           As many know, people all over the world, of all genders, fight for women’s rights, but it dates back farther than some may know. Although some may say the problems at hand now are more important, not having the right to vote until 1920 and being accused of things without a fair fight seems to be a pretty big issue. Throughout the story, “Ten Days in a Mad-House” by Nellie Bly the disturbing story of the mistreatment of women in insane asylums and how it is connected to our history of women’s rights is told. There is a constant theme of suffrage and women’s rights during the essay that were problems all over the world, not just in that asylum. The unfairness in court systems and mistreatment overall are just some of the issues Bly touches on in this passage.

           In 1920 when the nineteenth amendment was ratified, women in the United States became one step closer to being able to fight for equality among themselves and men. Without the right to vote for who they want governing themselves, there would be no way to put someone in position that could fight for them. When Bly and her acquaintance, Miss Tillie Maynard, were put into this asylum for no good reason, they would have to fight for their freedom, “’Are you crazy’ I asked. ‘No’ she replied; ‘but as we have been sent here we will have to be quiet until we find some means of escape. They will be few, though, if all the doctors as Dr. Field, refuse to listen to me or give me a chance to prove my sanity’” (Bly 281). As Bly states throughout the book, most women were thrown in here for no good reason besides the fact that someone had accused them of being “crazy” and without a word they are shipped off to a nut house. At this time in history, around 1887, women had little to no rights, especially with voting. Of course, Bly and Maynard had no chance to fend or give their voice because they had no voice before that. Women were expected to clean and cook with no questions asked, they were not supposed to have a say in the judicial system. Even in courtrooms in 1996, almost one hundred years later, 32% of judges say there is still a strong sense of gender bias.

           Today and in hundreds of years past, women have been denied job after job that they should have more than willingly got over a male competitor. Throughout the novel, we see the incompetence of the nurses and the lack of care from the male doctors. Most of these nurses beat, yell and make fun of the patients while not even knowing how to do their real job; “’What is it?’ asked the doctor. ‘Now you know I can’t tell,’ she said. ‘I don’t know; there are some figures there, but I can’t tell.’” (283). Most of these nurses do not even know how to read a scale let alone take care of sick patients who need intense attention, but since “women are suppose to be nurses” and it does not matter their qualification for the job, the inmates of this facility and people all around the world are mistreated. Not only are the nurses incompetent but the also Doctors, who are supposed to diagnose these patients but listen and hear them out when they are trying to plead their sanity. These male Doctors are the head of Blackwell’s island call all the shots, yet don’t even have the decency to listen to their patients, “The nurses returned to the room and Miss Grady remarked that she has ‘settled the old fool for awhile’. I told some of the physicians of the occurrence, but they did not pay any attention to it” (297). While these all male doctors ignore beatings of patients and completely sane pleas, not one single person in the facility should be qualified for their jobs. It was not until 1971, again almost one hundred years later, that the U.S Supreme Court just ruled against sex discrimination in hiring jobs which still does not solve many issues.

           In a workplace full of so many women and so little men, it could be quite easy for things to get out of hand without anyone knowing any better. An entire island full of insane women and incompetent nurses, the male doctors who have all the power can be mistaken for charm when really is sexually harassing some of these nurses. When trying to obstruct and “teach” these nurses, Dr. Kinier makes things slightly flirtatious, “’Five feet five inches, don’t you see?’ taking her hand and touching the figures” (284). Although this may come off as a simple learning gesture, the two had been flirting and talking the whole time, paying little to no attention to Bly the actual patient at hand. Touching a coworker in a promiscuous way is an issue now, then, and far back in history that could and may never be solved.

In one survey, it was reported that one in three women are sexually assaulted at their workspace and not only is sexual harassment growing, it is forming in different ways. Of the one in three women sexually harassed at work, only 29% reported it while 71% let it slip under the rug or thought it was nice “attention”.  It is easy for women to mistake a slight flirt for an aggressive sexual comment or action, such as the action of touching another co worker. Also found was that most sexual harassment and assault claims come from workers in the food or service hospitality business. These places make it is easy to take advantage of women becayse they are low paying where there is a lot of free and down time. A perfect service hospitality place would be one of a nursing home or psych ward, where you are caring for others who do not actually know what is going on, basically serving as no witnesses. When Dr. Kinier and Miss Grupe have their flirtatious conversations and encounters, they are completely unaware of the fact that Bly is in fact not insane at all and she is fully witnessing this awkward and uncomfortable form of sexual harassment, “He gave the nurse more attention that he did me, and asked her six questions to every one of me” (284). The fact that Kinier and Grupe thought that Bly was unable to comprehend what was going on between the two of them they were able to ultimately take advantage of her “disability” and act as though she was not even there.

           In the mid 1800s, women in factories were working up to fifteen hours a day in harsh conditions that no person would be fit for. They would be lined up all day in hot factories working from 5 AM to 7PM with two half hour breaks throughout all fifteen hours. Some would compare that to story when the nurses and asylum are ultimately making these women insane by having them work and sit up straight all day without breaks, “I would like the expert physicians who are condemning me for my action, which has proven their ability, to take a perfectly sane and healthy women, shut her up and make her sit from 6 A.M until 8 P.M on straight-back benches, do not allow her to talk or move during these hours, give her no reading and let her know nothing of the world or its doings, give her bad food and harsh treatment, and see how long it will take to make her insane” (293). Some of the women were also given jobs throughout the day, whether it was to make the beds or scrub the women, they were working all day and constantly being yelled at. These harsh conditions in both the labor world and asylum are completely unacceptable and not until 1847 did a ten hour law pass, forbidding workers to work days longer than ten hours. While women’s rights and movements have improved immensely over the years, history is still there to learn from everyday. From insane asylums to factories to sexual harassment, women everyday are mistreated by men, coworkers, bosses and even other women who think they have more power. A connection between history and the passage, Ten Days in a Mad House by Nellie Bly is obvious in the state of women’s right and lack of fairness in her personal experience and the history, stories and facts of the women of the past who have fought for their rights.