All throughout the 1970’s women are dealing with their lack of equality – may it be within the work area, politically, at home, or with laws. Sexism was very popular, and not uncommon, but these women are ‘at their ends’ with accepting it. The women of the decade begin to bond together – to fight for their rights as people. This will be known as the second-wave of feminism. They discover the power of sisterhood and begin to attract attention to their actions and when the Royal Commission of the Status of Woman steps in to make a report on the status of woman in Canada, laws begin to change, and debates on these new laws begin to occur.
She goes on a life changing excursion to make sense of her difficult predicament. She matures and becomes the woman she is at the end of the novel through her relationship with T. Ray, experiences with racism, and internal struggles. Due to her loathsome relationship with her father T. Ray, the protagonist Lily drastically changed into a more independent and confident woman. Lily has finally built up the courage to leave her abusive father when she thought, "I knew exactly what I had to do-leave. I had to get away from T. Ray" (Kidd 41).
By the nineteenth century, suffragists began working alongside the abolitionist movement, which was dedicated to ending slavery. However, due to public prejudice against feminism, women were granted limited power among the abolitionists. During debates, for example, women were often denied the opportunity to speak, and were seated in the back of the room. Growing discouraged and frustrated, suffragists disassociated themselves from the abolitionist and temperance movements, and began to organize their own crusade, dedicated solely to women's rights. Among the most prominent figures of the early women's movement were Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), Lucy Stone (1818-1893), Abbey Kelly Foster (1810-1887), and Ernestine P. Ross (1810-1892).
The Awakening Society frowns upon women who are trying to be independent and have a free life. Many people tend to look down on women who lived their life in a “dream” and who have awakened from it and acted out this “dream”. During the 19th century any women who did not follow expected social behavior were often looked down on as a disappointment. In the tragic realistic novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, a young American woman of the late nineteenth century seeks to realize her full potential as an independent human being. Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz are two women in which Edna’s options of life paths are exhibited, however, Edna finds both role models lacking.
She was also a feminist. Often, the genders of the character she created determine the fate of them. As to highlight the problem of women’s unequal status in the society and state the role of women during her time. Elizabeth, a childhood sweetheart of Victor, did not have the same equal rights and opportunities as Victor did. When Victor compares himself with Elizabeth, he says “I was capable of a more intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the thirst of knowledge.” Mary uses her character Elizabeth to review the lack of support and the demand for institutionalized education of girls in public, whereas Mary could only be home-educated by her father.
The novel is a challenge to the society and its assumptions of her time. She questions the rights of a woman to be free and fulfill her desires as another human being. Kate uses the main character of Edna Pontieller, and changes she goes through to emphasize the plight of a woman who wants to be independent. The other characters she uses depict the attitude towards gender prevailed in the society such as Leonce Pontieller, Madame Ratignolle and Madame Reisz. Edna Pontieller is regarded as a personal property of Leonce, her husband.
A door that once kept her shut-off from the outside world, not shuts out society’s view of women and their place in the world. “Iv got out at last...in spite of you!” (70). The narrator of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' has been driven into psychological madness through the imprisonment of male dominance. Gilman's use of symbolism to portray patriarchal dominance, through locked doors and bared windows, has been an effective way to communicate the suffering and trapped feeling of women during the 19th century. While many women would be to afraid to question their role in society and in marriage, Gilman has created a strong female protagonist who overcomes her husbands authoritative
Your Name Liberation: Winning or Losing! Can a woman overcome her oppression in a patriarchal society? Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper and Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening which were written in the 19th century, reveals woman’s position in the patriarchal society. The Yellow Wallpaper depicts how the woman is suppressed in Victorian Era, how this imprisonment paves the way for her disturbed mentality and her struggle to overcome it, whereas, The Awakening depicts the protagonist’s awakening of her imprisonment in the institution of marriage in the same era and her struggle to be free ignoring all her bonds with the family and the society. These two works of literature proves that how male dominance
In an age characterized by gender inequality, women were often told “your assignment, as wives and mothers, you can do in the living room with a baby in your lap or in the kitchen with a can opener in your hand” (Governor Adlai Stevenson, 1955). During the 19th century, women enjoyed few of the political, social and physical rights and opportunities that women of the 20th and 21st century have. Since then, women have fought for a more equal society and a more equal role by accomplishing a significant amount of goals that increased women’s opportunities. While political opportunities, working gender roles, and fashion are challenges that women face today, they are not as bad as the ones that women in the 19th century had to endure. Though not completely represented, women play vital roles in government nowadays as opposed to in the 19th century, when they were not even allowed to vote.
In Kate Chopin Three short stories “A Respectable Women” “The Kiss” and “The Story of an Hour” the leading women defy their daily roles of Purity, Domesticity and Submissiveness. At the turn of the twentieth century women were expected by society to be pure. Purity back then was one of the most important roles of women. They had to Guard it with their life if not thet weren’t a women and are then unfit to get married. It was said that the greatest night of their lifes is when they marry and lose their virginity to their beloved husband.