea. I already knew all of this, because of American Horror Story Asylum, which I would recommend to anyone who can handle scary/eerie things 🤷🏻‍♀️😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, and Confinement

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, Confinement, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

Minor: Death

lycheeteareads's review against another edition

dark informative sad fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Death, Ableism, and Medical content

scottnap's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

anhedonia_n_anomie's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

In 1887, 23 y.o. investigative journalist Bly easily gets herself committed to NYC's Women's Lunatic Asylum to report on conditions which are shockingly neglectful & cruel w/most patients not even ill

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual harassment

alyssamakesart's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.0

Some transitions, especailly in part one, were kinda jarring I thought maybe the pages were stuck together. I don't think it was just the art, but the writing adaption elements too. By parts 2 & 3, it was great, though. I'm not sure if this is the artist' main style - but what was chosen was really cool because it fit the time period well. Also I was getting Junji Ito vibes from the way horror was depicted and the use of black and white only (no greys).

I encourage you to read the afterward of the book. I read this adaptation less than a week after NYC Mayor Adams (I'm in TX, not NY) pushed for forced institutionalizing (more than what's already allowed) in order to clear out homeless people despite the data pushing for a housing-first approach for good results, —and this book really hit in that respect. I didn't count off for this, but it would've been nice to include resources for more reading other than for aid for those in need of resources. (Which by the way was really important and something that shows the motivation for adapting the text.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, Ableism, and Medical content

Moderate: Misogyny and Xenophobia

zamyatins_fears's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

There are certainly are more extensive works on the subject, but this is a good read for anyone interested in it for the historic importance. The woman known as Nellie Bly (pen name) was one of the earliest investigative reporters. It's terrifying how easily she was able to get herself committed to an insane asylum. Just as it's heartbreaking to read about just the abuses she witnessed or heard many accounts of. Modern works may be a bit more in-depth on these kinds of abuses, but Bly was instrumental in getting more funds diverted to the care of those suffering on Roosevelt Island and was instrumental in the call for reform. A bit of a slow start, but a quick read once she is declared a "hopeless case" and shipped off to the asylum. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Bullying, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence

Written in WW1 originally for the papers, so the abuses mentioned are stated factually, but without graphic descriptions.

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark informative sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Torture

Minor: Rape

exlibrissum's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Medical content, Sexism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

howlinglibraries's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

 I've never read the original version of Ten Days in a Mad-House, but after reading this adaptation, I'd be open to doing so — only once I recover from the massive amounts of rage and hurt that welled up within me while reading this book. As a woman who faces my own mental health obstacles (and quite a few of them if we're being frank here), there are few things that truly rattle me quite like looking into the past and coming to terms with how I and so many of my loved ones might have been treated, had we only been born a hundred years earlier.

Ten Days in a Mad-House follows Nellie's secret integration into a mental health hospital (though I'm not sure if "hospital" is the right term here, given that it implies some sort of actual care) in order to expose the terrible living conditions of the women therein. She tells not only of abusive staff and horrible treatment practices, but she also dwells a lot on how many women who were trapped there seemed to not need any sort of medical intervention in the first place. (On one hand, I think the added attention to how "sane" some of these women were discounted the fact that nobody, regardless of their mental state, deserved these treatments; on the other hand, Nellie's extra details here may very well have helped everyone across the board, as I can unfortunately very easily imagine a jury being more stricken with empathy for some patients than others.)

All in all, there's probably a bit to be said about Nellie's motives and the ethics behind how she carried out her research, but it's important to note that she made a big impact on the treatment of patients and blew the cover off of a massively disgusting practice (which would continue to be terrible for many decades to come, regardless, but I have to think it was somehow improved by Nellie's works). I appreciate the fact that the creators responsible for adapting this work even mentioned in the afterword how important it is to consider both the intent and impact here.

And finally, speaking of the book as an adaptation itself, while I haven't read the source material, I found the graphic novel to stand on its own incredibly well. The art was well-done, the dialogue and story were easy to follow, and I found it overall very informative and enjoyable (albeit emotionally difficult). I highly recommend it, whether you're new to Ten Days in a Mad-House or looking to experience it again in a new, fresh way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Confinement, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death