READ " A White Woman of Color" by Julia Alvarez
the link is on this blog
Mini Lesson - Please copy this in your notebook
Types of Oppression:
Inter-Sectionality - Discrimination and Exclusion
Violence
Imperialism
Poverty
Exploitation
Neglect
Total of 2-3 paragraphs- answer the following in your notebook. We will discuss this in a fishbowl in class on Thursday ! Pub 3 is coming up soon! Prepare yourself!
Choose one type of oppression and draw a connection to Alvarez's " White Woman of Color". Provide at least 2 concrete examples of this!
Do the same for "The Yellow Wallpaper".
Provide concrete examples of how this type of oppression is clearly evident in the story.
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4. Published Writing #3 is due on THURSDAY APRIL 3rd.
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Note: Preview - Iron Jawed Angels - Film
Note to All Students:
I will reference this film in class as we read the next few stories.If you have a chance to watch the film you will greatly benefit from it.
Students who are interested in watching this movie should rent it.
Timelin
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Note: I am extremely impressed with my students who participated in class today. I felt the presentations went extraordinarily well! I really enjoyed our fishbowls and I wish all of you a happy and healthy Spring Break! NO ASSIGNMENTS OVER THE BREAK! ENJOY the week off. Try not to work too much. Life is a a gift and the world is beautiful place. Go out and enjoy it!
The short story The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman begins with the introduction of the narrator and her husband John, who is also her physician. John diagnose his wife with a mental illness in which he feels the best way to “bring her back to health” is to rent a summer house in which the narrator, his wife, will have tranquility. Although what John doesn’t realize is that by doing this he is isolating her from the outside world. John oppresses his wife, the narrator by the means of neglect, maltreatment and confinement.
ReplyDeleteJohn neglects his wife, the narrator, by working away from the house for many hours, and as a result his wife begins to feel neglected. The narrator states, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious... John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 42-45). It is evident that John adores and cares for his wife, but he is constantly staying at work late and as a consequence he is never home. The narrator, his wife, feels that he is more concerned about his work than about her. When she cries for help by saying “It is so discouraging not to have any advice or companionship about my work…” (Gilman 61-62). John does not take this as a sign. In fact, he tells her that once she gets better that he will ask his family to visit them. But he doesn’t realize that allowing her to have someone to talk to and accompany her in her times of depression is really the cure to her “nervous illness”. John confines the narrator to the boundaries of her room, therefore resulting in a mental manipulation.
These examples exemplify the types of oppression that females during the realism time period experienced. Charlotte Perkins Gilman emphasized through her short story of how the roles of women were solely confined to being the childhood caregiver and of how society saw them as domestic slaves, to take care of their children and to serve, as well as please their husbands.
Professor Brady, I emailed you!
ReplyDeleteIn “A White Woman of Color”, Julia Alvarez expresses how imperialism was a form of oppression used in the Dominican Republic when the dictator Rafael Trujillo, organized a secret police to torture and kill those that supported the opposing candidate during the Dominican Republic presidential elections. This was not the last time Trujillo used military force to extend his country’s power, in fact during his dictatorship in 1937 he “ordered the overnight genocide of thousands to protect the Dominican race purity”. This means that in order to make sure that the Dominicans were not mixed with Haitian decent Trujillo ordered that all of those that were of darker skin or mainly Haitian would be killed because it did not follow the criteria that the Dominican Republic was “declared a white nation”.
ReplyDeleteThis type of oppression through imperialism also influenced the thoughts of others that lived in the country. For example, the citizens of the Dominican Republic began to believe that having light skin was simply “better”. As Julia Alvarez states “There was no segregation of races in the halls of power. But in the aesthetic arena… lighter was better. Lank hair and pale skin and small, fine features were better. All I had to do was stay out of the sun and behave myself and I could pass as a pretty white girl.” These imperialistic influences caused many females of this time period in the Dominican Republic to feel self-conscious about their skin and constantly think about race within their own culture. It was evident that being dark-skinned was a part of the Dominican culture and many people were beginning to feel as if that part of them, and their culture were slowly being taken away from them. As Julia Alvarez says, “The leadership of our country has been historically colored” proving that although Trujillo declared the Dominican Republic a “white nation” it is clear that the Dominican culture lies within the “colored” ancestors.
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DeleteMaria,
DeleteI love how you used imperialism as the type of oppression to describe 'A White Woman of Color'. Your knowledge about the Dominican history is very impressive. It makes me sad to imagine that people were killed just because of their color and ruling a "white" nation was that important to the ruler. Being born in that time period, she witnessed most of these acts which were written in the form of a beautiful piece. Great job!
Maria, your interpretation and analysis is exceptional! I am impressed with your knowledge of totalitarianism in the Dominican Republic . Have you read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao? You would enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if many young people today know the atrocities Trujillo has been known to commit . Your response is impressive!
ReplyDeleteIn the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins-Gillman, it is evident that Gillman portrays neglect as a form of oppression as one of the many themes. While the narrator is confined to the small room with one window and ugly, ripped up wallpaper, she is forced to subside all outside communication aside from her husband, John. Although John comes and stays with her, she mentions how he rarely comes by and leaves for a long time working on serious cases: “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” (Gillman, 42-45) John is often not physically there and when he is, he is not emotionally “there”, either. He feels that she has no reason to suffer and that she can easily be “fixed”.
ReplyDeleteWhen John is there, the narrator continuously tries to tell him that she does not wish to stay and does not feel like staying there is helping her. She constantly pleads him for her to take her away from the room but he insists that he knows better than she and says she is getting better and they will leave soon. He tells her she should not write or even think; John refuses to take into consideration how she truly feels. While John clearly loves her and wants her to get better, he oppresses her to be under his control and acts superior to her, especially when it comes to his “knowledge”. John assumes he knows better about her body than she does about her own. He fails to see the decline of her mental stability and neglects all signs of wear and tear on the narrator’s emotions and psyche and faints at the end when he sees her “creeping”.
The narrator’s emotions and thoughts were neglected throughout the entire story. She was oppressed and put down for her thoughts and forced to abide by someone else’s rules. Because she was a woman suffering from “hysteria”, she was ignored and put down when she tried to speak up and stand up for herself. In the end, what was thought to “cure” her of her disease, modern-day Postpartum Depression, actually concluded in the focus of the yellow wallpaper as the only outlet to her pent up thoughts—especially when she was not allowed to write. As these thoughts accumulated, it is evident that she quickly lost control of her mental stability and started seeing herself as the woman behind the wallpaper who she had slowly been thinking she ‘d seen. Viewing the wallpaper as a metaphor, she felt trapped and imprisoned in her body and in that room to the point where she tore apart the wallpaper so she could not be put back “behind the bars” of imprisonment. It was proven that the rest cure drove women to insanity and did not help as they had originally believed.
Aileen ! Brava!
DeleteThanks Professor Brady! I'll put that on my reading list for the summer! (: Have a wonderful spring break! Enjoy your time with your kiddies.
ReplyDeleteNeglect:
ReplyDeleteIn “The Yellow Wallpaper” neglect can be seen prominently. This can be the neglect of the lower class of the society, when it comes to providing proper medication or John neglecting his wife’s mental trouble. John cares for his wife, but he is neglecting her by working away from the house and as a result of being more concerned about his work than his wife, she begins to feel neglected. "John is kept in town very often by serious cases..." (Gilman 772). On the other hand they are able to afford treatment for this mental condition because John was a physician. Only the people who belonged to the ‘elite’ had the opportunity for treatments whereas the lower class were neglected.
Inter-Sectionality - Discrimination and Exclusion
Inter-Race discrimination is seen in the story ‘A white woman of color’. The writer describes her life as a kid. She defines the race discrimination of Americans by saying, ‘On drop of black and you are black’. This explains how much discrimination is there between the white skinned and the colored. The colored people were not considered a part of society and at every given opportunity the Americans would attack them. This can be seen in the line ‘go back to where you came from’. The author herself faced many accounts of race discrimination, she had to even change her school because of the racist attacks.
