Towards a New Theory of Hysterical Women

And an embrace of the ungovernable body

I watched the film Call Jane last weekend. The tone of the film felt off for me at times (a little too rah-rah, isn’t illegal abortion fun and empowering), but there was one scene I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, in which the main character, Joy, a fictional Chicago housewife, has her file reviewed by a board of medical directors, a nonfictio…