Interestingly, during that same period Daphne is raped by one male resident and sexually assaulted by another, and the staff makes no effort to provide supervision or protection.
Daphne's mental health insurance coverage ends on her eighteenth birthday. Five days later, she is discharged from the hospital. She later learns that her insurance has paid out nearly a million dollars for her three years of inpatient "treatment."
As of the date of publication of this book, author Daphne Scholinski is an artist and an activist speaking out for the rights of LBGT youth. She continues to eschew typically "feminine" styles of dress and behavior, and is involved with a female partner. She writes that she continues to have nightmares and flashbacks about the psychiatric abuse she experienced during her teenage years.
Style of Writing
The events are chronicled in first person, from Daphne's point of view. Chapters detailing her experiences in the psychiatric facilities are alternated with chapters describing the events leading up to her hospitalization.
Daphne Scholinski's writing style is steady and matter-of-fact as she describes one horrific experience after another without hyperbole and, remarkably, with no trace of self pity. She even manages to weave a thread of humor through her narrative as she describes finding a way to sneak out of the third hospital for regular runs to the local liquor store.
Issues
The Last Time I Wore a Dress deals with many issues faced by teenagers and young adults-physical and sexual abuse, divorce, gang involvement, problems at school, problems with peers, depression, alcohol and drugs. Through it all runs the theme of gender identity and sexual orientation, and how these issues play upon everything else going on in Daphne's life.
For instance, her "best friend" before she is hospitalized frequently teams up with other girls to tackle Daphne, hold her down, and paint makeup on her face. Daphne realizes that this is not the behavior of a true friend, but continues the relationship because she is desperate for social contact.
Also, the staffs of all three psychiatric hospitals where Daphne is treated emphasize her gender identity and sexual orientation to the exclusion of all other issues in her life. At places in the narrative, Daphne provides doctor's notes from her actual chart. The notes of all three facilities acknowledge the abuse that Daphne has endured at the hands of family members and others, but no doctor suggests post-traumatic stress disorder as a diagnosis, and no part of the treatment plan deals with helping Daphne overcome the effects of the abuse. One doctor even blames Daphne, telling her that if she were more feminine, people would treat her better.
