Gilman Sociology

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

Publication of books and periodical revealed to the public the problems that women endured within their homes, education, labor, and health. In a male dominant society, men premeditated what roles women should play at home. Women were perceived as weaker than men, unable to think for themselves and their opinions were view as useless. Male dominating view of a woman’s role was to have no other aspirations but to take care of her husband, family and home.

In society in the 1950’s the average woman played an inferior role to men. Men considered themselves superior to women and often expected women to cater to their wishes. Females were expected to adjust their feelings , thoughts and actions to accommodate men's beliefs. The “do not speak unless spoken to” rule was common for women. They were expected to obey their husbands and fathers without hesitation. In order to be judged as respectable, they would have to remain sexually pure until marriage. After a minimum amount of schooling, women had to find a suitable young man to marry. In some instances a woman’s parents would orchestrate an arranged marriage to benefit their social status or income. Being put in such a position deteriorated a woman’s power. Today, women have fewer guidelines to abide by. First, women

Their stance may not have been as boisterous then as it is now, but they have always played an important role within the formation of todays’ society. The final attribute, studied within this chapter, supports this notion with the rise of female workers within America. Some of the most famous women social employees were: Jane Addams, Charlotte Gilman, Anna Cooper, Ida Wells-Barnett, Marianne Weber, and Beatrice Webb. Each of these women were still looked upon as inferior to men despite their contributions to society as a whole. These women believed sociology was developed from scholarly investigations that helped to attribute to the ideology of improving ones’ life through education and learning means. The women believed that this change would bring about both a sense of belong for women within cultural societies as well as modeling the community into a world in which everyone can coincide together. Their work would not be accounted for under the sociological realm of study… but it would be attributed to the greater sense of communal study as it is known

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an influential feminist and social critic, encouraged women to be involved in the public sphere, and not be house servants who work for their husbands. In her 1898 work Women and Economics, she discusses the importance of financial equality and writes that “When women stand free as economic agents, they will… [... better fulfil their duties as wives and mothers and contribute] to the vast improvement in health and happiness of the human race.” Her writing projected that women were economically independent raise their children and fulfil their roles as wives better than those who were economically dependent on their husbands. At a time when there were “high rents and high costs of living,” additional income would help mothers ensure that their family had proper housing and the necessities they needed to live. Charlotte Perkins Gilman conveys that women who are economically independent will further humans by contributing more to their families.

Over the course of many years, women have struggled to expand their roles and rights in society, hoping to one day achieve complete equality with their male counterparts. Two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady, both recognized the patriarchal society in which women had to endure. They despised the way it heaped inequality and servitude upon women, and decided to assert their opinion on the issue in order to change the perceptions and imposed limitations on women. In Stanton’s speech, “Declaration of Sentiments”, and in Brady’s article, “I Want a Wife”, both women attempt to convince their audiences that females deserve complete equality with men by stating the submissive situations and obligations women find themselves immersed in. This is done to get their female audiences to reevaluate how they have been treated and give them a second chance at attaining equality. Both women employ various rhetorical techniques in their arguments to strengthen, as well as compel other women to oppose the ‘domesticated’ image of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady expressed their views in pursuance of forging a path to a revamped lifestyle for women.

The diction Gilman employs relates directly to the lasting role of women in the home to expose the historical adversities endured within the domestic sphere. The intricacy with which Gilman composes the text highlights the inherent

While Gilman believed that, women would not have a revolution against the men, but we would “evolve” into equality. Society would over time, as women became more economically independent, balance its injustices. Then, women would finally be free to develop as individuals, and to offer their untapped resources to their families and society as a whole.

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of

Gilman believed that womankind was the underdeveloped half of humanity and improvement was necessary for the progression of the human race. She believed that the home should be socially redefined and that economic independence is the only thing that could really bring freedom for women. She wrote that when the sexual-economic relationship ceases to exist, life on the domestic front would certainly improve. In many of her major works, including “The Home” (1903). Human Work (1904), and The Man-Made World (1911), also advocated women working outside of the

Comprehension Exercise Gilman, known for her most famous work, “Women And Economics” was a novelist, activist, academic and journalist who fought against patriarchy of her time. During Gilman’s life she, “sought to eradicate marriage” Charlotte Perkins Gilman A Biography. Davis. C.J. Stanford University Press. (2003).

The roles of women during the Romantic Era were truly difficult. Life was strikingly challenging for women in specific due to previous beliefs of what they should and should not be attempting. However, the Romantic Era was a turning point for women, and life was beginning to change in favor of them and the rights they deserved. “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, written by Mary Wollstonecraft, explains how women should be equal to men. They deserved more rights, and shouldn’t have been looked down on.

With the changes in American society, Gilman 's economic theories have appeared increasingly less radical and attracted less notice by critics and public. However, as women 's roles continue to evolve, her sociological studies and her suggestions for housekeeping and take care of child arrangements gain in significance. Many modern feminist nonfiction works reflect the influence of Gilman 's ideas. Readers are rediscovering in her thought much that is relevant

Despite being under the rule of a female monarch, women faced many inequalities and suffering during the Victorian age. Examples of these inequalities include not having the right to vote, unequal educational and employment opportunities. Women were even denied the legal right to divorce in most cases. As the Norton Anthology states, these debates over women’s rights and their roles came to be known as the “woman question” by the Victorians. This lead to many conflicting struggles, such as the desire by all for women to be educated, yet they are denied the same opportunities afforded to men. While these women faced these difficulties, there was also the notion that women should be domestic and feminine. There was an ideal that women should be submissive and pure because they are naturally different. The industrial revolution introduced women into the labor workforce, but there was still a conflict between the two identities; one of an employed woman, and one of a domestic housewife.