Men and women have always been thought to live two different kinds of lives. One must stay within their own, "sphere" as they called it, never trying to do another genders line of work. Each had their own jobs, specific to them, 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. A mother`s job dealt mainly inside the house unlike men who had to go out and make a living for their family. Since time began, the family dynamic has never been changed or challenged to fight for more rights 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. 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. 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 profitable job instead of 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 made impossible by others in their lives. DuBois says, "As long as they (women) worked within 'woman`s sphere', 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. The men did not like it when women acted more masculine by wanting more control over their actions and lives. 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, a technique known as the "rest cure", by her husband because he believed it would heal her. Being a well known doctor, her husband thought he could solve any problem. The woman was forbidden from doing any work such as writing in her journal. The thought was by doing nothing at all the mind and body could rest and heal. The narrator would never protest, knowing any response would be ignored. When the narrator begs her husband to have them leave the house and move somewhere else he responds, "The repairs are not done at home, and I cannot possibly leave town just now. Of course if you were in any danger, I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you" (Gilman 215). She tries to convince her husband that she is not feeling comfortable in the home but he sticks by his own thoughts and decisions because he believes he is right instead of his wife. 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. The woman is looking through the window 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. Stuck inside the four walls of the room unable to live a life outside peoples` rules. The room keeps her under the control of the people in her life. Many ladies felt this way in the nineteenth century because of their inability to do something they wanted 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 women 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, women became angry enough in the inability to do anything that they decided they wanted a revolution. That was the moment they took it upon themselves to make a change for all women and giving them a voice. Up until 1920 women had no voice in politics, unable to make decisions on how their country would be run. White males were the few who could vote, creating a country run and decided on by a specific group. Even if women did not agree with the choices the men did there was no way to fight against it. As a new political movement rose up being called the "New Left", run by women. 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 own opinions to be heard by men were put down immediately. Women were making an impact by themselves and were still unrecognized by men during difficult times. 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. The narrator says, "It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way! I meant to be such a help to john, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already! Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able- to dress and entertain, and order things" (Gilman 211). 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 force from men wanting to keep their women in line. Even as women started any form of a movement it came with resent from men who thought the women 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 up 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. For many years the family was dependent on the men working to make the money and the women staying at home. As time passed that view began to change in favor of women being able to do more outside of the household. 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. They wanted the ability to support themselves economically and do something they are passionate about. Even with a lot of backlash from others seeing these women as rebels, going against the way families are usually viewed, women would not give in to being constricted to one role. 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. It took a long time to create change with a long lasting ideal of how everyone should live their lives. 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.

