Compare And Contrast Gilman And W. E. B. Dubois

Final Exam Charlotte Perkins Gilman and W.E.B. Du Bois both focus on the inequalities faced by certain individuals based on their social characteristics. For Gilman, she was concerned with the political and economic foundation in which gender inequality is built upon, the reinforcing of gender inequalities through different socialization patterns, and evolutionary benefits inherent in one’s gender classification (Edles and Appelrouth 2010:225). She took a Marxist approach toward explaining why the breadwinner/homemaker model of the family was conflictual, in that it forces women to be economically reliant on their male counterpart. She also believed these issues are engrained in institutions and social life in general. Similarly,
He was concerned with the effects that certain social and cultural problems have on the behaviors and perceptions of individuals. He also expressed that race and racism are created by social powers instilled in societal structures, and these powers and structures effect each social group differently. He believed that in order to combat these issues, one must develop racial consciousness to understand the struggles of certain groups and work toward eliminating the barriers brought about by their race and class (Edles and Appelrouth 2010:335). In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman uses the wallpaper to symbolize the constraints of domestic life placed upon women and seeks to explain how these constraints are detrimental to women’s health; and in contrast, Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, uses a veil to explain the wall that separates African American’s racial identity from that of their White counterparts, and how Blacks’ are forced to live with a double conscious of being an American and a
Du Bois states, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line – the relation of the darker to lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (Du Bois in Edles and Appelrouth 2010:355). Du Bois has a problem with racial characteristics creating racial segregation and White people believing in White superiority. He states, “the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, - a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world” (Du Bois in Edles and Appelrouth 2010:351). This veil is a translucent wall, in that one can only faintly see through what’s on the other side of it, but cannot fully distinguish the image. The veil separates the racial identity of the African American from that of the White American. Du Bois asserts that in order for White’s to understand the struggles of what it means to be black in America, they must step through the veil. It is not enough to simply present empirical observations and statistics because those are proven not to work. He believes that the problem of the color line can never be properly addressed without those in power understanding the internal and external struggles of African Americans. He also asserts that Blacks should be able to live free of their double consciousness – having a Negro self and American Negro self. They should