Yellow Wallpaper Gender Inequality

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” explains what needed to be done for women immediately. The short story was written in 1892 during this era women were treated as objects and not as human beings. Moreover, the story explains an aspect of this. The restraint that women suffered, the narrator is told that she cannot leave the house and is strictly to rest, consequently this leads to insanity and the obsession over the wallpaper proceeds. Additionally, the mistreatment of her husband is a topic that is explained throughout the story, while the narrator explains to John that she is suffering from this “rest cure” and wants to write and freedom from the big empty room, he patronizes her explaining that he is the physician and to trust what he says. Furthermore, she explains to him that she wants to visit relatives but to no avail she is denied and forced to confinement. …show more content…
Taught from an early age in schools, the purpose a woman had was to solely work for their husbands. The instructors taught them that cooking and cleaning was their responsibility, and to make an objection would have consequences. Furthermore, if they were to go to college it would not be to obtain a degree in a field but instead to find a worthy husband. These teachings corrupted the minds of the women of the 19th century; the removal of gender specific education would have been vital to end of the inequality. If students were taught, the same material from elementary to high school women would not have been victims to the teachings of a male driven society. Giving women equal positions in the workforce would have been a step forward not only for equality but also for the economy. If proper work were given to women in the 19th century, they would have not been seen as the “weaker” gender they would be doing the same work as men and earning the same wages thus ending inferiority in the labor