Charlotte Perkins Gilman: If I Were A Man 1914

Charlotte Perkins Gilman If I Were A Man 1914mollie Was True To

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "If I Were a Man" (1914) Mollie was "true to type." She was a beautiful instance of what is reverentially called "a true woman." Little, of course-no true woman may be big. Pretty, of course-no true woman could possibly be plain. Whimsical, capricious, charming changeable, devoted to pretty clothes and always "wearing them well," as the esoteric phrase has it. (This does not refer to the clothes-they do not wear well in the least-but to some special grace of putting them on and carrying them about, granted to but few, it appears.) She was also a loving wife and a devoted mother possessed of "the social gift" and the love of "society" that goes with it, and with all these was fond and proud of her home and managed it as capably as-well, as most women do.

If ever there was a true woman it was Mollie Mathewson, yet she was wishing heart and soul she was a man. And all of a sudden she was! She was Gerald, walking down the path so erect and square-shouldered, in a hurry for his morning train, as usual, and, it must be confessed, in something of a temper. . . . A man! Really a man-with only enough subconscious memory of herself remaining to make her recognize the differences.

At first there was a funny sense of size and weight and extra thickness, the feet and hands seemed strangely large, and her long, straight, free legs swung forward at a gait that made her feel as if on stilts. This presently passed, and in its place, growing all day, wherever she went, came a new and delightful feeling of being the right size. Everything fitted now. Her back snugly against the seat-back, her feet comfortably on the floor. Her feet? . . .

His feet! She studied them carefully. Never before, since her early school days, had she felt such freedom and comfort as to feet-they were firm and solid on the ground when she walked; quick, springy, safe-as when, moved by an unrecognizable impulse, she had run after, caught, and swung aboard the car. Another impulse fished in a convenient pocket for change-instantly, automatically, bringing forth a nickel for the conductor and a penny for the newsboy. These pockets came as a revelation.

Of course she had known they were there, had counted them, made fun of them, mended them, even envied them; but she never had dreamed of how it felt to have pockets. Behind her newspaper she let her consciousness, that odd mingled consciousness, rove from pocket to pocket, realizing the armored assurance of having all those things at hand, instantly get-at-able, ready to meet emergencies. The cigar case gave her a warm feeling of comfort-it was full; the firmly held fountain pen, safe unless she stood on her head; the keys, pencils, letters, documents, notebook, checkbook, bill folder-all at once, with a deep rushing sense of power and pride, she felt what she had never felt before in all her life-the possession of money, of her own earned money-hers to give or to withhold, not to beg for, tease for, wheedle for-hers.

When he took his train, his seat in the smoking car, she had a new surprise. All about him were the other men, commuters too, and many of them friends of his. To her, they would have been distinguished as "Mary Wade's husband," "the man Belle Grant is engaged to," "that rich Mr. Shopworth," or "that pleasant Mr. Beale." And they would all have lifted their hats to her, bowed, made polite conversation if near enough- especially Mr. Beale. Now came the feeling of open-eyed acquaintance, of knowing men-as they were. The mere amount of this knowledge was a surprise to her-the whole background of talk from boyhood up, the gossip of barber-shop and club, the conversation of morning and evening hours on trains, the knowledge of political affiliation, of business standing and prospects, of character-in a light she had never known before. They came and talked to Gerald, one and another. He seemed quite popular.

And as they talked, with this new memory and new understanding, an understanding which seemed to include all these men's minds, there poured in on the submerged consciousness beneath a new, a startling knowledge-what men really think of women. Good, average, American men were there; married men for the most part, and happy-as happiness goes in general. In the minds of each and all there seemed to be a two-story department, quite apart from the rest of their ideas, a separate place where they kept their thoughts and feelings about women. In the upper half were the tenderest emotions, the most exquisite ideals, the sweetest memories, all lovely sentiments as to "home" and "mother," all delicate admiring adjectives, a sort of sanctuary, where a veiled statue, blindly adored, shared place with beloved yet commonplace experiences.

In the lower half-here that buried consciousness woke to keen distress-they kept quite another assortment of ideas. Here, even in this clean-minded husband of hers, was the memory of stories told at men's dinners, of worse ones overheard in street or car, of base traditions, coarse epithets, gross experiences-known, though not shared. And all these in the department "woman," while in the rest of the mind-here was new knowledge indeed. The world opened before her. Not the world she had been reared in-where Home had covered all the map, almost, and the rest had been "foreign," or "unexplored country," but the world as it was-man's world, as made, lived in, and seen, by men.

It was dizzying. To see the houses that fled so fast across the car window, in terms of builders' bills, or of some technical insight into materials and methods; to see a passing village with lamentable knowledge of who "owned it" and of how its Boss was rapidly aspiring in state power, or of how that kind of paving was a failure; to see shops, not as mere exhibitions of desirable objects, but as business ventures, many were sinking ships, some promising a profitable voyage-this new world bewildered her. She-as Gerald-had already forgotten about that bill, over which she-as Mollie-was still crying at home. Gerald was "talking business" with this man, "talking politics" with that, and now sympathizing with the carefully withheld troubles of a neighbor.

Mollie had always sympathized with the neighbor's wife before. She began to struggle violently with this large dominant masculine consciousness. She remembered with sudden clearness things she had read, lectures she had heard, and resented with increasing intensity this serene masculine preoccupation with the male point of view. Mr. Miles, the little fussy man who lived on the other side of the street, was talking now.

He had a large complacent wife; Mollie had never liked her much, but had always thought him rather nice-he was so punctilious in small courtesies. And here he was talking to Gerald-such talk! "Had to come in here," he said. "Gave my seat to a dame who was bound to have it. There's nothing they won't get when they make up their minds to it-eh?" "No fear!" said the big man in the next seat.

