At the beginning of the twentieth century, hysteria as a medical or psychiatric diagnosis was primarily applied to women. In fact, the term itself comes from the Greek, meaning wandering womb. We have since learned that this diagnosis had evolved from certain assumptions about womens social roles and mental characteristics, and is no long in use. The modern equivalent of hysteria, however, may be borderline personality disorder, defined as a pervasive pattern of instability of self-image, interpersonal relationships, and mood, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. This diagnosis is applied to women so much more often that to men that feminists have begun to raise important questions about the social, cultural, and even the medical assumptions underlying this illness. Women are said to be unstable when they may be trying to reconcile often contradictory and conflicting social expectations.