Argumentative Essay on Perkin's "The Yellow Wallpaper" about Feminism

Jones 2

Sucely Jones

Prof. XXX

Composition II

02 May 2021

How does Charlotte Perkin’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” address Feminism?

Broad categories/larger contexts for “The Yellow Wallpaper” might be a mental health issue, and gender inequality. The main character of this story is a woman, and she suffered a lot just because of her gender. She went to postpartum depression and was forced to stay in her room. Her husband does not take her seriously and gives the order to her. She has no right of speech, right of freedom, right of movement, and many more. The medical prescription was a rest-cure for the women which is different than the “west care” given to the men. This story presents the feeling of the woman who is getting dominated just because she is a woman.

I chose this topic because gender inequality still exists. In this time, where men have achieved great success in their careers, while women are struggling to earn fame. There are only limited women who achieved success compared to the men. Women are still not considered a deserving candidates for the larger responsibilities role and are not given chance to explore their abilities. All women are affected because of discrimination based on gender. This issue matters a lot because everyone is capable and just biasing based on gender is not right. Women can learn and compete for the roles which they dreamed of and can achieve them. However, there are still blockade for women which restricts her from achieving the success she deserves.

Feminism is always controversial, and it is controversial because of the institutionalized male dominating society’s view. Feminism asks the question on sex differences, what lead a man to dominate a woman just because he is a male, why women are restricted to follow their dream, why men think women cannot lead and achieve their goals and many more. The literature, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, presents the emotion of a woman who went through postpartum depression and is forced to stay in her room. She is not allowed to do any household work and her feelings are not taken seriously by his husband. This story has beautifully represented the feeling of a woman at that time which is equally true in the present context too. The writer of this story is Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She is an American feminist, author, novelist, and writer of short stories. She was born on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, CT, and committed suicide on Aug 17, 1935, in Pasadena, CA.

Finally, I would like to learn about gender equality in social, economic, and political contexts. Also, I am interested to know how feminist activities helped to bring gender equality and overcome the challenges on gender equity.