Content Warning: This novel discusses eugenics, forced institutionalization, racism, and child sexual abuse. It also uses outdated terminology for discussing mental health and disabilities, which is reproduced in quotation in this guide.

The Foundling examines the different ways sexism and the mistreatment of women manifest, including sexual abuse and social and legal inequality between men and women. Additionally, the text highlights the way women can be complicit in oppressing other women, often through classism or racism. Mary’s journey shows that sexism can be fought by uniting with other women rather than maintaining social hierarchies.

Several of the women in The Foundling are sexually abused when they are vulnerable. Mary’s uncle molested her as a child until he died in a car accident. Lillian is raped by Tom Henning when she gets too drunk at his speakeasy, and Ida, one of the inmates at Nettleton, is raped by Mr. Whitcomb, the bank president. None of the men face legal repercussions for their actions, while their victims are ostracized. In Lillian’s case, she is punished by being sent to Nettleton. Notably, falsely accusing a Black man of rape would save her from this fate, highlighting the way white men are protected by the law while Black men are not.