In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the author shows an oppression of neglect. In the story, John has completely neglected his wife. Though he is the physician for her but he has failed to understand the emotional conflict in her mind. Rather than considering the alternate solution for her, he has applied “Rest Cure” for her. Going through this process of rest cure, the she feels neglected in the room. This behavior of her own people makes her go through more emotional stress.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “White Woman Of Color”, the author shows an oppression of discrimination and exclusion. She talks about many cases where she had to face discrimination. First of all she discusses about the family where her father’s and mother’s family had different colors. Then she discusses about the job issues. Applying for the jobs, she had to answer the questions related to her origin i.e Hispanic, Asian, Black etc. Then she found the same oppression in the text books, they used in the college. “Go back to where you came from, they yelled at my sisters” (White Woman of colors). This is the quote from the lesson where we clearly see the oppression of discrimination.
Akshit,
DeleteThe point where you discussed about the emotional trauma one faces when their own family members fails to understand their feelings has a very deep meaning to it. At the end of the day, the people whom one can depend on no matter what problem they are facing is family. We experience the utmost love and respect from our family. Also, they are expected to understand our feelings, ideas and personalities. Here, in the story, “The yellow wallpaper”, Gillman is treated by her own husband and he fails to understand her wife. That made her even more stressed and lonely. However, even if the physician was any random person, the psychological impact on her would have been much lesser.
In the story “The yellow wallpaper”, imperialism is quite evident at several incidences. At several incidences James orders her to do stuff which she doesn’t want to. He asks her to stop writing. He tells her to stay locked inside the home throughout the days. Though he never talks to her in a harsh way still compels her to do what he wants to do. It can be said it’s his male chauvinism that makes him treat his wife in a dominating way. As a matter of fact the reason why the play was written is the imperialistic anxiety because of which the Gilman was made to undergo a so called cure which was only used for women and to suppress them.
ReplyDelete“The white collar” display’s the oppression of humans due to poverty. It depicts how black skin tone symbolized poverty. The writer at so many incidences points out at her dad’s side family not being rich and her mom’s side having a bank account in Manhattan bank. In the beginning of the play she tells that her dad’s side has a black skin tone whereas the mother’s side has a white tone. With the way of writing it can be inferred that she is drawing a parallel between the two. Her statement “Many of Papi’s relatives had gone to the university and become professionals. But they still lived in the interior versus of the capital in old houses”. The statement shows how even if people with black skin had enough education, they were never well off. The opportunities given to the black people were way lesser, and black skin tone symbolized poverty.
Neglect is the act of failing to care for something or someone properly. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Gillman one of the main characters, John, seems to neglect his wife when she is in need of help. John is a physician who seems to always be working and leaves his ill wife at home. His wife seems to be suffering from depression and people think she is crazy. She is prescribed medications that she does not need; all his wife needs is the attention and love from her husband. If he was around more during the day and let his wife out more often she may not of been suffering for so long. Since she is left and neglected by him everyday this leads to her “illness” and her insanity. She has illusions of people stuck in walls behind her wallpaper in her room because she feels trapped in her own house. If John was around more often and took better care of his wife emotionally she would not have the issues she has.
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination and exclusion are types of oppressions shown throughout works of literature. One be discriminated against or excluded for many things, race, gender, ethnicity and many others. In the short story “A White Women Of Color”, written by Julia Alvarez the narrator is faced with both oppressions throughout her life. Starting from when she was little she was discriminated by her own mother. Her mom thought her and her older sister were too dark skin colored. She felt as if she needed to “lighten” her children up, they could not be any shade of black. When the family moved to New York they were excluded from doing many things a white person could do. For example, they were not able to sit where they wanted to on a bus, or go to a certain school. Due to their lighter skin tone their family got away with certain things “darker colored” people could not, but they were still the ones talked about at their schools. They felt so discriminated in high school that they transferred to boarding schools. They were also discriminated when it came to trying to find a job. After graduating and trying to find jobs they were asked to check off what color skin they were or what nationality they were. If they were hired the position was never for longer than a year. For all their life they were excluded from certain things and discriminated by many white people in their life just because of the color of their skin.
Raquel,
DeleteI found it interesting that you blamed the whole "illness” the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper has is due to her husband’s inability to care for her. I agree, leaving a depressed person in a room with nothing to do other than stare at wallpaper all day is maddening to think about. If John had maybe listened to her once she would not have had such a hard time dealing with her illness.
I thought it was great that you pointed out that Alvarez was being subtly discriminated by her mother. I did not even realize that she was being put down in her own family. A parent’s main job should be to make sure that the household is a discrimination free zone especially when a child’s mind can be so easily corrupted by their parent’s opinions. Great Job!
Raquel, you clearly point out the discrimination that exists amongst family members. As hard as it is to believe , people will segregate themselves even when they are left to divide within intimate circles. Your response is fantastic. I agree with Eric! Brava!
DeleteIn the short story White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez, Discrimination surrounds the narrator. In the introduction Alvarez describes the social order in her home country of the Dominican Republic as white worshiping. Alvarez portrays how important it is to look white by saying “It was clear to us growing up then that whiter was better” (Alvarez 166). Even though white was better it followed little societal discrimination. Darker skinned people were lower in the social pyramid but no one was arrested for not sitting in the back of the bus. The conflict lied within the mind of the victim. The Dominicans looked at the whiter people as more amazing, like a teenager today looks at their favorite star. No one seems to feel comfortable in their own skin. Alvarez points out that all of the leaders, the heroes, of her country have been darker skinned and that they should be proud of their appearance.
ReplyDeleteThe discrimination heightens in the United States. Once she settles in New York with her family during the 1960’s she finds that if you have even a “drop of black” that meant you were classified as a black. Alvarez’s aunt, who was classified as a light skinned person in the Dominican Republic, was just as black as a Haitian to Americans. When Alvarez spoke to her classmates she began to feel different. Even though she was at the top of her social class in the Dominican Republic she was insecure about herself. “And then it would come out, the color, the accent, the cousins with six fingers, the smell of garlic (169).
When Alvarez was filling out her job questionnaire she lost track her identity. When it came to jobs she was a “non-threating minority”. When the question was race she hit a wall. She was not just black or Hispanic, she felt it was wrong to choose just one of them. She did not feel like she belonged to one of them alone. She felt as if she had drifted from her old life. She had become so much more then when she had left her country. She lost all of her values that she was raised to believe. “I had not only become Americanized but whiter” (169).
Once Alvarez becomes famous for her works, she still gets discriminated. Alvarez’s writing helped to get her a position as a spokesperson for Dominicans. She did not seek to be it but she was forced. Even with all of the hardships and discrimination that she had faced in assimilating into American culture, once she became a speaker she was not praised. She was still discriminated, Dominicans called her out saying that she was not a “real” Dominican and that she was too white. The author has been put down for being too dark skinned by Americans and too light skinned by Dominicans leaving her different and belonging to neither.
In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator is faced with neglect. The narrator, according to her doctor and husband John, is stricken with a mental illness. The illness leaves the narrator with stress and depression. The only way to cure this disease is rest. After having her first child the narrator and her husband are moved out to a new home for three months to abandon her everyday routines. The narrator is an avid writer and is forced to stop to get rest and feel better. The narrator constantly finds herself alone to her own thoughts and slowly descends into madness.
DeleteThe narrator constantly asks John to let her do something with no success. Being in the same room for three months with little communication to anyone but her husband at night got to the narrator. Writing a journal against her husband’s advice became her only means of sanity. The narrator constantly bothered John. He just brushed it off and continued to ignore the fact that his wife was crying out for help. The narrator’s loyalty to her husband caused her to neglect herself. Even with her wants not being answered she stuck to the treatment that she was told. The room became a jail cell, the yellow wallpaper became the bars. The treatment was killing her and the constant neglect of basic human needs took her stress and depression to the next level. To speak out against the wishes of her husband was tabooed in this time period. The women were expected to follow the word of their husbands without question. John’s ignorance caused his wife’s mental health to die until there was nothing left to cure.
