The Yellow Wallpaper: A Gender Analysis

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story that was written in first person during 1892. This story depicts society’s attitude towards women with a mental illness at that time. Ultimately, the story shows how women were treated in the 19th century. “And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder— I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!” (231). Shortly after the narrator who remains unnamed and her husband John rented an old mansion, the narrator encountered a state of delusion in the wallpaper that surrounded her. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator develops a peculiar relationship with the wallpaper; the author’s use of allusion, symbolism, and personification identifies the existence of the woman’s illness.

The Chicana feminist is not widely accepted, or even recognized. At its best, Chicana writers and artists take to paper and other mediums to share the message. Writers, such as Andzaldua, comment on the necessity for writing. The Chicana expression of creative thought, otherwise unnoticed by the majority of people, is important in that it allows people to show the struggle, emotion, and wisdom surrounding personal experience (Andzaldua). Poetry, for instance, can be described as a political act, which enables further thought and understanding between people. Additionally, these stories reveal the great diversity among women.

On January 29, 1951, an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with Stage 1, Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, after her visit to John Hopkins Hospital. Henrietta began radium treatments which was proven to kill cancer cells and a safer option than surgery, according to her physician Howard Jones. Jones increased Henrietta’s dose of radiation in hopes to decrease the size of the tumors however the treatments were proven ineffective and her skin was burned blacker while the pain grew unbearable until she passed away on October 4, 1951. She left behind her husband David “Day” and five children: Lawrence, Elsie, David Jr, Deborah, and Zakariyya (Joe). This paper will focus on how Henrietta Lack’s and her family’s experience

African Americans have had a long history of oppression. They were forced to be slaved and kept under the white man’s control. They were segregated so that Blacks and Whites do not mix. Today, police brutality on the African American community led to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The LGBTQ community has also been oppressed. They were described as ‘sinners’ by dominant groups. They were stereotyped to more likely molest and rape heterosexuals. There was also a devastating shooting in an Orlando LGBT night club, killing 49 individuals and injuring countless. Homosexual African Americans are denied access to resources due to their sexual orientation. Resources such as housing, employment, fostering, and other services. They also experience

Sexism runs rampant through the institutions of contemporary life. While politics, marriage, education, and athletics are a few of many institutions plagued by sexism, women’s healthcare is perhaps the most egregious of them all because it is a life or death proposition. Women’s healthcare is often put second to men’s healthcare, as physicians neglect to recognize the biological differences between the sexes. This results in women receiving improper treatment for their symptoms or having their needs entirely neglected. Not only do these issues affect women, but also, being that females are child bearers, the lack of attention paid to female health potentially impacts the wellbeing of future children. A number of changes should be implemented

With the ongoing changes on policies in healthcare, it is imperative to consider the legal and ethical issues in health disparities and access to care based on the socioeconomic status. Research have shown over the past 25 years that disparities in the quality of care are highly influenced by individual characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, education, income, and age. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recognized that providing care is not simply a “one size fits all” approach especially with the diverse population in today’s society. As healthcare professionals, we need to be alert and know how to properly intervene with such disparities so that the care provided is tailored to the individual.

Disparities in health are an inequality that occurs in the provision of healthcare and its accessibility across different dimensions including location, gender, ethnicity, age, disability status, citizenship status and socioeconomic group (Ubri & Artiga, 2016; Wallerstein & Durran, 2006). According to the health Resources and Service Administration of United States, health disparities are defined by population specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes and the accessibility to healthcare. Urbi and Artiga (2016) indicates that disparities in healthcare provision not only bring impacts to the group facing disparities, but also limit overall improvements in quality of care and population health as well as resulting

One of the most integral parts of cultural competency is the process of successfully becoming culturally competent. After synthesizing available research on the topic I have constructed four main steps in becoming culturally competent. Those include self-awareness, understanding various aspects of the culturally diverse population for whom you care for, practice evidence based medicine as it relates to culturally diverse populations and continuing education (Kodjo, 2009; Purnell, 2012).

