In the 19th century, first-wave feminism struck the United States.  In 1894, Kate Chopin wrote a story, "The Story of an Hour," that conveys the battle for women's rights and equality.  In the story, a woman named Mrs. Mallard tragically loses her husband in a railroad disaster.  At first, she was heartbroken, unsure of who she was anymore without standing by her husband's side.  Luckily, she soon grasps the idea that she was now free from his control, ready to live her own, independent life by her new identity, Louise, until she realizes that it was really her who had died in the end.  Back then, in marriage, women were owned by their husbands and had little control over their own lives.  Their purpose in life was to love their husband.  Research and knowledge about marriage and feminism in the 19th century can help the readers further understand Chopin's story and create a new interpretation.  In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard expresses the resistance of marriage roles that were expected of women.

Throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard is simply referred to as Mrs. Mallard, the wife of Brently Mallard.  This indicates that Brently Mallard has the power in their marriage.  In 1910, J.W. Ballantyne wrote an article called "Feminism," which described the factual physical and mental differences between boy and girl, and men and woman.  In the article, Ballantyne refers to Dr. Kenealy and his research of these prominent differences.  To better understand, Dr. Kenealy states that at puberty a girl evolves into "a more delicate, beautiful, and more highly organized creature," as the boys maintain a lower evolutionary organization (Ballantyne 1286).  This creates a new understanding that at one point in a woman's life, they were thought of as the more powerful and stronger sex.  However, Kenealy later states that, "after seventeen the girl usually slackens her efforts ... at any rate, the boy's superior physical strength and more robust nervous system give him a staying power she does not possess" (Ballantyne 1286).  This information helps the contextual audience understand how, in time, the boys eventually overpowered the once formidable girls and were able to take control.  Women no longer obtained the strength and power that they once had during puberty, and were now inferior to men.  As girls began to slacken their efforts and hard work, the boy's superior physicality and mentality were able to surpass those of the girl's, enabling them to become dominate.  This knowledge helps the readers recognize why Mrs. Mallard was only ever addressed as Mrs. Mallard.  However, Mrs. Mallard did not follow this standard for long.  At the end of the story, Josephine, her sister, addresses her as "Louise" now that she was free from the domination of Brently Mallard (Chopin 224).  When Mrs. Mallard accepted the death of her husband, a new, free identity and sense of independence engulfed the newly addressed Louise as she silently whispered to herself, "Free!  Body and soul free!" (Chopin 224).  She was free from his power and control, gaining back the strength and power she once obtained during puberty.  Louise broke the expectation of women by becoming independent and gaining a sense of self.  She was no longer Mrs. Mallard, she was Louise, a strong and intelligent woman.

When Mrs. Mallards husband dies, she goes though a period where she is both physically and mentally exhausted.  Mrs. Mallard "sank, pressed by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul" (Chopin 223).  She was distressed, tired, and fatigued after she found out her husband died.  The relationship that Mrs. Mallard endured took a toll on her mind and body.  In Ballantyne's article, he later introduces another doctor by the name of Barry Hart who goes into further detail about the mentality and physicality of woman. To better understand why Mrs. Mallard was physically exhausted, Dr. Hart explains that, "women can certainly do what man does in ordinary life, but how far she can go on doing so without damage to her nervous system or her sex characteristics is quite another matter; certainly she will suffer more than a robust male and more even than the neurotic man" (Ballantyne 1286).  This helps the contextual audience understand that when women push themselves in their work or job, like Mrs. Mallard did in loving her husband, they pay a physical and mental fee.  It wore her down into the physical exhaustion that she felt because when women push themselves, they don't have the mental and physical strength to endure the pain, so they suffer.  Mrs. Mallard suffered from the pain of losing her husband, however, it did not last long.  Instead of grieving, she withheld a "certain strength," and had a "suspension of intelligent thought" (Chopin 223).  She gathered her strength and came to a realization that she no longer had to endure the relationship she had with her husband.  She was able to go from a quite, broken woman, to a strong minded woman.  She had broken the expectations of being weak both physically and mentally by gaining strength instead of dwelling on her broken body and soul.  She was ready for the new life that was ahead.