Eric,
DeleteIn regards to your piece about A White Woman of Color:
It's a good point you bring up that though there were figures in the Dominican Republic respected and of darker skin, it was still regarded that lighter skin was better. It's interesting to think that what we like to imagine ourselves believing (that anyone can be our heroes) and what we really believe based on what society feeds us (that really the whiter the better) can contradict one another entirely. I think it was also great that you brought up the ending where she speaks about getting credit without trying among the Latino communities. While it is a great honor to be recognized among any groups of the public for one's work especially a group whom one can relate to and help, it must have been hard for Alvarez to accept that she was still being categorized even after success and perhaps by her very fans whether they knew it or not. Overall great points and good piece.
Charlotte Perkins Gillman clearly conveys oppression as one of the many significant themes throughout the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. More specifically, neglect is the prominent form of oppression demonstrated through John’s character. “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gillman, 309). The narrator is suffering from the lack of understanding from her husband about her condition, and who she is as a person. John is unaware of how to treat his wife because of the lack of time he spends with her. Instead he dominates her life, confining her to rest and remain as domestic as possible. “…but John has cautioned me not to give away to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency” (Gillman, 310). While the narrator yearns for a public escape to embrace her creativity, John nonchalantly disregards her desires. The constant overlooking of his wife’s condition, and stranding her as an emotionally deprived individual exemplifies the oppression inflicted upon her. Her spirit and soul are broken down, as she becomes a product of nothingness. Although the neglect is not deliberate, John silences his wife as he is a product of his time. While oppression is in fact negative in its workings, John’s neglect assists in curing his wife, as she relies on her creativity for comfort. Ironically, neglect shapes the narrator into a compelling and capable woman who has shed her weak and vulnerable image.
ReplyDeleteJulia Alvarez also demonstrates oppression as one of the vital themes throughout the short story “A Woman of Color”. However, she faces oppression in the form of discrimination. “It was clear to us that growing up them that lighter was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was dark-skinned” (Alvarez, 167). Alvarez describes her family based off the created hierarchy to classify Latinos by skin and hair color. This short story exemplifies one of the many individuals who feel uncomfortable in their skin as a result of the perception of society. “All I had to do was stay out of the sun and behave myself and I could pass as a pretty white girl” (Alvarez, 168). To confine to society’s perception of perfect, would mean to reject who she is as a person. “We were lucky we were white Dominicans or we would have had a much harder time of it in this country” (Alvarez, 168). Relocating to America, Alvarez endured oppression as a result of her culture. The maltreatment stemmed from society’s failure to accept individuals of color. While oppression in the form of discrimination left Alvarez with difficulties in her life, it also helped her emerge as a powerful individual. “I am choosing to color my Americanness with my Dominicanness even if it came in a light shade of skin color” (Alvarez, 171). As she realized, her worth is reflected through embracing her heritage and striving to model Latinos to take advantage of their ethnicity and culture.
Danielle,
DeleteI really loved your descriptions and use of vocabulary when describing John's treatment of his wife. I would most definitely agree that while he may not be oppressing her purposely, he clearly hinders her wish to express her creativity and to have some sort of release for all her pent up thoughts and emotions. He basically expects her to lay there like a vegetable and have people do everything for her. While the body may not be moving, the mind never stops works and to never release your thoughts, it certainly could drive someone mad!
To deprive a person of their ability to voice his or her perspective is bad enough and to do so where mental-emotional health is concerned is dangerous. In the Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays such neglectful oppression through her character Jane. Her case is a model for the women of her time and the way in which men of society sought to explain the unsettling behavior of their stir-crazy wives, by calling what they were experiencing nervous conditions or neurasthenia. According to physicians in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, housewives who reported feeling fatigued, over emotional and depressed or who acted out against their husbands were declared emotionally ill and forced into isolation from everyone and everything, including hobbies while being fed a fatty diet and being cared for in a helpless position. Naturally this caused further mental-emotional degradation, thus being neglectful of the patient’s true needs in a manner which oppressed their spirits and power over their situation. Through Jane readers witness the impact such treatment has on the women experiencing the ‘rest cure’: “Then I peeled off all the paper… All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision...I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise…” (Perkins, 320) Jane has undoubtedly lost her marbles while confined to the room with disturbing wallpaper.
ReplyDeleteAnd how she came to be so hysterical was through the agonizing progression of her anxieties and depression due to the separation from her writing, her baby and her power over her day. Forced into a room with walls that nearly drive her mad alone and made to watch the wonderful gardens outside where others roam the paths free to enjoy it; she of course feels worse and worse. She makes mention of missing her son, “Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.” (Perkins, 310) and if that wasn’t enough no one seems to be listening to or believing her symptoms, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him…Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able…” (Perkins 309-310) Being oppressed by not being heard especially when those with deaf ears don’t realize there is anything to hear is perhaps the worst kind. It is no surprise that such neglect leads Jane to madness what is more surprising is that no one around her saw it coming because of their ignorant faith in the medical practices. We should take cases of women such as Jane and Perkins herself as reminders that what should always be taken care of is the freedom to communicate; it is that which keeps us whole as a society and functioning properly as individuals.
Jess,
DeleteThis is an amazing response in terms of individual deprivation. I liked the fact how you used an outside source included in this where you wrote how if the housewives were feeling fatigued, their husbands would declare them as mentally ill and force them into isolation. Just for that one little thing!? Very good examples used by Jane to illustrate her madness and I agree that we should communicate as often as possible.
Imperialistic oppression, the pressures of a society on its people to conform to or look up to the culture of influential members, is a very real concept in America and other countries today. According to Julia Alvarez in her piece, A White Woman of Color, such a value existed in both America and the Dominican Republic in the mid 1900’s each favoring a different culture that followed two different powerful groups: those most Dominican but white looking in the Dominican Republic and those most white in America. Having grown up in and between each country Alvarez tells of the ways in which each one instilled not only an irrational high regard for those elite members for no reason other than their class and race, but also how each country instilled a disrespect to say the least for those opposite the elites. America’s lack of tolerance for her and other Dominicans and The Dominican Republic’s negative view of her own black features each speak to the imperialistic oppression she witness and which we continue to witness today. She depicts it well in the following line, “We had changed class in America—from Mami’s elite family to middle class spics—but our background and education and most especially our pale skin made mobility easier for us here.” (Alvarez 171) Caught between the morals of these two prejudice societies she began to feel oppressed by others who either disapproved of her or assumed they should look up to her due to a movement or based upon expectations of her culture.
ReplyDeleteThe impact this began to have on her identity is also well communicated: “How could a Dominican divide herself in this way? Or was I really a Dominican anymore...For that was the way I had begun to think of myself. Adrift from any Latino community in this country, my culture had become an internal homeland…” (Alvarez 169) She feels not only her sense of self slipping away but also her ties to her home country as well as the one she’d come to call home the rest of her life were each cut before she’d had the chance to figure out why. When at last she did start to find others in her position to reach out to she felt that oppression lift, also thanks to the many social revolutions that would enable respect for a variety of races and cultures to be more widespread. However the pressures that imperialistic messages can place on a person usually only subside and don’t go away entirely unless those messages go away which unfortunately rarely happens. If we as a country are truly devoted to those values America was born in, the acceptance of those unwilling to be told how to live life and to demand they have a voice, then we must continue to fade out these messages that certain lifestyles, values, cultures, races and so on are superior. America is the home of the free and the brave so we like to boast; it’s about time make this statement true by facing imperialistic oppression head-on and by helping people like Alvarez know they are heard and respected.
