Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Women And Economics

1478 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Charlotte perkins gilman from women and economics summary

This essay aims to discuss and answer certain questions relating to the text, ‘Women and Economics - A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1899) [1898], to gain a wider understanding of the text.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born on July 3rd, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut. As well as “Women and Economics”, Gilman published other works such as “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and had established a magazine called “The Forerunner” which allowed her to publish her views and opinions on the problems women face from 1909 to 1916. After the death of her second husband, George Gilman, she was diagnosed with inoperable breast cancer in 1935, this eventually led to her suicide on …show more content…

Gilman also projects the ideas in her work towards all genders, this is noted continuously throughout chapter one as she repeatedly uses “we” and “us” to make both sexes understand the issues Gilman raises. For example, Gilman introduces the topic of inequality with “We are the only animal species in which the female depends on the male for food” (Gilman, 1898: 5).
According to Patricia Hollis in ‘Women in Public, 1850-1900: Documents of the Victorian Women’s Movement’ (2013) there were three main stereotypes of women. The first stereotype was religion, in that women were created by God from a man and as a result of that, women were …show more content…

The strengths of the first key argument that women are solely dependent on the male for survival is that she consistently uses animal imagery in order to explain her point. For example, “The female bee and ant are economically dependent, but not on the male.” (Gilman, 1898: 5) and “in the case of the common cat, she not only feeds herself and her young, but has to defend the young against the male as well.” (Gilman, 1898: 5). This strengthens her argument as the text continuously provides examples and comparisons to females in various other species. The strength of Gilman’s second argument is that the economic progress of the time was very much male dominated, which is also noted by T. H. Lister (1841, cited in Hollis, 2013: 8) that “Women, as a class, cannot enjoy, at the same time, the immunities of weakness and the advantages of power.” This helps to expand on Gilman’s point, that women had no power at the time as a woman’s life was ruled by men economically, socially and politically. Gilman’s third argument was that women contribute to society, but in the private area, not the public. Yet they are not economically independent because of the non-paid or minimal paid work that they do. This is reflected in ‘The Grounding of Modern Feminism’, “Since wage-earning women were not necessarily, or mostly, economically independent women – their wages were too low for

Show More
Related

  • Women 's Rights By Dr. John Todd, And Gail Hamilton

    1608 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the beginning of the 17th-century and earlier, there has always been different perspectives on women 's rights. Men and women all over the world have voiced their opinion and position in regard to the rights of women. This holds especially true in the United States during the 18th and 19th century. As women campaigned for equality, there were some who opposed this idea. There was, and always will be a series of arguments on behalf of women 's rights. Anti-women 's rights activists such as Dr. John Todd and Pro-women 's rights activist Gail Hamilton argued intelligently and tactfully on the topic. There were many key arguments made against women’s rights by Dr. John Todd, and Gail Hamilton 's rebuttal was graceful and on par with her male counterpart. Let 's examine some of Dr. John 's arguments against women 's equality.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper and A Streetcar Named Desire

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman has carefully crafted her sentences and metaphors to instill a picture of lurid and creepy male oppression. The surface of the text contains clues about Gilman’s perceptions of the treatment and roles of women, the narrator stumbling over words like “phosphates”, her being uncertain whether the correct term was “phosphates or phosphites” (Gilman 1684), which clearly shows that in her time women had been overlooked in education and because for a time, only men had that privilege, they were able to learn what they had to in order to earn jobs, which is illustrated in her husband and her brother both being “a physician of high standing” (Gilman 1684). The character Gilman has set up has the qualities and traits of the Victorian woman...

    Read More

  • Susan B Anthony The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan B. Anthony, a woman’s rights pioneer, once said, “Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done” (“Women’s Voices Magazine”). Women’s rights is a hot button issue in the United States today, and it has been debated for years. In the late 1800’s an individual named Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote literature to try and paint a picture in the audience’s mind that gender inferiority is both unjust and horrific. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman makes the ultimate argument that women should not be seen as subordinate to men, but as equal.

    Read More

  • The Rights Of Women In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” (US Constitution, Amendment XIX). The above is the 19th amendment of the United States of America Constitution. Ratified in 1920, after supporters worked tirelessly to change the mindset of a nation. But even with the law, there are still stereotypes. There are still people set on what they think. The issue is not the rights of women. Since 1920, they have had the rights. The issue does not even focus on disputes such as money, working, or privileges. The issue is being understood. In the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents a clear and relevant example of the suppression

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s bodies of work, Gilman highlights scenarios exploring traditional interrelations between man and woman while subtexting the necessity for a reevaluation of the paradigms governing these relations. In both of Gilman’s short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Turned”, women are victimized, subjected and mistreated. Men controlled and enslaved their wives because they saw them as their property. A marriage was male-dominated and women’s lives were dedicated to welfare of home and family in perseverance of social stability. Women are expected to always be cheerful and good-humored. Respectively, the narrator and Mrs. Marroner are subjugated by their husbands in a society in which a relationship dominated by the male is expected.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In The Yellow Wallpaper

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the time Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” she was considered a prominent feminist writer. This piece of background information allows the readers to see Gilman’s views on women’s rights and roles in the 18th century; “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that women in the 18th century were suppressed into society’s marital gender roles. Gilman uses the setting and figurative language, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors to convey the theme across.

