Effects of Sexism

Effects of Sexism Sexism is something a lot of women have had to battle in the past and still battle to this day. Several women have experienced degradation constructed through gender roles created by society. For instance, many married women are expected by their husbands to disengage in the work force and stay committed to domestic responsibilities such as, tending solely to their husband’s needs and child care. Despite popular belief, this type of control can become overbearing and self-destructing towards women. Both “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Happy Endings” demonstrate a common feminist critique of relationships in which two women involved with overpowering men experience extreme hardships within themselves. Each woman will sacrifice their happiness for the happiness of their partners and find themselves in a severely depressed state. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator begins her journal by admiring the odd splendor of the house her husband has rented for their summer vacation. She states that she is suffering from nervous depression and then complains that her husband John, who is a doctor, belittles her illness as well as her thoughts and concerns in general. She compares his practical and realistic manner with her own imaginative and sensitive ways. She states, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that. John is practical and extreme… You see he does not believe I am sick” (Gilman, 673). Her husband demands that her treatment require almost nothing active and she is especially forbidden from working and writing. Contrary to his beliefs, she feels that activity, freedom and work would help her condition. She claims that her secret journalism is used as a way to relieve her mind. She begins describing the house and is particularly disturbed by the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom that possesses a strange, formless pattern. Being that John is often absent from the house, she longs for more stimulating company and activity. She describes