This is phenomenal Jessica
Delete
ReplyDeleteIn the story “White Woman Of Color”, the oppression mostly seen is the Inter-Sectionality - Discrimination and Exclusion. The narrator talks about many different types of discrimination she faced even inside her own family. She explains that her younger sister who is more “white” than her and has more love from her mother then herself. She also talks about jobs where people have to give information related to their origin. “Go back to where you came from, they yelled at my sisters.” These lines clearly show us that the narrator and her sisters were victims of Discrimination.
In the story “ The Yellow wallpaper “ the oppression shown through out is Imperialism. James always orders Jane to do things he wants and he doesn’t even consider her opinion. He thinks that she cannot think and he has to control her so he confines her in that room she doesn’t like. The narrator always listens to her husband because during that time woman where considered weak and this was forced in their minds to not question anything. The Imperialism is shown in these lines “He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on.” She implies that she is as socially confined as she is physically and her husband just forces her into confinement.
Violence:
ReplyDeleteThe short story The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows the psychological and physical violence in the rest cure treatment and the violence it generates in turn. The violence in the rest cure treatment is that the patient must not use their own mind. According to rest cure treatment the patients are trapped as a prisoner by the violence embedded in the logic of an apparently rational medical discourse. The narrator is suffered from neurasthenia. She gets rest cure treatment and after that her situation becomes unclear that she is actually ill or if the rest cure treatment causes her to go insane. The rest cure treatment is a physical violence in which the personal opinion of the patient is not considered. The narrator repeatedly asks her husband to change the treatment. But he refuses her request by saying, “My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing”. This shows his control over the situation. He is both a violent husband and physician who forces his wife to remain in the overwhelming situation.
John focused on rest cure treatment assuming her role as an ideal wife and mother but which in turn removed the narrator’s creativity temporarily by forcing her to give up her writing. Just as the woman in the wallpaper who is trapped inside, the narrator is also trapped within the prison like nursery. The relationship seen between john and his wife is undoubtedly unbalanced. John believes that he is helping his wife who is in depressed condition by confining her to a third floor bedroom with barred windows. John is seen as a violent villain of the story but he is simply a reflection of his society. The story yellow wallpaper is a powerful expression of the gendered violence that can inhere in seemingly rational discourses such as medicine, a violence that will not allow for women to be treated as fully functioning, intellectual subjects seeking control of their lives.
In the short story White Woman of Color by Julia Alvarez, you merely only have to read the title and the authors name to know this woman probably has been discriminated against at least once in her life time. In the Dominican Republic (D.R.), the author and her family faced a type of discrimination different than one experiences in America. She observed that even having lighter skin made you superior in social status. If a girl had fair skin, “lank” hair, and “fine features”, she was considered “white” and beautiful (Alvarez, 166). Being dark skinned with curly hair and big lips was something considered “no good” and was highly discriminated against. They were considered to be a “dark Indian” and in fact, the “real” blacks, the Haitians, were discriminated against to the degree of the attempted genocide of Haitians by D.R. dictator Trujillo. It was evident that the color of your skin, in terms of aesthetics, dictated the type of person you were and how high you were on the “social pyramid”. As Alvarez discusses and illustrates the type of discrimination in her country, she briefly mentions her family and how even her mother’s family discriminated against her fathers and even her mother wanted to make sure that her children did not end up “country”, as well.
ReplyDeleteAs the author comes to America, she finds a whole different type of discrimination than back in her home country. No matter how light her or any Hispanic female or male’s skin were, they were all discriminated against the same. She was not considered “white”, the color of her skin was not skin deep, it was merely a façade covering her true identity; a Latina. She and her family were discriminated against not only in her country, but in America, too. She finds it actually may have been worse in America because she stated she felt like was treated like a “spic” as despite the higher social status her mother’s genes had given her (Alvarez, 171). Americans don’t see that because you have dark skin, it does not mean you are black, and therefor judged darker Dominicans as they would blacks. Alvarez found herself having to relocate numerous times and stumbling upon multiple occasions where she questioned her true identity; she found it hard to adhere to American culture.
The author realizes that members from within one’s own race needs to come together, not discriminate against one another. Alvarez was fair skinned, and was seen as a “false Dominican” after raising her voice and becoming a public image and author representing the voices of all the Dominicans in America. She was accused of not facing the same “racial battles” as those of other, darker skinned Dominicans. She calls for the uniting of all the people from each race to not discriminate one another, but to join in unison and harmony as they work toward building a positive multiracial society. She believes we need to embrace our diversities with acceptance and altruism and work together towards success, not against one another.
I apologize for being later then I it was suppose to be.
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A White Woman of Color by Julia Alvarez both show an oppression of Inter-Sectionality Discrimination and Exclusion .While t The Yellow Wallpaper has more of a discrimination based on gender and A White
has more of a discrimination based on race.
Femenism plays a key wrong In The Yellow Wallpaper, which takes place back in the 19th century when women were considered inferior to men. The narrator Jane is ordered by her husband John to stay in a summerhouse room where she is not allowed to do anything. Sort of like she is in jail. This roles shows how John has the authority to control is wife, and how she has no other choice, as John can represented as the. patriarchal authority
Jane on the other hand feels taken advantage of, and feels the act to rebel against him. She sees the wallpaper as a symbol of her wish for getting free from the traditional lifestyle For example the women she sees behind the wallpaper is a mirror reflection of herself trying to break free from the oppressor where in her case is John.
While in A White Woman of Color is more based on a personal story rather then a general one Where the narrator comes from the Dominican Republic, and went through the obstacles of racism However she claims she was a white Dominican, so she and her family did not have a much trouble as they would have if they were black. This shows how they feel about their culture and that they feel it was unfair that people had judged them for their race, rather then the background. Even though that is still discrimination.
She goes on to discuss how that being a white Latina meant nothing, and claims that her color was a question of cultures. And she hesitated when she had to check off his race on what to put Caucasian , Hispanic or other. She claims that as a Latina she has to redefine herself in the Unite States, and that she and other Latinos have to be careful in dealing with the aspects of America, as they strive to create positive examples in America.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” the reader see’s oppressive behavior in the realm of neglect. John is doctor and husband to his wife, a women with depression issues that is looked past by John as he treats her as if she is crazy. He belittles not only her condition but, deprives her of her thoughts and concerns as well, which may not be the case if he were solely her doctor as he may treat her more like a patient. John has his wife under strict rest keeping her from her writing or being active, essentially trapping her and her mind in an imaginary cage. This results in her having nothing to do but obsess over the Yellow Wallpaper in their summer home. For someone with mental issues as herself one could imagine this would leave her mind to go berserk. Her husband should not be holding her back the way he is, instead he should allow her mind to keep occupied with normal life activities. In doing so her fundamentally self-endangering mind would not have such opportunities to take one a mind of its own and create such things as a women trapped in the wallpaper of a house. If John would discontinue neglecting her and took what she had to say into consideration she may be able to live a slightly more normal life.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “White Woman of Color” another type of oppression is seen, that being discrimination and exclusion. The narrator is Dominican Republican where people have anywhere from a tan color skin to nearly black skin. Her mother was of lighter skin color and father darker, she unluckily leaned towards the darker side and later would see why her own mother opposed her more then her own sister just because her sister was “lighter” toned then herself. This was due to the fact she knew how society worked at the time the lighter skin color a person had the more superior position they had in the social hierarchy meaning her daughters especially the narrator would face more discrimination growing up as opposed to them being lighter like herself. Upon moving to New York the they faced worse discrimination then already used to, being even darker in comparison to the what light skin was considered in the States. The narrator felt uncomfortable in her skin not being as socially accepted as the whites and being looked at as dark-skinned by the whites. She would have to deal with things similar to the way blacks had to sit in the back of the bus, fortunately she was considered higher in the hierarchy compared to blacks. However she was never considered the a superior race in the Americas facing troubles with getting by life such as getting jobs and having to relocated at times. Discrimination can be degrading to the point it crushes a persons hopes and leaves them wanting to give up. The narrator coped and took the opportunity to be heard and try to unify the races to keep as many together as possible.
