Constable scoops Taylor's Sexy But Psycho

Constable has scooped Sexy But Psycho: Uncovering the Labelling of Women and Girls by Dr Jessica Taylor.

Publisher Andreas Campomar bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Rory Scarfe at the Blair Partnership. Out as a hardback in March 2022, it is billed as “a challenging and uncomfortable book which seeks to explore the way professionals and society at large label and sexualise women and girls”.

The synopsis states: “Utilising decades of research, real case studies and new data from her own work, Dr Taylor’s book will critically analyse the way we label women with personality disorders. Why are women and girls pathologised for being angry about oppression and abuse? How have so many women been duped into believing that they are mentally ill, for having normal and natural reactions to their experiences? Sexy But Psycho argues that there is a specific purpose to convincing women and girls that they are mentally ill, as the world avoids addressing violence against women and their centuries of ignored trauma.”

Taylor said: “This book might just be the most important thing I ever write. I want the world to see how psychiatry and the mental health movement has deliberately positioned women and girls as defective, inferior, hysterical liars since time began, and how that still impacts every woman and girl in the world to this day. This book is an important mixture of academic research, history, psychology and real-life stories of women and girls who have been told that they are mentally ill, instead of being listened to. It’s a terrifying account of what happens when women and girls are referred into a mental health service after disclosing trauma or abuse.’

Campomar added: Jess is an important new voice in this area. We’re looking forward to building on the phenomenal success of her ground-breaking debut, Why Women Are Blamed For Everything.”