I Stand Here Ironing By Tillie Olsen
The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen is a tale about the difficulties of motherhood; as it goes through the life of a single mother in the working class. Olsen uses the idea of women's disempowerment and having to sacrifice their needs for their children to show how primary gender roles can shape the battles women are destined to face when it comes to family, personal ambition and the requirements of work.
The basis of this short story is a mother-daughter relationship and specifically how the mother sees it. Throughout the story, the mother's endeavors are shown to stem from the social structure during this time, like how she is assumed to be the caregiver because she is a woman, but then is not provided with the correct resources to
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In spite of these obstacles she stays strong for her daughter, she uses the limited resources given to her and makes it work. This shows that even when she went through so much; her marriage breaking down, being stuck in poverty, and lots of illness the system cannot truly break every woman. Gossage2
Olsen also shows throughout the story that women are affected by having to choose between what they want for their own life, doing their duties as a mother, or providing for their child's needs. The mother is constantly faced with wanting to chase her dreams but then feels guilty because she needs to provide for her child. Then further ruins her mental health and how she views herself because now she is wondering if she did enough for her child. After all, she wasn't always there or had to work long hours. So because her lifestyle didn't fit into the exact mold that modern society thought motherhood should look like it changed how she viewed herself even knowing she was doing the most she could for her child. This relates to
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