Essay Example on When men are oppressed it's a tragedy when women are oppressed it's a Tradition

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When men are oppressed it's a tragedy when women are oppressed it's a tradition Women have been facing oppression for so long that they have become accustomed to it It is considered to be a social norm for women to be dominated by men In literature during the 19th century women were often portrayed as submissives to men During this time period women were controlled by superiors like their husbands or fathers The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an excellent example of literature that portrays the submissions of women toward men The Yellow Wallpaper is an accurate useful description of the process of a woman s descent into madness through oppression Hysteria was the first mental disorder that was referenced to women The symptoms of hysteria at the time were considered to be lack of sex anxiety suffocation and tremors Although there were many symptoms they were not limited to this list Society immediately decided that if women that showed anyone of these symptoms had hysteria with no real medical evidence to back it up Because the doctors were male during this time women had no choice but to believe what they had to say

These women then had a label holding them back from their normal everyday lives Melampus spoke of the women s madness as derived from their uterus being poisoned by venomous humors due to a lack of orgasms and uterine melancholy Thus arose the idea of a female madness related to the lack of a normal sexual life Plato in Timaeus argues that the uterus is sad and unfortunate when it does not join with the male and does not give rise to a new birth and Aristotle and Hippocrates were of the same opinion Women and Hysteria In the history of Mental Health 2 Men assumed that women woman became crazy due to the lack of sex as time progressed this became the idea that many male scientist went along with If a physician of high standing and one s own husband assures friends and relatives that there i really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression a slight hysterical tendency what is one to do Gillman 2 If a doctor said that the misplacement of the uterus is what is making some women go mad what choice does a woman have but to believe a man of high standing Women in the 19th century did not have a choice in anything whatever the man said that is what the women had to do without questioning it This comes from the superiority that many man feel toward women

The Yellow wallpaper is a tragic story of a woman falling into hysteria The narrator is confine in a house and is forced to do nothings because is recommended for her mental illness Gilman reveals to the reader s how quickly it is for insanity takes hold on a person when it is misunderstood Isolating a person from the rest of the world make matters worse The unnamed narrator s husband John plays a major role in the process of the narrator going mad he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down i figures you see he doesn t believe i am sick Gilman 1 John believes that his wife is not really sick because he couldn't see the illness physically As he is both her husband and a physician johns s word carries ultimate authority for the speaker John considers his wife sickness to be a slight hysterical tendencies this indicates that it is not seen as a very important issue and its taken lightly It is also ironic because her illness is not sligh by any means However through John s condescending tone and authoritative attitude he repressed the speaker John s character can then be read as a symbol for the patriarchal society of the time This short story illustrates how the husband is the controlling figure in the marriage

The story exposes how the oppression put on them by their husband leaves the women unfilled and unhappy with their lives John says the very worst thing i can do is to think about my condition Gilman 2 The desire of the husband to control the relationship is expressing in the disallowment of his wife to think on her own rather he tell her what right and wrong But he said i wasn't able to go not able to stand it after i got there Gilman 7 John does not allow his wife to seek any form companionship either through socializing or through writing The Yellow Wallpaper is an accurate description of the descent into madness because just like the narrator women in the 19th century were forced into submission In the article the writer states that women were often not described as patients to be cured but rather as the cause of a particular human disease defined as amor heroicus or the madness of love unfulfilled sexual desire 4 Women were not acknowledged as human being As a result of this men did not see any reason to treat women as an equal In conclusion The Yellow Wallpaper is concerning the unfair and wrongful treatment of mental disorders



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