Men's Superiority (Victorian Era): Gilman's "Yellow Wallpaper"
             The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is an intense short story that portrays sexist qualities that arise in response to societal pressures of the Victorian era. Ms. Gilman wrote this short story based on a real life incident which happened to her. She had fallen psychologically ill and sought the aid of a male physician. The doctor had limited Ms. Gilman's activity to being bed ridden and prohibited her from writing. This didn't sit too well with Ms. Gilman as she became even more ill. Eventually, she began to continue writing. As her illness began to subside, Ms. Gilman realized it was not the advice of the doctor that helped heal her illness, but it was her writings and knowledge of her own body. When Charlotte Perkins Gilman published these views, she raised many eyebrows from women who had experienced the same type of situation she was in.
             Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story highlights and subjects the way men had superiority over women during an era when women were stripped of their rights and unable to even vote. Due to the restrictions society placed on women during the Victorian era, women were under the authority of men and placed in a position of futility, they were bound completely to the sexist traditions of men.
             "The Yellow Wallpaper" takes place during a time when women had no say in what went on with the community, home life and even their own life. All women were subject to the superior views of men and were basically force to abide by them. They were forced to comply with these rules because it was a time that women had no option for education and instead strictly relied on the income of their spouse to support them as well as their children. If women decided to leave their spouse, they would have no where to go, because they were not educated properly, a...