: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
ReplyDeleteTo have a feeling of entrapment in body and mind with the inability to be heard or express emotions severs the path to growth or recovery. Jane, the narrator and main character of “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has been oppressed with neglect by her husband who as her doctor also cares for her. John is limited by the knowledge of mental illness due to the time period and thus treats her with what was seen as proper treatment, but in actuality was neglectful and repressed her feelings within herself further.
Jane is living in a time period of the late 19th century which has discovered very little in diagnosing and treating mental illness or problems that patients fall victim to. With this, after Jane has had a child she falls into what today is postpartum depression, but instead is diagnosed with neurasthenia which covered a broad spectrum of mental disorders. As her doctor and husband it is John’s duty to care and treat her. Instead it is clear that Jane is neglected and her problems are repressed and overlooked by John, whom remains ignorant and loyal to his methods of treatment. Jane obeys his methods, “I lie down ever so much now. John says it is good for me, and to sleep all I can.”(Gilman, 315), but they neglect any ways in understanding what she is feeling. Her need to express herself through writing can help her heal, but John will not allow it, “There comes John, and I must put this away, -he hates to have me write a word.”(Gilman, 309). John cannot be fully blamed for Jane’s mental collapse seen at the end of the short story because this era varied greatly in handling mental issues and views of women from today. He believed greatly in his method and even stated that she must show a faster recovery; “John says if I don’t pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.”(Gilman, 312). Even when Jane proclaims her issue with the yellow wallpaper John dismisses it, “He laughs at me so about this wallpaper!”(Gilman, 310). Her thoughts and feelings on her own mind state does not even make a difference in John’s treatment, which is pure neglect. If a problem that is clearly present then covered up and overlooked it will build up and find a way to come out, which was exactly what led to Jane’s meltdown.
As a way of recovery, if expression of inner self is denied and neglected there will be catastrophic results. This is seen with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s character Jane of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Overall due to the neglect by John and others involved with Jane she had a severe meltdown and was mentally damaged.
“A White Woman of Color” by Julia Alvarez
ReplyDeleteWith humanity being as diverse as it is and being it is filled with prejudice minded people the feeling of oppression can take over a person’s way of life and overshadow their culture. The narrator, the author, of “A White Woman of Color” by Julia Alvarez depicts what she encountered with discrimination and exclusion. Within her life she witnessed and experienced this oppression both within her native home and in America during times of segregation into the late civil rights movement.
Julia is of a Dominican decent and grew up in the Dominican Republic with the need to become and stay a lighter skinned child. She took notice that she would benefit from having lighter skin compared to dark skinned relatives or natives; “…realized that this hierarchy of beauty was dictated by our coloring.”(Alvarez, 166). With the need to be light skinned created from the pressures of how they discriminated against the dark skinned, she would remain out of the sun in order to maintain a pale white untanned skin tone, “All I had to do was stay out of the sun and behave myself and I could pass as a pretty white girl.”(Alvarez, 168). Within her own family the lighter skinned were favored over the darker colored relatives because those on her mother’s side which were white, were more civilized. Meanwhile her father faced backlash for his family’s ways of darker relatives in uncivilized and Dominican way; “My mother would snap back that we looked like jibaritas who should be living out in the country. Of course, that was precisely where my father’s family came from.”(Alvarez, 167). Her people had never taken on physically discriminating or segregating the two color variants, “It was clear to us growing up then that lighter was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was dark-skinned.”(Alvarez, 167), but she would face that in America. She had an aunt Ana who had moved to America prior to their arrival in 1960. She mentioned how the society there was divided and there was a large presence of discrimination and excluding blacks from whites; “…recounted stories of discrimination on buses and subways. These American were so blind! One drop of black and you were black.”(Alvarez, 168). Julia had to live in a time where this discrimination was simply a part of society and there was little that was done until the civil rights movements and as time passed on.
The way discrimination had excluded Julia from white privileges changed the way she saw humanity, but it provided her with a purpose to use the Latino race to “redefine” the divided America. She has experienced something that can oppress the culture a person is born into to please another region with a different majority of race. The discrimination and exclusion faced by her is still among humanity, but more are standing up against such unethical acts.
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ReplyDeleteThe semi-autobiographical short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Gilman speaks through an unreliable female narrator. The story was essentially a response to her doctor, who tried to cure her of her depression through a rest cure. While some people see it as a psychological and depression sort of story, it can be clear from the feminist point of view that this is the state of women in the late 1800s.It is the representation of the struggles faced by women in seeking freedom of thought. The perfect example of discrimination is made clear through the character-John, the thoughts and writing of Jane, and the situation she is going thorugh. Lines like “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” describe the oppression and discrimination faced by women at that period of time. This is an example of imprisonment of women, and the control held over them by men.
ReplyDeleteA white woman of color is a self representation and anxiety of the author, Julia, as a kid.She writes about racism that she experienced herself. The author grew up in Dominican Republic and faced a lot of inter sectional discrimination.The intensity of discrimination has gone to such an extent that even faced it within her own family.This is clear when she says “It was clear to us growing up that lighter was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was darkskinned. Everyone’s family had dark-skinned members” .
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a short story, the narrator is staying at a house as a cure for her depression. John her husband thinks it is good to get fresh air and be secluded, since he is a pediatrician. John throughout the short story used neglect as a type of oppression, on the narrator. He would not let the narrator do anything but stay in that room or house. He will not let her write in her book, go into town to see other people, or doing anything to the house. The constant neglect John gives to the narrators makes her go mad. Instead of listening to her needs and how she feels as a person and not as a typical case of depression, maybe something would have changed. Without talking to her how she feels or what she wants to do, all he says is that I am a doctor. You cannot question John at all, which leaves the narrator powerless. The neglect that John imposes on the narrator is really the stem of her madness. Without letting her go to her family or just simply asking how you, all he did are was say you are getting better and I see it. Neglect by a parent or spouse or a friend of importance, usually makes the person go mad and depressed or wants to makes the person want to prove the person wrong. Neglect on a person will always cause a response and affect who they are.
ReplyDeleteThis led to another type of oppression from another short story which discrimination. This is seen in the short story “A Women of Color” by Julia Alvarez, she describes how skin color really takes a toll on you as a person. She describes that the paler you are as a person the prettier you are. Once she came to American, it was not as bad because she was not African American but having a not pale skin, she would get bullied to go back to where you came from. See what amazes me is that, what color you are and how you are seen is how you are raised and taught. When you are a toddler you don’t care about race, religion or anything. You make friends and play because you want to. We are born to no discriminate and not be racist because we simply don’t care. As we get older our parents, friends, family, society, the government, the news, the world has to label and create political terms to people. Just because I am white or my friend is from the Middle East, I don’t call him a terrorist or a Muslim, I call him by his name. Society will call him otherwise. It is sad that she felt, Julia, the more “whiter” you become, the less connect you have with who you are and where you come from. What she wrote really shows how discrimination works. Lastly I once read a study that about racism and discrimination. They should children of different color skin and different ethnic back rounds two dolls. A white doll and a colored doll and asked which one you would rather be. About 90 % chose the white one. That is what our world is coming to that people are afraid to be who they are because of pigment, melanin, in the skin. After all, we all look the same on the inside.
“The Yellow wallpaper”
ReplyDeleteThe woman in yellow wallpaper was neglected. Even though her husband was caring for her and that’s why the stayed in a new place there was no one who spent their time with here asking what is her problems and sharing the emotions. In the story when the woman is mentally depressed her husband doesn’t want her to do anything that show that he cares for her, but at the same time there is no one to sit and talk with her emotionally and make her recover from the mental illness. Even for a normal man it is hard for him to sit quietly for a long time without doing anything so his mind roams around thinking many things. When it comes to mentally depressed women it goes to her too. She was not allowed to do any work so she started creating her own illusions.