    Read More

  • Women's Vote and Their Work During World War I

    3532 Words  | 8 Pages

    Without access to equal opportunities they could not compete with men in the work place and therefore could not achieve financial independence.[2] In order to change these policies women needed the

    Read More

  • The Movement for Women's Rights Inside The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women have been mistreated, enchained and dominated by men for most part of the human history. Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was great inequality between the social and economic conditions of men and women (Pearson Education). The battle for women's emancipation, however, had started in 1848 by the first women's rights convention, which was led by some remarkable and brave women (Pearson Education). One of the most notable feminists of that period was the writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was also one of the most influential feminists who felt strongly about and spoke frequently on the nineteenth-century lives for women. Her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" characterizes the condition of women of the nineteenth century through the main character’s life and actions in the text. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces because of its realism and prime examples of treatment of women in that time. This essay analyzes issues the protagonist goes through while she is trying to break the element of barter from her marriage and love with her husband. This relationship status was very common between nineteenth-century women and their husbands.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Mental Illness

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    Change is often greeted with resistance. Historical changes in the 19th century were no different. Feminist critics were quick to respond to Gilman’s publications. During the 1800’s, it

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Gilman And Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    2277 Words  | 5 Pages

    What is Feminism? How does feminism affect the world we live in today? Was feminism always present in history, and if so why was it such a struggle for women to gain the respect they rightly deserve? Many authors are able to express their feelings and passions about this subject within their writing. When reading literary works, one can sense the different feminist stages depending on the timeframe that the writing takes place. Two such works are ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by, Charlotte Gilman and ‘Everyday Use’ by, Alice Walker; the feminist views within each story are very apparent by the era each author lives in. It is evident that a matter of fifty years can change the stance of an author’s writing; in one story the main character is a confident and strong willed young woman looking to voice her feminist views on the world, while the other story’s main character is a woman trying to hold on to her voice in a man’s world which is driving her insane.

    Read More

  • A Descent Into Madness: Gilman's 'The Yellow Paper'

    1803 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Gilman attached the nineteenth century's configuration of private space as woman's domain and its attendant generalizations about femininity. Gilman seeks to blur the distinction between private and public life. Gilman unflaggingly urged her audience to consider their logic in assigning women to the home. The composition of home life altered radically between the beginning and final decades of the nineteenth century" (17).

    Read More

  • What Is Feminism In The Yellow Wallpaper

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Virginia Wolfe once stated, “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman” ( ). The word female has had countless meanings throughout its lifespan. Females can be seen as lowly and cheap, regal and sophisticated, or weak and underutilized. It has only been in the last 70 years that women have gained a foothold in society, to gain the rights they deserve. In the late 1800’s a new writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman questioned society’s views on the idea of being female and tried to make them understand that females are a force to be reckoned with and not a doormat for men to step on. She would not stand to be labeled anonymous.

    Read More

  • The Feminization of Poverty

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feminists are constantly trying to decrease the wage gap through activism. Women are more educated now than they have ever been, but even women who are university graduates are earning less than men. Frenette and Coulombe reached the conclusion that this was often due to their degrees being in gendered fields of study, such as the arts and humanities (as cited in Gaszo, 2010, p. 224). Women also tend to work in fields associated with lower pay, which includes service and sales work (Gaszo, 2010). In the garment industry, women, especially immigrants and women who work at home, are routinely taken advantage of by companies such as Wal-Mart and paid far too little (Ng, 2006).

    Read More

  • Patriarchy Essay

    1858 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women’s subordination within the labour market is seen by Marxist feminists as suiting the needs of capitalism as women are considered a ‘reserve army of labour’ as they are a more disposable part of the workforce. According to Beechey (1986) women are a cheap ‘reserve army of labour’ that are brought in during economic booms but then thrown out during slumps. Women are often not members of trade unions and are prepared to work for less money as their wage could be a second income. This benefits capitalism as a group of unemployed people looking for work creates competition and exploitation. Employers are given an advantage which allows them to reduce wages and increase the rate of exploitation. Benston (1972) supports this as women are used to benefitting the operation of the capitalist economy by carrying out unprepared work in the home. This proves that patriarchy dominates women which leads to women’s subordination. Hartmann (1981) believes that patriarchy and the economy both play a crucial role in explaining and understanding gender inequality. Historically, men have controlled women especially by control of labour power. This can come through legislation that operates economically to the benefit of men, for example Maternity and Paternity Rights. This proves that patriarchy and economics together explains gender inequality. However, Walby (1986) argues that women staying at home can actually harm capitalism because if women were to compete for jobs with men this would lower wages and increase profits. Women who earn also have superior spending power which would boost the economy and benefit

    Read More

More about Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Women And Economics

Open Document