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For centuries men and women have been taught from an early age how to behave. Boys are taught to play war, hunt, and other skills deemed “Manly”. Women are also taught how young ladies are to behave. Women are to tend to housework and rear children. Over the last 150 years women have fought to fight these stereotypes and break away from traditional gender roles. Forcing traditional gender roles upon women (or men), instead of allowing them to forge their own identity can be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of a woman and her family.
In 1898 “Declaration of Sentiments” was published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The second paragraph begins with “We hold these truths to be self evident” (Stanton 287). This mirrors the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. It continues to say that “all men and women are created equal” (Stanton 287) whereas the Declaration of Independence only mentions men. This was a way for women to be heard in a calm and rational way. Stanton goes on to describe how men have an “absolute tyranny” (Stanton 287) over women. They have no right to vote, however are subjected to the laws, and have “withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men- both natives and foreigners” (Stanton 288). It clearly outlines the way women were treated (and in some societies still treated). While women have as many rights under the law as men do, they still struggle to be viewed as equals.
In the “Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows how a woman is treated as property and frail, it follows her decline into a mental breakdown. She appears to be suffering from Post Partum Depression, and is treated by her physician husband John for “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency” (Gillman 130). She isn’t allowed any say in her care or treatment and is treated as a prisoner. The speaker describes her surroundings saying “It was a nursery first and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children and there are rings in the walls” (possibly for keeping patients restrained) (Gillman 131). She talks about the large room and how the wallpaper is ripped and the floor is gouged (Gillman 134), the “great immovable bed – it’s nailed down” (Gillman 135).
Yellow Wallpaper depicts the nervous breakdown of a young woman and is an example as well as a protest of the patriarchal gender based treatments of mental illness women of the nineteenth century were subjected to.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman’s gradual descent into insanity, after the birth of her child. The story was written in 1892 after the author herself suffered from a nervous breakdown, soon after the birth of her daughter in 1885. Gilman did spend a month in a sanitarium with the urging of her physician husband. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story about herself, during the timeframe of when Gilman was in the asylum.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature 's Ancestral House: Another Look At 'The Yellow Wallpaper '." Women 's Studies 12.2 (1986): 113. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, it became one of his greatest legacies. In the first line he wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" (U.S. Constitution, paragraph 2). Jefferson wrote these words to give inspiration to future generations in the hopes that they would be able to change what he either would or could not. The word “men” in the Declaration in the early 1700 and 1800’s meant exactly that, but even then it only was true for some men, not all. Women, children, and other segments of the population such as slaves and Native Americans were clearly not included. Jefferson himself was a slave owner and held the belief that women were inferior to men. Though women played no role in the political environment, they were crucial to the development and economic success of the times. The strength, courage and work ethic of pioneer women like Martha Ballard in “A Midwife’s Tale” (Thatcher, 1990) created the very fabric of the community and wove it together so the community could thrive.
Stanton and Mott were infuriated with the rejection of women, so they decided to hold a women’s rights meeting. This meeting was considered a Women’s Rights convention and was held in Seneca Falls. This was the very first meeting and was held in New York. Stanton then composed “The Declaration of Sentiments.” The text proposed that women should receive the right education, and changes to the law to raise the status of a “lady.”
How Passivity and Submissiveness lead to madness by Charlette Perkins Gilman and Henrik Ibsen. “He told me all his opinions, so I had the same ones too; or if they were different I hid them, since he wouldn’t have cared for that” (Ibsen 109). As this quote suggests, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Henrik Ibsen, in A Doll House, dramatize that, for women, silent passivity and submissiveness can lead to madness. The narrator of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is driven to madness after she withdraws from herself. “I am alone” (Gilman 44), she tells us.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is the disheartening tale of a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Set during the late 1890s, the story shows the mental and emotional results of the typical "rest cure" prescribed during that era and the narrator’s reaction to this course of treatment. It would appear that Gilman was writing about her own anguish as she herself underwent such a treatment with Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell in 1887, just two years after the birth of her daughter Katherine. The rest cure that the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" describes is very close to what Gilman herself experienced; therefore, the story can be read as reflecting the feelings of women like herself who suffered through such treatments. Because of her experience with the rest cure, it can even be said that Gilman based the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" loosely on herself. But I believe that expressing her negative feelings about the popular rest cure is only half of the message that Gilman wanted to send. Within the subtext of this story lies the theme of oppression: the oppression of the rights of women especially inside of marriage. Gilman was using the woman/women behind the wallpaper to express her personal views on this issue.
When looking at two nineteenth century works of change for two females in an American society, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Stephen Crane come to mind. A feminist socialist and a realist novelist capture moments that make their readers rethink life and the world surrounding. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published in 1892, about a white middle-class woman who was confined to an upstairs room by her husband and doctor, the room’s wallpaper imprisons her and as well as liberates herself when she tears the wallpaper off at the end of the story. On the other hand, Crane’s 1893 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the realist account of a New York girl and her trials of growing up with an alcoholic mother and slum life world. The imagery in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets uses color in unconventional ways by embedding color in their narratives to symbolize the opposite of their common meanings, allowing these colors to represent unique associations; to support their thematic concerns of emotional, mental and societal challenges throughout their stories; offering their reader's the opportunity to question the conventionality of both gender and social systems.
“Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman was analyzed by many perspective readers and writers. In my research paper I analyzed work by Ann Oakley and Karen Ford. These two authors had similar but yet different arguments. During my review process on both articles, I found that there can be many interpretations of any literary work. When you typically see topics written about women, you tend to see biased explanations. Reading these from a female standpoint you would go on to assume the writer will only defend what is morally right.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” resembles her life and some of the struggles she endured: her trouble childhood after her parents divorced, leaving her mother trying to provide for her children, due to an absent father that rarely had a relationship with his children. Her marriage, in which conflict made an early appearance, and depression she suffered after the birth of her daughter mistreated by an acclaimed doctor, were also real life events. These aspects can be found in one way or another throughout this short story.
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
In the 19th century, mental illness was an uncommon issue to be discussed. The public would treat the illness only by avoiding the matter and forcing the sick to feel helpless. At that time, the medical profession had not yet distinguished between diseases of the mind and diseases of the brain. Neurologists such as Dr. Silas Mitchell treated the problems that would now be treated by psychiatrists, such as depression. The most accepted cure was Mitchell's “Rest Cure,” which required complete isolation from family and friends. It forbid any type of mental or physical energy, and required total bed rest. The harsh results of the “Rest Cure” are easily seen in the story titled “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1891. The main character was given the “Rest Cure” and soon began to descend deeper into the traps of insanity. Before fully understanding mental illnesses her actions would be linked to “hysteria”. Hysteria was the term given to women with signs of depression. (Showalter, p. 127)
that she is also aware of what her condition may lead to. But, if it
In a female oppressive story about a woman driven from postpartum depression to insanity, Charlotte Gilman uses great elements of literature in her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Her use of feminism and realism demonstrates how woman's thoughts and opinions were considered in the early 1900?s.
“The Yellow Wall Paper” is the story about a journey of a woman who is suffering from a nervous breakdown, descending into madness through her “rest cure” treatment. Basically, the woman is not allowed to read, write or to see her new-born baby. Charlotte Perkins Gilman captures the essence of this journey into madness by using the first person narration. The story plot’s is by taking the reader through the horrors of one woman’s neurosis to make strong statements about the oppression faced by women in their marriage roles. The narrator’s mental condition is characterized by her meeting with the wallpaper in her room. In addition to the story’s plot, the use of symbolism and irony throughout her story also show how males dominate during her time.