If you want to understand the a culture and its values, study its language. And if you want to change the direction of a culture, choose your words carefully.
Various cultural biases are often baked into the fabric of the language.
The Roots of Hysterical
Have you ever found a situation so funny or absurd that you called it “hysterical?” Or perhaps you were laughing “hysterically”?
You may not realize that the state of “hysteria” was once believed to afflict women.
Hysteria originates from the Greek word hystera, which means uterus.
Hysteria was the term given to a disease that manifested in a variety of symptoms that included shortness of breath, fainting, insomnia, irritability, nervousness, bloating, sexually forward behavior, and a “tendency to cause trouble for others.”
What does this have to do with a uterus?
The ancient Greeks believed that the uterus moved through a woman’s body. The “wandering womb” put pressure on various organs, inducing disease. Eventually, the wandering womb would strangle the woman, leading to “hysterical suffocation” — an inability to breathe.
The “cure” for hysteria was a hysterectomy — a surgical procedure to remove the uterus — despite the lack of any scientific evidence that the uterus was the cause of the condition.
“Hysteria” wasn’t removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until 1980.
Although modern medicine no longer recognizes it as a valid diagnosis, the word “hysterical” continues to be used today. The dominant meaning is used to describe someone experiencing “uncontrollable, extreme emotion,” and it’s disproportionately used to describe women.
When We Know Better, We Speak Better
It’s often said that change starts with small steps. Changing your words can have a ripple effect.
The next time you’re about to call something — or someone — “hysterical” consider what you’re saying.
If you didn’t know, now you know.
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