Throughout time men and women have always been thought to live two different kinds of lives. Each had their own jobs to do based on their gender. In the nineteenth century, men were the primary bread winners in the family while women stayed at home handling the family, cooking and cleaning. Since time began, that has always been the family dynamic between a man and woman. My research gave me more information on the specific jobs and lives women had to live, how their actions and opinions were dismissed by men, and the hardship of wanting to push for change for women. My research is also seen through Charlotte Perkin Gillman`s story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Neither man nor woman could step into each other`s sphere of work. A day's work for either a man or women was pre determined for them based on their gender.

A woman`s daily activities in the nineteenth century never ventured outside of the household. They were not allowed to take up a real job other than being a mother and wife. The first article I read, Feminism Old Wave and New Wave, by Ellen DuBois, talks about how no matter if women wanted to step out of their typical gender roles it would be impossible. DuBois says, "As long as they (women) worked within "woman`s sphere they, everything would be fine. But as soon as they stepped beyond it, they were severely reprimanded by their abolitionist brothers" (DuBois 1). Here she explains that a woman who wanted to perform a job a man would typically do, would be turned away and criticized by any man in their life. It was not right for a woman to do something a man would or should be doing. This is seen in an example in The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. The narrator is put on bed rest, thought to be the "rest cure", by her husband because he believed it would heal her. The woman was forbidden from doing any work such as writing in her journal. The narrator would never protest because she knows any response would be ignored. Another article I read, The Yellow Wall Paper: A Twist on Conventional Symbols, by Liselle Sant, explains how her being confined to the room causes a feeling of being trapped, looking through the window and instead seeing, "A view to what she does not want to see. Through it he sees all that she could be and everything she could have" (Sant 1). Her husband is keeping her restricted to just being the classic woman figure, forbidden from developing into something more than just a housewife. Many ladies felt this way in the nineteenth century because of their inability to do something they wanted to because it was out of the norm for her. Women like the narrator were under complete control by the men in all aspects of their lives.

It was a long time before woman thought about fighting for their own rights. They knew the amount of control men had over a lot of things, believing they would never be able to change how they were living and being treated. As time went on woman became angry enough in the inability to do anything that they decided they wanted a revolution. Up until 1920 women had no voice in politics, unable to make decisions on how their country would end up being run. Only white males could vote creating a country ran and decided on by men. As a new political movement rose up being called the "New Left", their goal was to give "equal justice to all". DuBois writes, "Women did the shitwork and the men made the decisions  The decision making and public acknowledgment were reserved for the men" (DuBois 2). Any fight women put up for their opinions to be heard by men were put down immediately and assign yet again to the gender roles our society set up. Women were making an impact by themselves and were still unrecognized by men during the Civil War. The girls stopped their feminist movement to assist in anyways they could, throwing themselves into patriotic work. "They were very conscious that their participation in the national wartime mobilization would be a test of their political seriousness. They also expected to be amply rewarded for their selfless activity once the war was over" (DuBois 2). When the war ridden men returned home there was no thank you, repayment, anything to compensate the women. It was expected of women to do what their womanly duties no matter with nothing special in return. It was their life, so nothing special should happen when someone does what is expected of them (as thought of by men). The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper was expected to go back to her usual duties once she was healed. Anything out of the ordinary would not have an affect on the men and their decisions on what their women can do. Any choice or decision made involving a woman was chosen upon by the man or men in her life.

The nineteenth century was a struggle for women to make their lives their own. Any effort made to cause a change was met with the force of men wanting to keep their women in line. Even as women started any form of a movement it was met with resent from men who thought they were overstepping their roles. Sant writes, "The image in the wallpaper is not another woman; it is herself as well as all women in general and therefore all the women trapped by society" (Sant 2). Sant describes how woman are put down so many times by men that they end becoming confined by someone they love; like the woman the narrator believes is stuck behind the yellow wallpaper in the room. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper wants her husband to realize that his idea of healing her is instead causing her to go insane. Any time she tries to get him to notice what he is doing is wrong, he believes her illness is causing her to feel that way. Each attempt to break out of the stereotypical mode of a woman and be one`s own person was completely ruined, giving women no new rights or abilities. Many women have tried to break out the sphere all women were born into but have fallen short in the nineteenth century.

There are different views of how a family should be depending on the time period you are in. Throughout the nineteenth century everything was different whether you were male or female. Females fought constantly to do more than just handle raising the family and cleaning the house. Women were told to stay in the stereotypical view people saw them as, their views and voices were never heard by men, and the battle they went through to push for change. The story The Yellow Wallpaper, depicts all of the points throughout the narrator`s struggle. Women in present day have received more rights since the start of the movement at the start of the nineteenth century. Even with the new freedoms the fight is not over. The fight for total equality has and will continue until every man and woman can have the same liberties to the full extent.