When Brently Mallard died, she came to realize that she was able to live a new life, her own, new life.  She was free from the power and overtaking of her husband, breaking the expected role she had to withhold.  Back in time, it was said that after a woman is seventeen, she "devotes more of her time to adornment or even to coquetry" then to her efforts of knowledge and strength (Ballantyne 1286).  A woman's purpose in life is to care for her husband and the house.  Her main priority was loving her husband.  Mrs. Mallard dedicated her life to her husband, loving him with all the strength that she had, which resulted in both physical and mental exhaustion.  However, she came to recognize that she was granted with a new life ahead.  She was free.  She had "no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Chopin 224).  There would no longer be a power holding her down, breaking and beating her.  She had broken the expectation of marriage roles.  She was supposed to mourn over the loss of her husband for years to come, yet now she was living a new, happy, and enriched life.  But, when Mrs. Mallard walked down the stairs ready to start her new life, the contextual audience gets the shocking news that it was really her who had died.  To better understand this, in Ballantyne's article, Dr. Hart later summed up that, "Nature has made woman's life on of special sacrifice, and has so tightened the bonds for this purpose that the attempt to break them and lead what some feminine leaders ingenuously believe to be the higher life of a man, can only end in that most dreadful of catastrophes  --  Nature's revenge" (Ballantyne 1286).  As said before, a woman's purpose in life is to love and care for their husband.  Nature is a creator.  It creates and kills the beauty in life.  Nature has sacrificed all else for woman so that they can put all their attention and effort into loving their husband and cherishing all that he is.  If this loving bond is broken, Nature will take its course and have its revenge  --  death.  Mrs. Mallard broke this loving bond and Nature got its revenge.  She was free from her husband, and tried to live a new, carefree life, but as the bond perished, so did she.

From the first wave of feminism to the second and third, woman have been fighting for equality, and fighting against social expectation and standards.  Now, in the 21st century, women have been resisting the sexualization of female athletes, just as Mrs. Mallard was resisting the expected marriage roles in the 19th century.  Female athletes for the most part do not get as much attention, if any at all, as male athletes.  Yet, when they do get a glimpse of the spot light, social media portrayed them as a symbol of sex.  The well-known phrase "sex sells" became a reality in the media.  For years now, female athletes have been trying to shy away from the sexualization that has been portrayed in the media.  In 2014, ESPN journalist Kate Fagan has an interesting outlook on the sexualization of female athletes, and states that the famous phrase, "sex sells," could very well change into the new phrase "talent sells."  In Fagan's article, it states that when sponsors look for male athletes to represent their company, the look for specific quality, which include trust, expertise, and attractiveness (Fagan 15).  However, according to Janet Fink, an associate professor in the department of sports management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, there is only one quality that companies focus on when looking for a female athlete; attractiveness (Fagan 15).  It is based purely on the attractiveness of the athlete, not anything else.  As Mrs. Mallard broke from the expectation of marriage roles, women now are trying to break away from the expectations of social media.  One small change in social media, and the whole nation could change its outlook on female athletes.  Fagan introduced Nicole Lavoi, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the associate director of the Tucker Center of Research on Girls and Women in Sports, who stated that, "if girls see more images of female athletes as athletes, then it shifts their thinking" (Fagan 14).  If girls get the opportunity to see a strong, powerful, and intelligent female athlete, or any woman for that matter, then it changes their mindset into thinking that they too can become a strong woman that girls just like themselves can look up to.  When Mrs. Mallard challenged the expectation of marriage roles and resisted the norms of women, Nature got her revenge, but now, as female athletes of all ages resist the sexualization in the media and challenge these standards, they will thrive and open a new door full of opportunities. 

Chopin was able to express the resistance of marriage roles that were forced and expected by woman in the early 19th century in her story, "The Story of an Hour."  Mrs. Mallard was able to break free from the expectations and norms of a wife, and become a free woman whose name was Louise.  Sadly, Mrs. Mallard died in the end due to the broken bond of love between her and her husband, however, in the years to come woman would gain the strength that Mrs. Mallard had, and get to live their own lives freely and independently.  Women became powerful and intelligent, breaking all of the odds that were expected during the previous years.  However, now that women were strong and independent, society would now pressure them to become perfect and fit societies standards for women; to be attractive.  When women challenge these standards and resist the norms of what media thinks it should be, then new doors open and new opportunities are granted.

