“Drama queens” and “attention seekers”: Characterizations of Femininity and Responses to Women Who Communicated their Intent to Suicide

Abstract

Historically, suicidal women and women in distress have been pathologized and trivialized. Despite high rates of suicidality among women, the role of gender and femininity continue to be overlooked in suicide research. I perform a qualitative “sociological autopsy” on 17 cases of young women who communicated intent before their deaths by suicide but were dismissed or ignored. I identify two tropes of suicidal femininity: “drama queens” and “attention seekers.” This paper highlights how gendered assumptions about, and interpretations of, women’s emotions and suicidality can be dangerous, even fatal.