Women In Charlotte Perkins Stetson's The Yellow Wallpaper

The average woman makes seventy cents to every man 's dollar. This unsettling, yet true statistic is only one of the many inequalities women have to endure in comparison to men. Although great advances have been made in the field of gaining full equality for women, many challenges still present themselves. The unfortunate belief that men have full control over their female counterparts still pervades the minds of many. An alarming example of this expected submissiveness by women is seen in Charlotte Perkins Stetson 's short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Throughout the work, countless examples of patriarchal and masculine superiority crop up in the form of male and female roles, relationships between men and women, and thus raise the question of the …show more content…
Charlotte Perkins Stetson uses this literary piece to satirize the real way women are treated in their everyday lives. It is unlikely a woman ever was held hostage in an abandoned asylum and eventually lost her mind, but rather the mistreatment of the woman in the story speaks volumes about inequality amongst the sexes. Throughout the story the narrator overemphasizes her inability to speak up for herself, “Personally, I disagree with their ideas.... But what is one to do?” The way in which the narrator is portrayed, as a fragile, incompetent, featherbrained female is an outlet for the author’s own experiences. Following the birth of Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s daughter, Katherine, Charlotte began making claims of having postpartum depression. These claims were dismissed because women were often seen as “nervous” and “hysterical” beings during her time period. This experience is clearly portrayed by Perkins Stetson through her story, The Yellow Wallpaper. The author’s largely feminist views on the world and her involvement in feminist groups is imperative to one’s realization of the satirical work at play in her short