The woman created her own illusion because there was no one to talk with her. She slept at different timing and her normal activity changed which her husband thought that she is recovering. But people whatever happens has to talk with each other and share happiness and joy with others which was missing in the woman’s life. So illusions grow big and created many problems this absolutely shows that she was neglected.
“A white woman color”
Julia Alvarez (born March 27, 1950) is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. Born in New York of Dominican descent, she spent the first ten years of her childhood in the Dominican Republic, until her father's involvement in a political rebellion forced her family to flee the country. She writes against racism, which was a result of imperialism.
In early 1600’s European people started invading countries for trade. The invention of machine increased the production of products in Europe’s. They wanted to sell their goods and make money. They wanted to trade with other countries to sell their good so people started trading with other continents. While finding the sea route for these countries like Indian they found a new land of Africa and America. They found the people from Africa are still underdeveloped so they made them as slave and got their slavery works done by them using their military power is and invasion technique which is know as imperialism.
As a result of imperialism the slavery grow. And there started the feeling of white people as leaders and others are slaves. But they didn’t feel that all Humans are Childers of God and all are equal. In the story this is clear seen that when the authors says that there was a time when even school children’s who were black color in the skin tone were attacked. So the author were put in a school were there is no activity like this happens. Even in Brooklyn where people entered the house of black colored people living there and hit them saying to leave the country. Which clearly shows that only people who have white colored skin can live. Which also tell that the others are not equal to them. Thus imperialism paved way for racism. And the racism was prevalent in late 1950’s also which author faced.
Work cited
Julia Alvarez Wikipedia.
In Charlotte Perkins-Gillman’s the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator’s husband, John, displays negligent oppression. John, who is also a physician, appears to push the narrator’s sickness aside, claiming that nothing is wrong. He prescribes her the “rest cure,” which is to stay in bed – forbidden to do anything except rest. She is not displaying any physical symptoms, but the emotional agony of being locked up in a room with no freedom to express herself through writing, or have contact with anyone is enough to drive anyone over the edge: “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus - but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad” (Perkins-Gilman 648). While the narrator looks to express her emotions and how she feels about her nervousness, John refuses to let her is forced to succumb to his orders, because of how tiring sneaking them in makes her. She is forced to do nothing, but stare at the horrid, yellow wallpaper” John is away all day, and even some, nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him”(Perkins-Gilman 649). John seems to have no problem with his wife suffering, once he leaves the room, he seems to move on and simply ignore her pleas for help. As time goes on, and the mental stability of the narrator dwindles, John’s negligence ultimately provides a cure to his wife. She realizes that she does not need her husband, and that she was right from the start. The freedom to express herself gives her the strength to overcome both the nervousness and oppression she suffers from.
ReplyDeleteMatthew,
DeleteIt was impressive how well you described what the narrators husband was feeling throughout the story. You gave very sold examples with quotes that really help us see how the narrator was feeling. My favorite quote you used was "John is away all day, and even some, nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him." This quote really helped me understand just how badly John was neglecting his wife and how the author felt about it. You also stated that his wife did in fact try to talk to John about what she thought she needed but was ultimately ignored. Your work clearly shows the oppressive negligence towards the wife. Lastly you did a splendid job on how you ended your paragraph by stating that in the end the narrator was cured but not from her husband's suggestions but from finally realizing she did not need him, she just had to be herself and do what she truly desired which was writing and expressing herself.
Discrimination And Exclusion
ReplyDeleteIn the story, “A white woman of color”, Julia Alvarez narrates the different ways she was discriminated just on the basis of color since her childhood. She had to face some hostile and uncomfortable situations even when she was a kid as her family consisted of a father and mother belonging to both black and white communities. Just on the basis of the skin color even well qualified and educated black people were deprived of equal chances in the society. In the lines like, “Many of Papi’s relatives had gone to the university and become professionals. But they still lived in the interior versus of the capital in old houses”, portrayed the unethical discrimination towards blacks in this white dominant society. She had to face that inequity not only at home but also in school and later throughout her life.
Neglect
In the story, “The yellow wallpaper”, John unintentionally neglects her wife presuming that giving her rest for a while would cure her mental illness. He being a doctor himself, believes that it is the most appropriate way to treat her. However, he fails to make out that it is actually making her situation even worse. Perkins Gillman repeatedly tries to get out of her mental trauma. However, her restriction to not indulge in any kind of activity drives her even crazier. Even though she requests him to change his way of treatment, John strongly disagrees saying, “My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing”. So due to his ignorance and negligence, John fails to help her wife to get over her illness.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main character is John's wife Jane who is apparently sick according to John who is a physician. John's solution to his wife's sickness was to take her away somewhere else for awhile so she could relax, without knowing so John has been oppressing his wife by being neglectful. John works very long hours so he isn't home throughout the day leaving his wife all alone and when he is home and his wife talks to him about her sickness he never listens to her. The neglectful oppression of Jane is undoubtedly noticeable throughout the story. Her husband John has not noticed but he is pushing his wife away by being neglectful which could end badly for him.
ReplyDeleteJohn is in fact oppressing his wife by being neglectful he is gone long hours and he does not truly listen to her when he is home and she tries to speak to him about her condition. One perfect example of this was when Jane wanted to wake John up to talk to him about her condition after it happened she says “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious... John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.”(Gilman 42-45). Jane clearly states for us one of the things that truly bother her about her situation. Her husband is never around and when he is he never listens to her. She is just constantly getting neglected John not being around all day happened for 3 months straight since they had a 3 month lease on the house they rented. That is 3 months of being neglected all day and all night. One of her main passions at this point in time is writing but she been forbade to write since John believes that is the root of our sickness. This is clearly illustrated for us when Jane says “There comes John, and I must put this away, -he hates to have me write a word.” Yet again John is neglecting his wife she has tried to tell him that she believes that the writing is good for her but he just doesn't want to listen. His wife's word come through one ear and exit on the other he does not even consider what she has to say. Not even when writing is her major passion. John oppresses his wife all story long through neglect, he is gone all day and sometimes all night but when he is there he never truly listens to what his wife has to say even when it comes to writing which is her passion.
John oppresses his wife throughout the story via neglect whether doing it unintentionally or intentionally does not matter since at the end of it she has enough of it. John is never there yet when he is he never listens even when his wife thinks it would be for her own good. To John whatever he thinks is the solution nothing else can be which causes him to constantly discard what his wife tells him. The neglect shown in the story is undoubtedly undeniable John is the only one who could possibly be right whatever his wife says does not make sense in his mind which in the end causes his wife to lose it.
The Short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is by Charlotte Perkins-Gillman. In this story it is quite evident that Gillman portrays neglect as a form of oppression. The story is all about the narrator who is not allowed to see or talk with any other people and even restricted to a small room with one window by her husband, john. John actually cares for his wife, but he neglects her by working away from the house. He is more concerned about his work than his wife. He never asked her how she feels insecure and alone at house. He imagined himself that she is happy being at home and lives happily in the single room because He thinks that she has no reason to suffer. When John comes to home from work, the narrator tries to tell him that she does not want to stay in that single room. It’s john’s imagination which controlled him to neglect his wife. But, for the narrator the empty room feels like she is being trapped. This led the narrator to go through the both emotional and mental stress.
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins is her response to her own nervous condition. She explains the suffering she felt when following a doctor’s orders which didn’t allow her to do anything, in order to cure her. It is a written expression of someone with a mental health illness and how they feel inside their mind. The yellow wallpaper can be connecter to poverty. Charlotte is in need for love, she needed free space for her to live in. But due to her condition her husband forces her to live inside her room alone. She starts to feel depressed.
