L'Hystera

In the Timaeus, Plato describes the uterus as a living being: deprived of a child, it wanders through the body, obstructs breathing, and wreaks havoc. The word “hysteria” comes from the Greek hystera, meaning “uterus” This etymology says it all: women are said to be governed from within by an uncontrollable organ. For two millennia, medicine, the Church, and the law have used this myth as a tool to imprison, burn, and disqualify. The beast still roams.