Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Cupid in the Kitchen

Striving toward greater equality of the sexes has been a major battle since the formation of the United States. In the 1800’s, the Women's Rights Movement centered around suffrage, partially due to the 14th Amendment giving all male citizens the right to vote (“The Movement”). The 14th Amendment was the first time the Constitution defined “citizens” and “voters” as “male,” thereby excluding women (“The Movement”). This type of exclusion was not uncommon during the 19th century, when women were believed to be inferior to men and were expected to maintain their roles as homemakers. This expectation deterred women’s intellectual and personal growth and diminished their ability to function independently. However, when women began to realize the magnitude of their social oppression, activists began to solicit equality in many fashions. One method was feminist literature, which highlighted the plight of women in society and challenged the oppressive narrative pioneered by a male-dominated society. Authors Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman used their literature to voice their unfavorable opinions concerning the unjustly inferior social status of women. As a result, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin share similar themes and characterization, and reflect the current battles women face regarding arranged marriage and within the workplace.

Food was a problem for the not wealthy people. They were standing lines for sometimes hours to get something to eat, sometimes there was not enough to feed everyone in the lines. A lady named Eleanor came to volunteer her husband for a culinary to make him unhappy. She cared about the food, not for the way it tasted, and what it represented. “Scientific cookery, a cuisine of female empowerment got spoke to the feminist in Eleanor.”

The book describes how complex societal dictation dominated the lives of women and left no room for growth as a unique individual with a passion other than homemaking. It called upon women to take a stand against these so called norms and “seek new opportunities for themselves” (“Betty Friedan”). It instantly became sensation and “continues to be regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century” (Michals). It struck a nerve with all women alike, leading to a “feminist explosion” (Kaplan) because of the recognition of themselves in Friedan’s work (Parry) and the familiarity shared between the women created a sense of community. It also brought public awareness to the glamorized domestication of

The Progressive Era of the 1890’s was a period of immense political debate and economic struggle with the movement of various women seeking reform. The excerpt from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s essay,“women must free themselves from the home to achieve genuine freedom,” presented the argument that an essential piece to the improvement of marriage, motherhood, and individual freedom was independence. Further, the argument Gilman presents supports the transformation of marriage, family, and home by exercising economic interdependence.

In Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John acts as the mirror through which women are viewed negatively in the society, a society in which women are not considered citizens. They are not supposed to be anywhere near the political or public environment. Instead, they should remain in their homes. This view has led to women creating women movements to fight for their place in the society.

Topics of great social impact have been dealt with in many different ways and in many different mediums. Beginning with the first women’s movement in the 1850’s, the role of women in society has been constantly written about, protested, and debated. Two women writers who have had the most impact in the on-going women’s movement are Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper are two of feminist literature’s cornerstones and have become prolific parts of American literature. Themes of entrapment by social dictates, circumstance, and the desire for personal independence reside within each work and bond the two together.

The diction Gilman employs relates directly to the lasting role of women in the home to expose the historical adversities endured within the domestic sphere. The intricacy with which Gilman composes the text highlights the inherent

It was expected of women to stay home and cook, clean, and take care of the kids. The problem undermined with this concept, was the recent upgrade in American living; dishwashers, washers and dryers increased efficiency. This lead to women having even less to do and they started to get fed up with this lifestyle. As described as “the problem with no name,” in Betty Freidan’s book The Feminine Mystic, women were expected to live their lives in ways that didn’t appeal to them. Some tried to stray from this course and support themselves with their own job, but the circumstances were outrageous. Women were considered secondary workers and they only earned about half of what men made, and that’s why getting married was a safer

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an influential feminist and social critic, encouraged women to be involved in the public sphere, and not be house servants who work for their husbands. In her 1898 work Women and Economics, she discusses the importance of financial equality and writes that “When women stand free as economic agents, they will… [... better fulfil their duties as wives and mothers and contribute] to the vast improvement in health and happiness of the human race.” Her writing projected that women were economically independent raise their children and fulfil their roles as wives better than those who were economically dependent on their husbands. At a time when there were “high rents and high costs of living,” additional income would help mothers ensure that their family had proper housing and the necessities they needed to live. Charlotte Perkins Gilman conveys that women who are economically independent will further humans by contributing more to their families.

Gilman’s most distinguished piece of work was her novel, Women and Economics, published in 1898. In this text Gilman focused on women and the workplace, and women of the time could easily relate to her opinions about working in the home. However, Gillman believed that women could not gain true freedom working strictly inside their homes and to ultimately be free that they must find work outside of their responsibilities at home. She stated that “women experience not fulfillment but oppression” when merely working in the home (Foner 691).

With the changes in American society, Gilman 's economic theories have appeared increasingly less radical and attracted less notice by critics and public. However, as women 's roles continue to evolve, her sociological studies and her suggestions for housekeeping and take care of child arrangements gain in significance. Many modern feminist nonfiction works reflect the influence of Gilman 's ideas. Readers are rediscovering in her thought much that is relevant

There are various types of nursing homes throughout the country . It is imperative to realize that when locating a secure living environment for the elderly ; the heart of the facility lies within the kitchen . According to a private foundation , " one study cited in the report found as many as 85 percent of the elderly living in some of the nation's more than 17,000 nursing homes are malnourished " (Commonwealth Fund , 2007 ) . In addition to an appropriate establishment , one should consider who prepares the meals and the quality of the food . When a senior enters the dining room for feeding time , the majority of the time a meal will not serve their best interest . For that reason , creating healthier menus for retirement homes will improve

As a young girl living in the 1960’s era women lived and defined themselves by their marriage or birth to a man. As a woman you could not open a bank account without your husband’s co-signature. You could not start a business without your husband’s permission and a signature. “Most of the woman that did work were teachers, nurses, or secretaries. Women accounted for six

The era of the housewife usually paints a rosy mental picture; a white picket fence, a large house with a big yard, a beautiful family, and homemade goods. However, as seen in Betty Friedan’s article “The Problem That Has No Name”, describes the turmoil experienced by housewives of the 1960s. The problem was described and become popularized in a variety of ways by media outlets, such as ungrateful housewives that had too much education to realize “how lucky she is” (52). The women who experienced the problem described the feelings of inadequacy and frustration such as “I feel empty some how” or “I feel as if I don’t exist” (50). Although Friedan does not clearly state what the exact problem is it is apperant that these women want more from

The food industry has a large impact on individuals and will affect wider communities in the future. The rush of today’s society has pushed food production to become more commercialized with prepackaged/premade based foods. For numerous reasons such as time, work and costs of living, people are wanting meals that are cheap, fast, easy and don’t require much effort. This is due to many obligations and priorities in life that are put above