Overview
Writer Elissa Bassist shares her journey to reclaim her authentic voice in a culture that doesn't listen to women in this medical mystery, cultural criticism, and rallying cry.
Between 2016 and 2018, Elissa Bassist saw over twenty medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. Bassist had what millions of American women had: pain that didnāt make sense to doctors, a body that didnāt make sense to science, a psyche that didnāt make sense to mankind. But then an acupuncturist suggested some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem. It did.
Growing up, Bassist's family, boyfriends, school, work, and television had the same expectation for a womanās voice: less is more. She was called dramatic and insane for speaking her mind; she was accused of overreacting and playing victimĀ for having unexplained physical pain;Ā she was ignored or rebuked like women throughout history for using her voice āinappropriatelyā by expressing sadness or suffering or anger or joy. Ā
Because of this, she said āyesā when she meant ānoā; she didnāt tweet #MeToo; and she never spoke without fear of being "too emotional." So, she felt rage, but like a good woman, repressed it. In Hysterical, Bassist explains how girls and women internalize and perpetuate directives about their voice, making it hard to emote or ājust speak upā and āburn down the patriarchy.ā But her silence hurt more than anything she could ever say. Hysterical is a memoir of a voice lost and found, and a primer on new ways to think about a womanāsĀ voice, where itās being squashed and where it needs amplification. Bassist breaks her own silences and calls on others to do the sameāto unmute their voice, listen to it above all others, and use it again without regret.
This book title, Hysterical (A Memoir), ISBN: 9780306827372, by Elissa Bassist, published by Hachette Books (September 13, 2022) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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