A short story and a short novel about mad women

I don’t know if I am a (good) feminist, since I have a nagging thought that how I see things is more in line with being a sexist, I am of the opinion that women rock and being or choosing to be a male is strange cause they suck. If there is any consistent effort on my part when it comes to reading, it is to give myself more time to read women and non-binary authors. Since I do little research into who or what I am reading, I am sure that I misgender or misrepresent people all the time (I apologize for my assumptions and ignorance).

My two recent feminist and lady reads were stellar examples of why these type of stories are important.

I have been giving more time to short stories, I am trying to be wordly, and one of the classics I read was “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Thanks to a Tiktok recommendation, that was how clueless I was to this treasure being out there!

There wasn’t a piece of this piece that I didn’t love. It is gothic in tone (cause it was written in the late 1800s), portrays a women’s descent into postpartum madness at the poor medical advice of her husband the doctor, and still seems relevant to what women face today. A haunting classic, everyone should be forced to read along with Edgar Allen Poe, we need to diversify the forced reading options in school!

A more modern conversation on women’s mental health, My Sister, the Serial Killer is killer. As a dark comedy it does everything it should, flip expectations while playing into the stereotype of what we think when it comes to psychopaths and attractive women. It is a quick read, and wraps up the story by the end of the book, but is so well written that I wish there was more.

This Nigerian author (Oyinkan Braithwaite) sets her novel in Lagos and unfolds a story told from the perspective of the sturdy, dependable, plain sister Korede, a nurse who from the very start is there to clean up her sister’s messes (bodies). If this was any other novel or true crime story in which a man was the killer, I would be side eyeing Korede’s enabling role with Ayoola, but as an older sister who loves being the martyr I can see how we get to where we are.

What this says about society, crime, how women are seen, beauty, sibling dynamics, what we discuss and look for with serial killers, the men and women who become enamored and then victims, nature and nurture… I mean I can could go on and on. This is a story that has layers and would have Shrek shrieking about the complexity of it while comparing it to an onion, did I use that reference right?

Women are complex, and are not naturally hysterical because of their sexual organs or hormones (men will absolutely flip out for no reason and I would say that is due to their sexual organs or hormones…see sexist). When they do go mad or lose their shit, what better group to give us some nuance then the ladies who probably has been or seen a crazy gal in their life?