TY  - JOUR
T1  - THE BELL JAR DESCENDS AGAIN: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF MODERN MEDICINE BY SYLVIA PLATH AND REBECCA MYERS-SPIERS
AU  - Aslan Uslu, Gülşen
PY  - 2021
DA  - May
JF  - Akademi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi
JO  - ASBİDER
PB  - Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2667-4866
SP  - 323
EP  - 333
VL  - 8
IS  - 23
LA  - en
AB  - This article examines Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar withinthe context of the 1950s’ America and the ways the novelcriticizes the workings of medicine in perpetuating the genderroles of the time together with Rebecca Myers-Spiers’s personalaccount entitled “The Bell Jar Revisited: Putting Young GirlsUnder the Lenses of Patriarchy” that was published in 1999and aims at showing that there has not been much progressionin psychiatry in terms of focusing on the female problem. TheBell Jar chronicles the life of Esther, an independent youngwoman, and her journey of self-realization and psychologicalcrisis during the 1950s which was a decade of conformism andtraditionalism that encouraged the traditional gender roles. Onthe way to her crisis and final recovery, Esther interacts withdifferent doctors through which Plath criticizes how modernmedicine is treating women in general. As exemplified by thecharacters Buddy Willard and Doctor Gordon, doctors of thetime use their scientific knowledge and medical professionas ways to manipulate and dominate women. In this respect,they act as the proxies of the patriarchal discourse and oppressEsther which worsens her condition. On the other hand,Esther’s relationship with a female psychiatrist Doctor Nolanhighly contrasts her previous experiences with medicine.Doctor Nolan’s treatment methods are gynocentric. Thanksto this feminist approach and the female solidarity she buildswith Esther, Esther is able to overcome her psychologicalcrisis. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath recognizes feminism anda gynocentric approach in medicine as a cure for the problemsof women in the 1950s. Similarly, Rebecca Myers-Spiers’saccount shows that that there has not been much change interms of the treatment of women in psychiatric clinics since the1950s. Patriarchal ideology still oppresses women by using andmanipulating the scientific discourse.
KW  - The Bell Jar
KW  - Modern medicine
KW  - Feminism
KW  - Rebecca
Myers-Spiers
KW  - psychiatry.
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CR  - FARLAND, M. (2002). “Sylvia Plath’s Anti-Psychiatry.” Critical Insights: The Bell Jar, edited by Janet McCann. California & New
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CR  - FOUCAULT, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality. Trans. by Robert Hurley. New York: Pantheon Books.
UR  - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/asbider/issue//944948
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1795776
ER  -