Imagine that you receive a promotion in the mail from Hollister& Co. In colossal red bold letters, the promotion says “FREE $500 GIFT CERTIFICATE”. The moment you see this, your heart beings to race and you start to jump and cheer with excitement. Gradually as you continue to read the promotion, your eyes fall upon a paragraph containing eight point size characters. As you read this paragraph the jubilance you once felt disappears. It seems as if this gift certificate comes with restrictions. The restriction reads “Offer valid from Jan 8- Jan 10. All purchases must be made at the Hollister& Co. location at Roosevelt Field Mall. Certificate limited to…” So what do you do? You give into this offer and overcome the restrictions in order to obtain your “ “FREE” $500 GIFT CERTIFICATE”. Allowing something “to give” or someone to “give in” and overcoming an obstacle, to obtain a freedom, illustrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Infamous author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts in her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a sort of bastion that she had to overcome in order to establish her freedom. Gilman wrote in the literary period of Realism which span from 1855-1900. Within this period women were deemed second rate citizens. Because of their position, women; especially women like Gilman who suffered from hysteria and depression were oppressed. Gilman was oppressed by being silenced! She was silenced artistically. Since she suffered from a nervous illness, John, her husband (primary oppressor), prohibited her from writing and removing a grotesque yellow wall paper from their private quarters. Gilman was so restricted from writing that she had to write in secrecy. Also, although she fancied in her condition to have less opposition and more society and stimulus, John said that the very worst thing she could do is think and talk about her condition (Gildman, 316). So instead of literary talking about her oppression, Gilman used figurative language to express her oppression. She utilized the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom to symbolize the oppression and containment she had to succumb to. Gilman realized that in order to achieve her freedom to write, the yellow wallpaper had to “give”- meaning that the wallpaper had to be destroyed. Once the yellow wallpaper was completely removed Gilman exalted “I’ve got out at last…” (Gilman, 328). It was not until Gilman overcame and destroyed her oppression, did she gain freedom.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s situation can be perfectly paralleled with singer and songwriter, Alicia Keys’ song, “Superwoman”. A portion of the lyrics of Key’s song is as follows:
I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a superwoman
For all the mothers fighting
For better days to come
And all my women, all my women sitting her trying
To come home before the sun
And all my sisters
Coming together
Say yes I will
Yes I can
When I’m breaking down
And I can’t be found
And I start to get weak
Cause no one knows
Me underneath these clothes
But I can fly
We can fly, ooh
This beautiful and inspirational song is like a public announcement directed to all women. Alicia Keys’ song is specifically directed to women who struggle at the mercy of perfunctory oppressions like, the rejection of welfare which prohibits a mother to provide income and food to her family and women who work too hard and cannot see their children. Keys basically tells these oppressed women to break the cause of their struggles and restriction by being strong and overcoming these struggles. When these women adapt strength, they will be free from the struggles caused by daily obstacles and restrictions (oppressions).
Infamous author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts in her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a sort of bastion that she had to overcome in order to establish her freedom. Gilman wrote in the literary period of Realism which span from 1855-1900. Within this period women were deemed second rate citizens. Because of their position, women; especially women like Gilman who suffered from hysteria and depression were oppressed. Gilman was oppressed by being silenced! She was silenced artistically. Since she suffered from a nervous illness, John, her husband (primary oppressor), prohibited her from writing and removing a grotesque yellow wall paper from their private quarters. Gilman was so restricted from writing that she had to write in secrecy. Also, although she fancied in her condition to have less opposition and more society and stimulus, John said that the very worst thing she could do is think and talk about her condition (Gildman, 316). So instead of literary talking about her oppression, Gilman used figurative language to express her oppression. She utilized the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom to symbolize the oppression and containment she had to succumb to. Gilman realized that in order to achieve her freedom to write, the yellow wallpaper had to “give”- meaning that the wallpaper had to be destroyed. Once the yellow wallpaper was completely removed Gilman exalted “I’ve got out at last…” (Gilman, 328). It was not until Gilman overcame and destroyed her oppression, did she gain freedom.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s situation can be perfectly paralleled with singer and songwriter, Alicia Keys’ song, “Superwoman”. A portion of the lyrics of Key’s song is as follows:
I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a superwoman
For all the mothers fighting
For better days to come
And all my women, all my women sitting her trying
To come home before the sun
And all my sisters
Coming together
Say yes I will
Yes I can
When I’m breaking down
And I can’t be found
And I start to get weak
Cause no one knows
Me underneath these clothes
But I can fly
We can fly, ooh
This beautiful and inspirational song is like a public announcement directed to all women. Alicia Keys’ song is specifically directed to women who struggle at the mercy of perfunctory oppressions like, the rejection of welfare which prohibits a mother to provide income and food to her family and women who work too hard and cannot see their children. Keys basically tells these oppressed women to break the cause of their struggles and restriction by being strong and overcoming these struggles. When these women adapt strength, they will be free from the struggles caused by daily obstacles and restrictions (oppressions).