Compare And Contrast Mothers, Male Authority And Mental Health

Friedan paints the feminine woman of this time as having feelings of emptiness, non-existence and nothingness. She illustrates these problems that women face by telling the reader that the experts blame their feelings on the higher education they have received before becoming a housewife. All women are searching for is a human identity, a place where they belong without feeling empty. But the women before this generation fought for all the rights they have in the present, but they are not using them. But how can one change this dehumanizing aspect of the culture?

In her Feminine Mystique essay, “The Importance of Work”, writer Betty Friedan talks about how the identity crisis of American women beginning about a century ago. More and more of the work that was used by human abilities in which they could find self-realization that was taken from women. The identity crisis for women did not begin in America until the fire, strength, and ability of the pioneer women were no longer needed. Women today whom feel that they have no goal, purpose, or future will commit suicide. Betty Friedan attempts to explain the causes of women’s unhappiness as she tags it, “the problem that has no name”. (Friedan, pg.790, 1963) Friedan’s rhetoric in the essay is constructed and based upon three persuasive techniques, which are known as ethos, pathos, and logos. In her essay, her main goal was to bring about how successful her approach in determining the role of women in society. She did an excellent job at defending her argument with facts from history to back it up.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's The Yellow Wallpaper is a commentary on themale oppression of women in a patriarchal society. However, the story itselfpresents an interesting look at one woman 's struggle to deal with both physicaland mental confinement. This theme is particularly thought-provoking when readin today 's context where individual freedom is one of our most cherished rights.This analysis will focus on two primary issues: 1) the many vivid images Gilmanuses to illustrate the physical and symbolic confinement the narrator enduresduring her illness; and 2) the overall effect of, and her reaction to, thisconfinement.

Often, it said that a man is the first to notice a woman’s madness. However, in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman proves her insanity through her husband’s denial of her condition. Although known for her dark personal revelations, there is also a lot of controversy, inspiring young readers to criticize—as well as commend—her writings. While Gilman’s memoir describes her crucial path of depression and repression, the author is ignorant to that fact that she is essentially describing a prevalent allegory for men living upper class using dialogue and symbolism, which ultimately creates a new identity for women in the late 1800’s. Set in the 1890’s, society lived in a patriarchy where men were commonly stereotyped as superior to women.

In American society today, women and men enjoy equal freedoms and equal rights. As well, mental illness is treated both seriously and more effectively, and is being studied more than ever. The view of women and mental illness has shifted dramatically from those in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the short stories “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the protagonists experience gender stereotyping and live in a society where there are certain expectations of women all the while they suffer from mistreatment due to the lack of understanding of their mental illness. In “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” William Faulkner and Charlotte Perkins Gilman challenge the role of women and the stigma

“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Gilman is a chilling portrayal of a woman’s downward spiral towards madness after undergoing treatment for postpartum depression in the 1800’s. The narrator, whose name remains nameless, represents the hundreds of middle to upper- class women who were diagnosed with “hysteria” and prescribed a “rest” treatment. Although Gilman’s story was a heroic attempt to “save people from being driven crazy” (Gilman p 1) by this type of “cure” it was much more. “The Yellow Wallpaper” opened the eyes of many to the apparent oppression of women in the 1800’s and “possibly the only way they could (unconsciously) resist or protest their traditional ‘feminine’

The work of Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, is the main source of information on the condition of these housewives. Transparent testimonies give us an extremely clear vision of how women lived this illusion of a “perfect life” at the time. This book, feminist mystique was the basis of the shift from housewife to feminist. Armed with tangible proof that they are worthy of equality and more from life, women were ready to fight to earn the lives they deserved and wanted so

Throughout history, our perception of different topics has changed drastically. For example, our view on slavery or government has changed from accepting the culture normal to accepting almost the exact opposite of the traditional idea. Currently, as a society, we work diligently to alter the ancient view we possess on women and mental illness. Charlotte Perkins Gilman represents a type of person who led her time period in revolutionary ideas. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman illustrates the internal battles of both being a woman in a society controlled by men and a person who suffers from mental illness, at a time when that topic was not commonly discussed. As Mason Cooley says, “every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.” Cooley used this statement to draw attention to the seriousness of mental illness. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman utilizes the diary of the protagonist to illustrate the deeper thoughts of someone suffering from mental illness, while John, both a husband and physician, ignores his wife’s symptoms and believes that she just needs to rest. The ever-changing role of women in society plays an important role in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” By using descriptive imagery, ambiguous scenes and a first person point-of-view, Gilman creates a short story that utilizes setting to critique the gender roles of the nineteenth-century.

