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Synopsis nine
In the article "The Race of Hysteria: "Overcivilization" and the "Savage" Woman in Late
Nineteenth-Century Obstetrics and Gynecology," Laura Briggs focuses on addressing hysteria as
a major symptom of over-civilization by stating that the aspect performed two kinds of cultural
work in responding to the modernity crisis. Therefore, in doing so, the author seeks to answer the
question of whether hysteria can be said to be about race. Drawing evidence from American
history, Briggs provides the answer to the question by arguing that hysteria could be equally said
to be about race in two main senses (Briggs, pg.246). First, Briggs notes that the state of
nervousness was a condition caused by over-civilization, which categorized it in a popular and
scientific argument that explained cultural evolution as starting with the aspect savage but also
having the possibility of degeneration, which is termed as “overcivilization.” The author uses the
word “savage” to refer to Latin Americans, Africans, Asians, and generally poor people.
The article is historically significant as it enables the audience to understand the
intersection between gender and race through the application of the race theory. The narrative is
also significant because it reveals that race has always been present in the world; for instance,
racism is evident in the United States culture and writings. Therefore, it is historically significant
that race and gender mutually overlap. Additionally, it is historically significant that hysteria was
a major concept that was used to refer to women who portrayed several symptoms. We learn that
the aspects of nervousness and hysteria are important aspects that are closely linked to women’s
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history (Briggs, pg.251). Regarding race and gender, we learn that women from different regions
and racial backgrounds undergo different experiences. Politically, the article shows that the
advocates of women's rights engaged in different struggles to change cultural laws and norms
related to white women, thus indicating the intersection between gender and politics in the
article. In addition, we learn that white women avoided maternity and withheld sexuality by
using birth control or engaging in abortion.
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Works Cited
Briggs, Laura. “The Race of Hysteria: ‘Overcivilization’ and the ‘Savage’ Woman in Late Nineteenth-
Century Obstetrics and Gynecology.” American Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 2, 2000, pp. 246–73,
www.jstor.com/stable/30041838. Accessed 7 Mar. 2024.
