Analysis Of Inequality In The Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Stetson

Inequality between genders has been an ongoing issue through past centuries. Though inequality has evolved, the way in which women are seen and treated as inferior human beings still lingers, especially in previous generations. In both, Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s “Inem”, and Charlotte Perkins Stetson “The Yellow Wallpaper” convey the position and inequality women face in society through marriage.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Stetson uses the conventions of psychological horror to criticize the position of women within marriage. For Stetson, the conventional nineteenth-century middle-class marriage, with its distinction between the “domestic” functions of the female and the “active” work of the male, ensured woman remain inferior to men. This example
The author focuses on Inem a young eight year old girl in Indonesia who faces the predicament of marrying a seventeen year old boy Markaban due to her father’s gambling addiction “Poor thing. But they need the dowry. It’s the only way they can get the money” (82) this in turn demoralize Inem to little more than human chattel as she cannot break away from the culture she is raised in. Additionally, Inem faces the harsh realities of being child bride; beatings , loss of innocence, and depression till the point of breaking. Inem in turn begs to be away from her abusive husband” I’m scared. Scared of him… He...hits me”(85) however the society that she is withheld in forbids her from doing so. As the marriage falls apart Inem is left with a status of a nine year old divorcee which is looked down upon “Inem you’re a divorced woman now..There a lot of men here… They will talk about [Inem].. I’m very sorry [Inem][please] go back” (87), resulting in Inem facing the condemning status alone. Furthermore, Toer conveys the harsh realities of cultural differences within marriage and
Women are continuously placed to fall behind in a male dominant society. However, gender should not demoralize equality among one another. In the “Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator faces the authoritative male figure within her marriage resulting in conforming herself to fit a certain gender role within society. This results in a falling to an oppressive state of mind and losing one’s self expression. “Inem” in turn, foretells the harsh plights of marriage in a different culture within arduous situations. It suggests that certain cultures are able to formulate a higher standard for women to easily comply regardless of anything. The two stories are quite similar to one another as generations change, the imbalance for men and woman to reach an equal state is hard to achieve, but not out of one's