ReplyDeleteThe wallpaper in the room gives the main idea of the story. At first the wallpaper is meaningless. Later when she gets more and more depressed locked up inside the room, it starts to give her a meaning. She finds a women trapped inside the wallpaper reflecting her state of mind. The wallpaper is not what is making her sick. The wallpaper is a mirror of her image. At the end of the story she realizes that she was seeing her own self and freed herself out in the wallpaper as well as from the room.
The white collar display’s how people even though rich or poor with respect to their wealth were considered poor when they were black. The writer when forced to leave home town and live in Manhattan faces poverty with colour. It shows how discrimination based on colour affected people and forced them to leave an area. In both the white collar and the yellow wallpaper, the women faces poverty. Charlotte faced loneliness and trapped. She wanted to be free. In the case of Julia Alvrez She faces discrimination based on colour and wants to be treated equally.
Neglect
ReplyDeleteThe woman trapped behind the yellow wallpaper is nearly a perfect metaphor for Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Kessler, in her biographical essay on Gilman, described her as a very active crusader in the women’s rights movement who tried to peel away the gender bias that plague the women in our culture, just as the narrator in her story tries to pull off the wallpaper in her room to free the trapped women behind it. Throughout the short story, she describes gender discrimination prevailing in that time period. She describes that women are neglected and confined as a mental prisoner as they were not allowed to do any work. Women were neglected and pushed to corner with hands tied like a captive. They were under the effect of repression and lack of identity during that time .
The author herself as main character; shows a special bond between the main character and the reader through the main character’s intimate point of view towards her husband, her condition, and her treatment as she slips further and further into her insanity. The issue of gender inequality and its repressing effect on the entire female gender is exposed. She devoted much of the story and much of her own life to escaping. The woman in the story is trying to escape from behind the wallpaper. The narrator is trying to escape the rest cure and possibly the treatments of her husband. Eventually, Gilman wants to escape from the gender traditions of a male-dominated society.
In the Story “A White Woman of Color” the author Julia Alvarez talks about her family, the diversity within it, and how her and her family handled moving to America in the 1960’s. Julia’s life was molded around discrimination and exclusion. It seams everything that happened to her, she was able to relate to her ethnicity. Her being different in America compared to the dominant white race is what molded her as a person, and gave her the views on life and her culture that she has to this day.
ReplyDeleteTo be someone of a different race other than white in the mid 1900’s meant that there was going to be discrimination against you, and you expected it because of that’s just how it was. People ignorantly gave everyone who was different a label, making your culture very important to you. It was either hold on tight to your heritage, or drop it and change you way of life, or, Americanize it. Julia chose to keep her heritage as she said in the story, “I am choosing to hold on to my ethnicity and native language even if I can pass” (A White Woman of Color).
For those who are able to rough through the discrimination, and succeed in a world of hate, grow stronger attached to their ethnicity because it’s what they have been fighting the entire time to hold onto. Julia was able to show how her ethnicity and being different than the norm had affected her in many aspects of her life from her child to adulthood.
The short story The Yellow Wallpaper, narrated by Charlotte Perkins Gilman details the relationship between the narrator and her husband John. The main theme is the oppression faced by women during her timeline. John being a physician by profession takes care of the health of his wife and diagnoses her with a mental disorder and decides to treat her by moving to a peaceful summer house which would give them calmness. John doesn’t take in to consideration that by doing so he would isolating her from the outside world. The narrator falls victim to neglect, mistreatment and confinement.
ReplyDeleteThe room in which the narrator is put in has just a single window and a ripped up wallpaper. The overall condition of the room and confinement seems it would do more to hurt her than cure her. The narrator feels neglected as her husband spends a great deal of his time away at work. The lack of company puts her in a state of isolation. John believes that, a peaceful environment would help his wife recover. John though cares for his wife, but he not being able to spend time with her pushes his wife to isolation.
She is disturbed and asks john to arrange her family to meet her to which he replies by stating that he would ask them to, but only after her disorder improves. He fails to detect this as a sign of further isolation and neglect. The confinement she is subjected to adds more stress to her mental situation. The author also becomes a victim of the lack of proper methods to treat mental disorders. Her husband in his view does his best to help her, but the lack of knowledge puts her in a helpless position.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an example of Inter-Sectionality Discrimination and Exclusion oppression. Jane is oppressed by multiple dimensions of disadvantages. She is an upper-class woman living in the Victorian era. During this period society’s attitude and expectations of upper-class women were to stay at home live a “domestic life”, “entertain and order things”. Depression was brought on by being excluded from the outside world where men were allowed to express themselves intellectually and creatively. Jane’s objections were not taken seriously: John patronized her showing gender-inequality. Depressions along with other ailments from mental abuse were diagnosed as “nervous-conditions”, which were treated with the “rest cure”. This cure was more abuse, leading to insanity. The author in real life suffered from this oppression which lead her to write this short story. She writes that her doctor sent her home with this advice, “live as domestic a life…as possible. Have but two hours intellectual life a day and never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again as long as I lived.” Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an early feminist who fought against oppression of women. Let us thank Ms. Gilman for what we take for granted today. Mariann Simone
ReplyDeleteMariann, I agree with you when you say "Depression was brought on by being excluded from the outside world where men were allowed to express themselves intellectually and creatively." It is very important to recognize how the narrator was in fact oppressed by John not taking her seriously. By confining her to "live as domestic as possible" he takes a vital part of her soul leaving just her physical appearance. To me it is very heartbreaking to hear what these women had to endure when all they really needed was support and understanding. It was also very ironic to me that Jane was able to prosper at the end of her oppression, because it made her a capable women rather than a weak one. The efforts of silencing her voice are overpowered by her creative thoughts flourishing through her mind. So yes! Let us thank Mrs. Gillman because I could not imagine being a women forced to confine to nothingness.
DeleteIn “A White Woman of Color” oppression is clear and present throughout the story. The main oppression in the story is discrimination and exclusion. At that time being an sort of a darker color was looked down upon and you were immediately a outcast. That is the way it was in society and even within families. Family members who were lighter skinned viewed themselves as better than the ones who were darker. In the United States at the time any short of darker color even light skinned was look as dark which caused you to be treated differently whether looking for a job, schools, and just growing up in general you were treated differently than the rest. Alvarez expresses her experiences clearly throughout the story. The reader really gets the insight on just how serious discrimination was back in the day how the color of your pigment could affect your entire life.
ReplyDeleteIt is clearly known what Alvarez thought about the treatment people received at that time “It was clear to us growing up that whiter was better.”(Alvarez 166). This was first instilled by their mother right from the start since when she and her sister were young their mother thought that she had lighten her children up. The reason their mother did that because at that time being darker was a bad thing even within the Dominican community. In the Dominican community people of lighter shades felt superior to those who were darker shade. So the discrimination started from within and when you move to the United States it does not matter whether you are lighter or darker you are viewed as dark regardless. If you are viewed as being darker then that means you do not get to go to the same schools as the whites, you do not get the same jobs, and you do not get the same privileges while on the bus. Being discriminated like this makes people feel insecure about themselves since you are being looked down as basically trash compared to the whites. This is also clearly shown by when Alvarez states “And then it would come out, the color, the accent, the cousins with six fingers, the smell of garlic.”(Alvarez 169). She says this shamefully the way she has been discriminated through her life has brought her to this being insecure about who she is just because of the pigment of her skin, it is sad when you can not truly be yourself due to the fear of being singled out and treated like you are not human. Throughout the story discrimination and exclusion is evident if you were darker you were looked as second rate, less of a person, and worthless even, people were insecure and even afraid to be themselves due to the indifference they received for not being white just because of the color of their skin.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main character, Jane, suffers oppression inflicted upon her by society. Jane suffered what physicians of her time period believed to be neurasthenia. The treatments given to her by her husband who was a doctor caused her conditions to worsen. Jane was neglected due to the inequality of gender during that time. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is even written in the secrecy of a diary because Jane was not allowed to do what she loved – writing. Her husband was not neglectful on purpose however, it is due to his lack of understanding, which is ironic because he is the physician in the house. “John does not know how much I really suffer, and that satisfies him.”
