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The Repression Of Women 's Creativity

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Shreya Parajuli Professor Sara B. Sheiner Women and Creativity 12 October 2017 The Repression of Women’s Creativity Throughout history, the stereotypical female is pictured as being a delicate figure who is expected to subservient and passive, as opposed to her male counterparts. The expectation for women has been to be obedient and attend to their chores as a homemaker and caregiver; they have not been given the free reigns to voice their opinions, especially in the form of art. The works of art produced by women have been scorned at because of the perception that women needs to remain quiet and should not be entitled to their own opinions and thoughts. This issue has raised a personal question for me; why have women’s thoughts and …show more content…

This systematic sexism dealt by women, molds their psyche, causing them to accept this repression as commonplace and normal. Until recently, very few women have taken initiative to question this unfair treatment. Personally, I found it intriguing how women who had the ambition to challenge the system were rebuffed because their views were deemed as frivolous. This made me wonder if this hindered women’s motivation to disrupt the status quo, and continue their fight for their rights to voice their opinions. The narrator in The Yellow Wall-Paper symbolizes the women of historical times who were “prisoners” of society and were expected to be submissive to men, as men were seen as more intellectual sex. In the story, it is evident that the narrator’s husband, John asserts dominance over her and determines what she can and cannot do. For example, John confines his wife into a room and then states that, “...the place is doing you good…” (649). He does not bother to take into account his wife’s feelings. He believes isolation is the key to her recovery, while she believes that interacting with others and going outside will better her. To me, this was interesting because it was illustrating how women were seen as meek individuals who are unable to make decisions for themselves. However, the narrator does try to assert herself as a way to break free from the societal constraints: “ I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and

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