Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper

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Role Reversal
Since the beginning of time, gender stereotypes have existed. Children are born into gender stereotypes without even knowing it. In Alice Munro's "Boys and Girls", a brother and sister battle gender stereotypes in their own home. Little girls are raised to be compassionate and nurturing caregivers; while little boys are brought up to be strong and protective. They say men are supposed to be the bread winners while the woman stays at home and tends to the house and family. However, some woman are not physically capable of making the perfect pie or keeping a clean house. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper", a wife is dealing with mental illness as her husband fails to recognize her cries for help. Grown woman …show more content…

As babies, people are more gentle with little girls who are dressed in pink bows and lace. Woman are brought up to be the nurturing caregivers. Woman are thought of by men to be the weaker sex. Woman need men to "protect" them. This is not realistic at all in this day and age. There are so many woman out there who are single mothers providing everything for their families. When something breaks, there is no one other than them to fix it. So why do woman think they have to rely on men? In the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", a woman with very severe depression is seen as the "weak" person in the relationship (Gilman, pg. 130). The woman needs her husband to help her and "protect" her and she is let down time after time (Gilman, pg. 130). She needs medical attention for her condition but despite her telling him over and over, he does not listen (Gilman, pg. 130). She eventually becomes so delusional that she has a mental breakdown (Gilman, pg. 142). Where was her husband to "protect" her from this happening? She knew that she needed help but he would not listen to her. Woman are much stronger than men give them credit for. Woman give birth and raise children all while working full time jobs. These days, a housewife is much more than it used to

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