In the book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan brings attention to what she calls the feminine mystique, or “the problem that has no name”. Through the use of anecdotal narratives, her own personal experiences as a journalist, editor, mother, and the interviews of many women from different backgrounds in order to unveil the truth about the women of the 1950’s. The problem which sparked the second wave of feminism in the United States is one that focuses on the inequality between men and women and the undervaluing of women in both the social and private spheres. The women of the time gave up pursuing their passions, such as getting an education or careers in science or business in order to fit the image of the stereotypical stay-at-home mom whose main goal in life is to raise her children while providing a safe and comforting home for her husband. The Feminine Mystique, as she called it, was the idea of widespread unhappiness of women, despite the preconceived notion that women were happiest when they have a family. Throughout her work, she dives into many of the problems associated with the feminine mystique and builds a powerful concept of what would eventually be labeled feminism.

control over his wife is typical of the control most men had over women in the

We are able to see the difficulties that women were compelled to face and the torturous walls that had to be broken down. Implicitly, Gilman depicts the superiority

Women and hysteria, how society has undoubtedly linked the two together. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a late 19th century feminist whose various works like “The Yellow wallpaper” have continuously fought against the oppressive portrayal views on women. In this short story Gilman critiques the perspective of women, their roles, emotions and actions through a nameless woman who holds a negative mental state. Post-partum depression in “the Yellow Wallpaper” is embodied by a puke-yellow wallpaper, this mental state pertaining to the solitude of a single woman who is thought to be more hysterical than ill.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the most prominent feminists of her century. She brilliantly created a haunting and gothic allegory in her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” It was difficult for women to express themselves in a male dominant society, and they would often try to seek greater fulfillment. Gilman takes her audience through her unnamed character’s journey of emotional deterioration, and her quest for control over her own life. The author’s allegory for the suffrage of women as a whole is perceived through her female protagonist with marital submission, oppression, and the evils of the resting-cure all inspired by her own personal experience.

Feminist critics seek to recognize the ways in which women are oppressed socially, politically, economically, and psychologically in a given society. Women cannot be satisfied due to the fact of their own gender being a superstructure. The “mystique” essence people use as the excuse for not being able to relate to women is impractical. The feminine mystique is the artificial notion that a woman’s “role” is to be a housewife. Women are at war with themselves based primarily by the influences and received idea on them and their place in society. It is an unanswered questions, why women cannot feel satisfied, and I believe it has to do with the relationships between a mother and daughter, as well as former stereotypes lingering in the minds. Women in the working world want their daughters to stay in the home, and the women who stay in the home want their daughters to distinguish themselves with education and/or a career. Why there is a reversal, I have no idea. But again, why is there a struggle with the women identity? Throughout the book, The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Friedan, it is apparent women are never satisfied with their identity from the affects by having a patriarch society. The problem that has no name will stay a mystery because the overwhelming stereotypes of women are conflicting within one another.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman once said, ‘’There is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex. Might as well speak of a female liver’’. Gilman’s belief that there’s no difference in means of mentality between men or women demonstrated through ‘’The Yellow Wallpaper’’. Gilman symbolically portrays that women suffer from psychological disorders caused by lack of love, care, and a constant pressure of secondary roles and personal unimportance in social life. The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story about a woman who has a mental illness but cannot heal due to her husband’s lack of belief. The story appears to take place during a time frame where women were oppressed. The short story can be analyzed in depth by both the psycho-analytic theory and