The Man-Made World; or, Our Androcentric Culture
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Early feminist author and advocate Charlotte Perkins Gilman is today best remembered for the haunting short story The Yellow Wallpaper, which recounts the female protagonist's descent into madness. In addition to her prodigious body of fictional work, Gilman wrote a great deal of non-fiction, including scholarly and persuasive essays about equality and the female condition. This long-form essay details the misogyny that was pervasive in Western culture in the late nineteenth and early show more twentieth centuries.. show less
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“Advocates of football, for instance, proudly claim that it fits a man for life. Life–from the wholly male point of view–is a battle, with a prize. …This is an archaism which would be laughable if it were not so dangerous in its effects. … The valuable processes today are those of invention, discovery, all grades of industry, and, most especially needed, the capacity for honest service and administration of our immense advantages. These are not learned on the football field. … ” (p39-40)
“An unforgettable instance of this lies int he attitude of the medical colleges toward women students. The men, strong enough, one would think, in numbers, in knowledge, in established precedent, to be generous, opposed show more the newcomers first with absolute refusal; then, when the patient, persistent applicants did get inside, both students and teachers met them not only with unkindness and unfairness, but with a weapon ingeniously well chosen, and most discreditable–namely, obscenity. Grave professors, in lecture and clinic, as well as grinning students, used offensive language, and played offensive tricks, to drive the women out …” (p50).
And today? Have things changed? You bet. Now they’re chanting “‘No’ means ‘Yes’; ‘Yes’ means ‘Anal’!” show less
“Advocates of football, for instance, proudly claim that it fits a man for life. Life–from the wholly male point of view–is a battle, with a prize. …This is an archaism which would be laughable if it were not so dangerous in its effects. … The valuable processes today are those of invention, discovery, all grades of industry, and, most especially needed, the capacity for honest service and administration of our immense advantages. These are not learned on the football field. … ” (p39-40)
“An unforgettable instance of this lies int he attitude of the medical colleges toward women students. The men, strong enough, one would think, in numbers, in knowledge, in established precedent, to be generous, opposed show more the newcomers first with absolute refusal; then, when the patient, persistent applicants did get inside, both students and teachers met them not only with unkindness and unfairness, but with a weapon ingeniously well chosen, and most discreditable–namely, obscenity. Grave professors, in lecture and clinic, as well as grinning students, used offensive language, and played offensive tricks, to drive the women out …” (p50).
And today? Have things changed? You bet. Now they’re chanting “‘No’ means ‘Yes’; ‘Yes’ means ‘Anal’!” show less
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141+ Works 14,869 Members
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Hartford, Conn. Her traumatic childhood led to depression and to her eventual suicide. Gilman's father abandoned the family when she was a child and her mother, who was not an affectionate woman, recruited relatives to help raise her children. Among these relatives was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author show more of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Due to her family situation, Gilman learned independence, but also became alienated from her many female relatives. Gilman married in 1884 and was soon diagnosed with depression. She was prescribed bed rest, which only seemed to aggravate her condition and she eventually divorced her husband, fearing that marriage was partly responsible for her depressed state. After this, Gilman became involved in feminist activities and the writing that made her a major figure in the women's movement. Books such as Women and Economics, written in 1898, are proof of her importance as a feminist. Here she states that only when women learn to be economically independent can true equality be achieved. Her fiction works, particularly The Yellow Wallpaper, are also written with feminist ideals. A frequent lecturer, she also founded the feminist magazine Forerunner in 1909. Gilman, suffering from cancer, chose to end her own life and committed suicide on August 17, 1935. More information about this fascinating figure can be found in her book The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography, published in 1935. (Bowker Author Biography) Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Hartford, Conn. Her traumatic childhood led to depression and to her eventual suicide. Gilman's father abandoned the family when she was a child and her mother, who was not an affectionate woman, recruited relatives to help raise her children. Among these relatives was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Due to her family situation, Gilman learned independence, but also became alienated from her many female relatives. Gilman married in 1884 and was soon diagnosed with depression. She was prescribed bed rest, which only seemed to aggravate her condition and she eventually divorced her husband, fearing that marriage was partly responsible for her depressed state. After this, Gilman became involved in feminist activities and the writing that made her a major figure in the women's movement. Books such as Women and Economics, written in 1898, are proof of her importance as a feminist. Here she states that only when women learn to be economically independent can true equality be achieved. Her fiction works, particularly The Yellow Wallpaper, are also written with feminist ideals. A frequent lecturer, she also founded the feminist magazine Forerunner in 1909. Gilman, suffering from cancer, chose to end her own life and committed suicide on August 17, 1935. More information about this fascinating figure can be found in her book The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography, published in 1935. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Man-Made World; or, Our Androcentric Culture
- Alternate titles
- Our Androcentric Culture
- Original publication date
- 1911
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Sociology, General Nonfiction, Anthropology, History
- DDC/MDS
- 301.41 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Sociology and anthropology Formerly: Social structure
- LCC
- HQ1206 .G6 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Women. Feminism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 45
- Popularity
- 650,499
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.33)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 22
- ASINs
- 6
