One
of the most influential female writers during the Women’s Movement was Charlotte
Perkins Gilman. She was extremely concerned with the injustices that women
faced and produced many feminist works to inspire other women to strive for
equal rights. She was born in Hartford Connecticut in 1860. During this time
period women were seen as inferior and received less rights then man. While men
were at work, women were expected to cook, clean, take care of the children,
and remain in the house. Women were also discouraged from writing or doing
anything intellectual. Gilman wrote many pieces that depicted the hardships
women faced in order to promote equality
Gilman’s notorious story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”,
was written to show how injustices to woman are mentally harmful. The story was
influenced by Gilman’s personal experiences of dealing with depression due to
restrictions faced on women during this time period. While suffering from a
nervous breakdown, Gilman was forced to restrain from physical activity. The
story was explained to be “an imaginative account of her suffering and
treatment by the physician S. Weir Mitchell who forbade her any activity,
especially writing, the thing she wanted to do most”(Charters 461). Gilman
explained that she “considered The yellow Wallpaper to be not literature but
merely a story that had a purpose as all her other writings did”(Dock 56).
Although “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a powerful story, Gilman produced other
works that influenced the Women’s movement.
Another
of Gilman’s most power works “Women and Economics”, was “considered one the most
important works of early years of the women’s movement in the United States” (Charters
461). In this writing, Gilman examines the sexual and economic relationship in marriage
based on Lester F Ward’s theory of human development. Gilman explains, “in no
other animal species is the female economically dependent on the male. In no
other species is the seal relation for sale” (Chang 323). This quote explains
the human injustices of making women dependent on the support of men. It is
interesting how Gilman makes a biological argument instead of an emotional
appeal about the discrimination women faced. This is a extremely logical argument
considering that female animals do not relay on males for shelter and food so
why should sex be such a huge role in human development? Secondly, Gilman makes an argument
based on economics explaining the women should not have to depend on men finically.
This insinuates that women should be given the right to work outside the home
be able to have to support themselves. Gilman claims that, “an economic democracy must rest on free womanhood,
human progress can only be possible when women are liberated from the four
walls of the andocentric home, redirecting their motherly serviceability to
human community”(Chang 323). In other words, Gilman believes that humans will
never progress as a species if women are forced to remain in the house as well
as being economically dependent on men.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman produced
powerful writings such as The Yellow Wall Paper and Women and Economics along
with many other pieces during the Women’s Movement. Her work is still
recognized today and “found a secure place in contemporary literary studies” (
Dock 52). Gilman helped influence equal rights for women by writing about the
inequalities women faced. Although
Gilman produced many popular writings, do you think she would have produced the
same quality of writing if she was not influenced by the Women’s Movement?
Works
Cited
"But One Expects That": Charlotte Perkins Gilman's
"The Yellow Wallpaper" and the Shifting Light of Scholarship
Julie Bates Dock, Daphne Ryan Allen, Jennifer Palais and
Kristen Tracy
PMLA , Vol. 111, No. 1, Special Topic:
The Status of Evidence (Jan., 1996), pp. 52-65
Charters, Ann. "Charlotte
Perkins Gilman." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to
Short Fiction. New York: St.
Martin's, 1983. 461. Print.
CHANG, LI-WEN. "Economics,
Evolution, And Feminism In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Utopian Fiction." Women's Studies
39.4 (2010): 319-348. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
I think Gilman's inspiration came from the Women's Movement, however, I believe her work would be just as inspiring without it. Movement or not, women have always struggled for social equality with men. In today's society men and women are practically equal but still the fight continues because of gender stereotypes. Women no longer have to depend on men for economic stability, which is something Gilman feared would halt our species.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that her writing would reflect women's rights as strongly if she had not experienced the feminist movement.She had to deal with these inequalities first hand during this time period. The fact that her career was in writing was likely another strong influence on her want for more women's rights. Women were discouraged from writing, which would give her more reasoning to support this movement.
ReplyDeleteFirst I just want to say that you brought up some very interesting points that Gilman used as a way to fight for the rights of women. I love the argument for women from the biological perspective. I believe that as long as Gilman still experienced the injustice of sex discrimintion, she would have still focused on equality for women. Even if this meant the lack of a strong Feminist movement.
ReplyDeleteThe last paragraph is very interesting. I never looked at it that way and I'm sure it is a select few that had that original idea to compare us to animals for women rights. Now that I think about it female animals really do not rely on male animals. Furthermore, I do not think that women rely on men either. I think that it really depends on the person male or female. I have witnessed and experienced were husbands and males in proffesional positions that rely very much on females.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Women's Movements definitely gave Gilman's writing much more of an absolute feminist approach. However, I also think that without the Women's Movement at the same time Gilman would have written about the same things because they did relate to things that were happening in her own life, but the sense to urgency and change- femininism may not have been AS strong.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly believe Gilman's influence came straight from the Women's Movement. Because she felt so strongly about standing up for womens' rights, her writing reflected those ideas as well. It could have been more of a personal reason as to why she wrote so many powerful works, but because there was so much going on with the movement at the same time she was writing avidly, it definitely shows in her writings.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Gilman's writing reflects ideas from the Women's Movement. Her writing definitely takes on a feministic approach and because of this, discussion can be made. I feel that Gilman was proving Americans wrong during this time in that women are powerful and do have the right to write and show their independence.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Gilman's ideas and beliefs of feminism and participation in the Women's Movement had a big impact of her writing. She wrote what was relevant to her at the time and the feministic approach in this story definitely reflects what she stood for and believed in. I feel like she was trying to make a statement by this story of "girl power." I do not think this story would have been so "feministic" if Perkins was not so heavily involved in the Women's Movement. I believe the topic of the story would have been completely different if she was not so heavily involved
ReplyDeleteGilman's ideas and beliefs of feminism are through out her writings. Because she felt so strongly it was easy for her to put in it in her writings as well.
ReplyDelete