Factors such as lack of health insurance, poor living conditions, being under-educated, stress and the lack of social support can put the infants at risk for mortality. Many African Americans, especially those who are poor and those working without health care benefits, are less likely than white Americans to have a usual source of health care (Copeland, 2005). An environment a person lives in is related to health problems too. Families living in urban areas are confronted with the constant challenges of population density, inadequate or unaffordable housing, overcrowding, limited access to resources, and high crime rates (Copeland, 2005). African American families are at risk for SIDS due to the environment that the baby is discharged. As a nurse leader, I find it crucial when it comes to homegoing for them to understand why we have safe sleep education.

The lack of financial resources can be a big problem to access to health care. The lack of available finance is a barrier to health care for many Americans but access to health care is reduced most among minority populations. The irregular source of care is another reason why access to health is a disparity. Compared to white individuals ethnic or racial minorities are less likely to be able to visit the same doctor on a regular basis and tend to rely more on clinics and emergency rooms (News Medical Life Sciences).

Imagine being trapped in a room with no one to talk to and absolutely no one knows what you are going through. You are completely and utterly alone. How would that make you feel? The narrator, of the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, knows almost exactly how that feels. Misogyny and sexism are problems that have been going on for hundreds of years, women have been belittled and ignored by men which makes them feel alone. In this story the narrator moves to a summer home with her husband, who is also her doctor, and her child, who she is not allowed to see. According to her husband in order for her to get well she can not do anything, including working and writing, but she still continues to write in secret which

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” follows an unnamed woman as she struggles with an unspecified mental illness. The narrator and her husband, John, temporarily move to a colonial mansion. While there, the narrator becomes increasingly more obsessed with the yellow wallpaper that covers her bedroom. This obsession increasingly grows until she eventually breaks down at the end of the story. However, while the narrator is struggling with her mental illness, John brushes it off, continually saying that nothing is wrong with the narrator. He is completely oblivious to her mental state until the conclusion of the story, when he sees the full effect of his oversight. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows us that maltreatment, particularly neglect and isolation can have diminishing and possibly drastic effects on a person with mental illness.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a first-person written feminist short story that critiques and condemns the nineteenth-century American male attitude towards women and their physical as well as mental health issues. In the short story, Perkins Gilman juxtaposes universal gender perspectives of women with hysterical tendencies using the effects of gradually accumulating levels of solitary confinement; a haunted house, nursery, and the yellow wallpaper to highlight the American culture of inherited oblivious misogyny and promote the equality of sexes.

In the film, The Fault in Our Stars, we are introduced to Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenage girl diagnosed with stage IV cancer. She shares her backstory and discusses her cancer diagnosis. Hazel states that it started out as thyroid cancer, but it moved onto her lungs. She explained, “there wasn’t much they could do, but they tried anyway” (Boone, 2014). In the beginning of the film, Hazel and her mother are attending a doctor’s appointment where they are seen meeting with Dr. Maria. At this meeting they are discussing Hazel’s condition and reviewing her plan of care. Additionally, Hazel’s mother is expressing her concerns about her daughters behavior and she feels Hazel is “depressed.” Dr. Maria reviews various medical options to care for Hazel’s feelings of being depressed. She also suggests Hazel attends a local support group of other young people who are living with or surviving cancer.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman captures the lives of women in a society based on societal expectations during the late nineteenth century. She focuses on the issue of gender inequality where women were often discriminated against and expected to fulfill the role of a perfect wife and mother. The narrator is based on on Gilman’s personal experience of suffering from her treatment for postpartum depression due to the social restrictions on women which represents a reflection on women's social status in society. The narrator, who remains anonymous, is depicted as a depressed and isolated prisoner who is oppressed under her husband’s control and struggles to break free. Gilman presents the toxic effect of gender inequality particularly through the relationship between a husband and wife.