This work investigates the cultural and psychological construction of the 'monstrous feminine' and how societal perceptions of female biology and behavior are pathologized. Jane M. Ussher, a professor of women's health psychology, utilizes a critical framework to analyze how historical, medical, and social discourses have historically framed women's bodies as inherently problematic or dangerous. By examining the intersection of psychology and gender, the author argues that these labels serve as mechanisms of social control rather than objective medical truths.

Experts in gender studies and psychology frequently cite this text as a foundational critique of the medicalization of female identity. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous intellectual framework for understanding the intersection of power and gendered discourse.