How Do Women Sleep?

Author: Sarah Dye | February 2026

In 1894, The New York Mercury paper published an article titled, How Do Women Sleep? It went on to highlight a German physician's take on women's sleep habits and recommendations for getting better night's rest. It's curious to why this was the topic of ponder, but in 1894, women's biological make-up, their intellectual abilities, and purpose were still being heavily debated.

According to the unknown German physician, women require more sleep than men.  The reason for this is the “female constitution” (everything about being a female) induces “nervous excitability” that is on a greater scale than the “stronger sex” (men). Yeah, it’s hard being a female, so much nervousness…

The level of nervous excitability causes women to be light sleepers. In case you were wondering, snoring spouses and two-hour infant feedings were not considered in this study. The excitability results in women becoming “addicted to dreaming”. Her vivid dreams of house cleaning, marriage, charity work, and chaise-lounge-laying (what more is there for a girl to dream about?) leaves such an impression that she feels tired in the mornings. The women who are "addicted to dreaming" generally sleep around one hour longer than those who do not, but makes her feel tired during the day. Those who do not dream, will rise more refreshed and have more energy to conquer the day.

Now you know the secret to this burning 1894 question. Apparently, the fact that females have less internal fortitude and overly nervous if the culprit. If you thought it was because women were bored out of their minds in the 19^th century due to not being allowed an education, employment, or to use their minds to think about ANYTHING other than getting married, then you were wrong. I’m finding it hard to contain my excitement to now know I can’t sleep because I’m a female and my "nervous excitability" is high because…I’m a female.

Imagine seeing an article like this in today's news!