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Women Write for Rights

1800s- present

What were women’s legal rights in the US prior to the first movements?

Document 1

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Why is reform important for a country where

“all men are created equal”?

Document 2 & 3

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Women’s Medicine as women write

What roll did medical diagnosis play in the push for equal rights?

The Myth of “Female Hysteria”• Symptoms leading to diagnosis included- faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a “tendency to cause trouble”

• Treatments included extreme bed rest and sometimes a “pelvic massage.”

Early History of Hysteria The history of diagnoses of

hysteria can be traced to ancient times.

An ancient Greek myth tells of the uterus wandering throughout the woman’s body, strangling her as it reaches the chest, causing women to act unpredictably.

In medieval times hysteria was believed to be a disease of sexually deprived, passionate women. Treatment was sex if married and marriage if single.

S. Weir Mitchell: expert on nervous conditions

• Introduced the “rest cure” for nervous ailments, especially hysteria.

• The rest cure included: isolation, confinement to bed, dieting, and massage

What problems might arise from such a cure?

The Infamous Rest CurePractically imprisoned women for up to two months• Minimal contact with

the outside world.• No engagement of the

mind• No performing small

activities• Hand fed• Restrained in bed

The Rest Cure (cont.) Often, according to Mitchell’s writing on the

rest cure in his treatise Fat and Blood, by the fifth or sixth day of treatment, most women became “tractable,” and did not resist the imposed monotony. This statement suggests that many women fought this treatment during initial days of imprisonment but ultimately gave up.

Since husbands frequently were allowed to make decisions regarding their wives, the perception of the husband could determine whether a woman would endure or continue to endure a rest cure.

Thus, often the only “escape” from the rest cure was full cooperation.

Hysteria This condition was discredited by the 1920’s and is no longer acknowledged as existing.

So, if Hysteria isn’t an actual disease…what was really wrong with these women?

The Myth of “Female Hysteria”• Symptoms leading to diagnosis included- faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a “tendency to cause trouble”

Reality CheckMany of the women were most likely afflicted by general depression, anxiety, stress, dissatisfaction, or postpartum depression

Some women simply asserted their opinions too much and a diagnosis of hysteria was a way for husbands to regain control

Are female hysteria and the rest cure clear abusive signs of a patriarchal culture?

S. Weir Mitchell: expert on nervous conditions

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Doctor

The Yellow Wallpaper

During Gilman’s Era A doctor in 1859 claimed that 25% of all

women suffer from hysteria.

One doctor compiled 75 pages of symptoms of hysteria and called the list “incomplete”.

Doctors around the world believed that hysteria was a direct result of stresses associated with modern life.

Treatment of hysteria was very profitable: there was no risk of death and treatment could go on indefinitely

Are female hysteria and the rest cure clear abusive signs of a patriarchal culture?

PurposeTone

Author

{Kate Chopin

Women’s Activist“The Story of an Hour”

Troubled life

Husband died young, leaving her to raise 6 children on her own

Ran plantation by herself for many years, then sold out and moved in with her mother

When her mother died a few years later, she fell into a deep depression.

Encouraged by her family doctor, she began to write as a way to encourage better emotional health

“The Story of an Hour”

Story: connotations? Hour: time frame/settingPhonetically hour/our: connotations?

Conflict

Protagonist vs. selfInternalConscience and dealing with her husband’s death

Diction and Word Choice Double meaning: “heart trouble”::

physical ailment and trouble in her relationship

Par. 5 “twittering” “aquiver with life” “Delicious breath” “crying (double meaning) his wares” all add to the tone. Not sadness as you would expect, but expectant, ironic, and even giddy

Par. 11 she feels free not hemmed in—keen and bright almost vibrant

Par. 12 “Monstrous Joy” bigger than life, makes you wonder what made her life so terrible in the first place.

Irony

Situational Irony Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s

death Verbal Irony

“of joy that kills” Dramatic Irony

Mrs. Mallard’s cause of death Climax

Mr. Mallard’s return—irony?

Symbolism

weather and season: spring=life but the story is about death (irony)

briefcase=gripsack: gripping on to the wife and not letting go

going up she’s feeling heavy with guilt, coming down she feels lighter as if she’s leaving things behind

Theme

The wrongfulness and weakening power that emerges with the repression of women (or any group) and how wrong and damaging it can be.

When you are done you should have…

1-4; 7; 9-14 done for your poop sheet

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So, what to do next?

Assert yourself for rights

Document 4

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“Votes for Women”

Mary Poppins1964

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What is the irony in the song?

Why is “1964” significant?

Scandal: Chopin

The Awakening (1899)—a psychological account of a woman’s search for independence and fulfillment. Because the novel explored the issue of infidelity, it aroused a storm of protest. severely attacked by critics and eventually

banned. Resurrected in the 1950s (2nd wave of

feminism) Today, the book is among the five most-

read American novels in colleges and universities.

Allusion: An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.

Paradox: a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.Satirical poem

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The Paradox of Women’s Lib

The idea of Women’s lib is to free women

Freed women, however, became slaves to the battle for freedom.

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Document 5

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The Paradox of Women’s Lib

The idea of Women’s lib is to equalize women

After, however, women who chose to remain in the home were often considered inferior to working women.

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Is an egalitarian world possible?