ReplyDeleteIn “A White Woman of Cover” by Julia Alvarez, Julia too was oppressed. The family that she grew up in frowned upon having a darker skin color, or at least her mother’s side did, although Julia embraced it. Alvarez says herself “I experienced racism in my own family.” Her mother oppressed her culture by frowning upon the children at the dinner table if they ate improperly. “My mother would snap back that we looked like jibaritas who should be living out in the country. Of course, that was precisely where my father’s family came from.” It’s also mentioned that her mother’s money was stored in the Chase Manhattan Bank with George Washington’s picture on it rather than Juan Pablo Duarte’s. Juan Pablo Duarte is one of the founding fathers of The Dominican Republic. Her mother would rather not be reminded of their background.
In the short story “The yellow wallpaper” by Charlotte- Gilman, the author clearly shows neglect as the form of oppression. John, author’s husband evidently neglects her needs, choices and emotions. She is made to stay at a rented summer home as part of her mental illness treatment. The author’s preferred room was neglected by her husband instead he chooses the room upstairs. John always ignores her preference and needs. She is very passionate about writing but John did not permit her to write during her treatment. "John is kept in town very often by serious cases..." (Gilman 772).This shows that John gives more preference to his work than his wife. This make her feel lonely and neglected .He fails to understand her actual emotions and assumes she is happy and getting better from his treatment. It is evident that John treats her like one of his patients and he neglects his duties has a husband.
ReplyDeleteMariann Simone -
ReplyDeleteJulia Alvarez writes of intersectionality, discrimination and exclusion oppression in her short story “A White Woman of Color.” “I experienced racism within my own family” she says about growing up in the Dominican Republic. Genetically, her skin color takes after her mother’s side, whiter. This puts her into a different class within her own family. But when she immigrates to America in 1960, she feels the oppression of social exclusion. No matter how light her skin is, she is not accepted as white.
The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays a woman who undergoes a nervous depression. She is asked by her husband John, who is a physician to avoid doing work or even write. He loves his wife and wants to do what is best for her, but however he decides to let her be alone. He thinks in his mind that a little air and rest will cure her. He does not realize that she needs to be around people and keep herself occupied in order to feel better. The narrator feels neglected. When she approached John to tell him that she did not feel good about the wallpaper, John tells her to not let the wallpaper get the better of her. He assures her by saying, “You know the place is doing you good” (Gilman, 318). She starts imagining things about the wallpaper that seemed to be telling her stories. She believed that women were escaping from behind the patterns of the wallpaper. The cause for this oppression is neglect by her loved ones.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, A White Woman of Color showcases discrimination and exclusion. Julia, born in the Dominican Republic experienced discrimination throughout her life. Even when she was at home, she felt discrimination within her family for not being born white. Fair skin toned people were held at a higher regard than those that were dark skinned. “It was clear to us growing up then that lighter was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was dark skinned” (Alvarez). She writes about how people judge others by their external appearances. Also, when she moved to New York in 1960, she felt excluded. She noticed that she was different from the others because of her accent and color which made her feel like an outsider.
Brady, I also emailed you my paper a few days back. Just wanted to know if you received it. thanks
ReplyDeleteI checked my email yesterday and did not see it?
DeleteWe all heard the famous saying “Life isn’t fair” well that seems so harsh and impracticable. We also like to live a happy life. Right? In Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez both authors used exploitation as a type of oppression. This can inferred that unusually punishment and brutal behavior was shown.
ReplyDeleteIn the Yellow Wallpaper Gilman structured her story as an outbreak of the ineffectiveness and uncomfortable course of treatment that almost destroyed S. Weir Mitchell’s cure of depression. The rightful mind that is plagued and the anxiety that damaged the prey itself when there is no healthy work being done. Gilman also criticizes the form of medical care and the ignorance of concerning of the patient, known as passive treatment. The connection is between woman’s subordinate in the home and the relationship between the doctor/patient. John is very clear about forms of authority and that it can be abused even with the means help. Often women are the quiet subjects to authority and infantilized or unhealthy.
This shares the concept of heartlessness from Yellow Wallpaper to A White Women of Color. Alvarez states in the Dominican Republic, the dictator Rafael Trujillo used his country’s militia to slaughter all those who supported the presidential election. These led to a genocide to protect the Dominican race and were not allowed to mix with the Haitian people. Just because the declare of a white population. This made women in the time period very weak and evidence shows that women have no say. Women were expected to take care of things as the male of the house had to occupy and supply the family. This shows a historic and life lesson that life should be lived with happiness.
Discrimination is a huge part of our country's past. It hasn't limited itself soley to the color of one's skin. We have seen discrimination in the for of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and age. In "A White Woman of Color," by Julia Alvarez, readers are faced with the issue of dicrimination within the family. Julia writes in the second paragraph of her story, "I come next, with 'good hair,' and skin that back than was a deep olive, for I was a tomboy - another dark mark against me - who would not stay out of the sun" (page 1). She is referring to her sisters and their complexions. On her mom's side of the family, a whiter skin tone was preferred and even looked at in higher regards. After her family moved to New York in 1960, she explains ow immigrants were regarded by all the "bad" words in the English language. As her story continues, readers see Julia's character changing. She decides to integrate her new culture with her old. A famous line from the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, states, "Don't let the past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become." Julia learned to embrace her past and blend it with who she is today. An example of that is when she says, "I am choosing to color my Americanness with my Dominicanness even if it come in a light shade of skin color."
ReplyDeleteImperialism is defined as a policy of extending the rule or authority through diplomacy or military force. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," John possesses a very imperialistic manner with is wife. She will ask him various questions and his answer is always no. An example is when she asks him to go visit cousins, "But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there..." (p. 113). John feels that because he is a doctor, he knows better than his wife about everything and has more authority over her. For example, "I am a doctor, dear, and I know... I feel really much easier about you" (p. 314). John does not listen to how his wife is feeling or what she is thinking, he assumes he knows what is better for her because of his degree and because he is superior to her.
In A White Woman of Color written by Julia Alvarez, several types of oppression toward race are evident throughout the story. Discrimination is obviously the most palpable oppression seen in this story mainly by the fact that as Julia grew up all her life, she has been discriminated against. Julia grew up in the Dominican Republic all her life and emigrated to New York with her family in 1960. Her father’s side of the family were the really ethnic ones; a darker complexion, nappy hair, and “coarse” features. On the other hand, her mother’s side was white in terms of color and class. They possessed fine features such as pale skin and flush hair and were emulated to the manners and habits of North Americans. An example of prejudice in the story is the way Julia Alvarez describes the ways the North American schools were; kids were constantly asking her where she was originally from. When she replied, the kids told her to “Go back to where you came from!” and hurled stones at her and her sisters. It was now clear to her that the white race was the “better” side, but this did not make her change her roots.
ReplyDeleteIn The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, oppression is also prevalent. Female exclusion is a principal example and is illustrated by a mentally ill wife and her husband John. The wife soon becomes obsessed with this room and continuously stares at the wallpaper until in begins to mentally deteriorate her. Eventually, the narrator further elaborates on the wallpaper and the reader can now come to the conclusion that the wallpaper represents the bars of a cage, and the pattern beneath that symbolizes a woman trying to escape. It is evident here that this wallpaper signifies the Cult of Domesticity, which was a revolutionary movement throughout the 1700s-1800s, which dictated woman’s roles as child-bearers and keepers of the family. With this revolt, women were unable to leave their homes for labor, which ultimately bounded them to social despair and the four walls around their house.
It is now manifest that these two types of oppression can be mentally damaging and could cause one to go mentally insane. No matter where we go in this world, somebody will always be discriminated against and somebody will always be going psychologically insane. With a strong enough mindset, these things are able to be overcome through mind over matter.
Beautiful response! I will provide feedback next week!
ReplyDeleteBrady, I emailed you!
ReplyDelete