"They haven't much mind to make up, you know-and if they do, they'll change it." "The real danger," began the Rev. Alfred Smythe, the new Episcopal clergyman, a thin, nervous, tall man with a face several centuries behind the times, "is that they will overstep the limits of their God-appointed sphere." "Their natural limits ought to hold 'em, I think," said cheerful Dr. Jones. "You can't get around physiology, I tell you." "I've never seen any limits, myself, not to what they want, anyhow," said Mr. Miles.

"Merely a rich husband and a fine house and no end of bonnets and dresses, and the latest thing in motors, and a few diamonds-and so on. Keeps us pretty busy." There was a tired gray man across the aisle. He had a very nice wife, always beautifully dressed, and three unmarried daughters, also beautifully dressed-Mollie knew them. She knew he worked hard, too, and she looked at him now a little anxiously. But she smiled cheerfully.

"Do you good, Miles," he said. "What else would a man work for? A good woman is about the best thing on earth." "And a bad one's the worse, that's sure," responded Miles. "She's a pretty weak sister, viewed professionally," Dr. Jones averred with solemnity, and the Rev. Alfred Smythe added, "She brought evil into the world." Gerald Mathewson sat up straight. Something was stirring in him which he did not recognize-yet could not resist. "Seems to me we all talk like Noah," he suggested drily. "or the ancient Hindu scriptures. Women have their limitations, but so do we, God knows.

Haven't we known girls in school and college just as smart as we were?" "They cannot play our games," coldly replied the clergyman. Gerald measured his meager proportions with a practiced eye. "I never was particularly good at football myself," he modestly admitted, "but I've known women who could outlast a man in all-round endurance. Besides-life isn't spent in athletics!" This was sadly true. They all looked down the aisle where a heavy ill-dressed man with a bad complexion sat alone.

He had held the top of the columns once, with headlines and photographs. Now he earned less than any of them. . . . "Yes, we blame them for grafting on us, but are we willing to let our wives work? We are not. It hurts our pride, that's all.

We are always criticizing them for making mercenary marriages, but what do we call a girl who marries a chump with no money? Just a poor fool, that's all. And they know it. "As for Mother Eve-I wasn't there and can't deny the story, but I will say this. If she brought evil into the world, we men have had the lion's share of keeping it going ever since-how about that?" They drew into the city, and all day long in his business, Gerald was vaguely conscious of new views, strange feelings, and the submerged Mollie learned and learned.

Sample Paper For Above instruction

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "If I Were a Man" (1914) offers a compelling exploration of gender roles, societal expectations, and the hidden biases that inform perceptions of women and men. Written in a satirical and insightful tone, Gilman employs narrative shifts and detailed observations of social interactions to critique the conventional notions of femininity and masculinity prevalent in early 20th-century America.

The story centers around Mollie, a woman who embodies the ideal qualities of a "true woman" as defined by societal standards: she is beautiful, whimsical, devoted, and proud of her domestic role. Gilman describes Mollie in reverent terms, emphasizing her grace, charm, and social gifts, illustrating the idealized image of femininity that was historically celebrated. However, Mollie secretly longs to experience life from a man's perspective and begins to wish she could be a man herself.

Gilman masterfully narrates Mollie’s transformation into Gerald, a process that allows her to directly experience the privileges and societal perceptions afforded to men. As Gerald, Mollie observes her physicality, notably the feeling of freedom associated with being the right size and having functional, secure pockets—symbolic of independence and control over her own resources. Gilman uses these details to highlight the advantages men had, such as financial autonomy and social recognition, which women could only envy or aspire to, but never truly attain due to societal restrictions.

An essential aspect of Gilman’s critique involves the societal attitudes and conversations that Mollie, as Gerald, overhears in various social settings. Gilman exposes the internalized beliefs about women’s limitations, such as the notion that women have inherent "limitations" or are naturally suited only to household and child-rearing roles. She depicts a range of male conversations that oscillate between reverence for women’s traditional roles, caricatures of female weakness, and explicit sexism. Gilman challenges these stereotypes by revealing how deeply ingrained and accepted such ideas were, and by showing how men’s perceptions often belied their own underlying biases.

The narrative also confronts the double standards that exist in the perception of men and women. Men talk openly about their desire for women’s submission, their amusement at women’s ambitions, and their social privileges, creating a stark contrast with the tender, idealized image of women as nurturers and moral beings promoted publicly. Gilman’s description of the conversations—ranging from respectful salutations to crude jokes—serves to unmask the contradiction in society’s view of gender roles.

Gilman vividly illustrates the societal hypocrisy by demonstrating how men distinguish between their publicly held ideals and their private thoughts about women. The “two-story department” metaphor vividly describes the concealed, often coarse, thoughts that men keep hidden, contrasting sharply with the romanticized notions of women they publicly uphold. This duality underscores Gilman’s critique of the societal norms that maintain a facade of respectability while concealing deep-seated gender biases.

Throughout the story, Mollie’s experience as Gerald culminates in her growing awareness of the pervasive gender disparities and the limited roles prescribed for women. She is shocked to discover the extent of men’s casual attitudes towards women’s intelligence, independence, and moral capacities. Gilman’s story sharply criticizes the oppressive societal structure that confines women and exploits their labor and virtue under the guise of benevolence and tradition.

In conclusion, Gilman’s "If I Were a Man" is a satirical yet profound commentary on gender inequality. Through Mollie’s imagined transformation into Gerald, Gilman exposes the illusions and hypocrisies underpinning societal notions of femininity and masculinity. The story remains relevant today, as it continues to resonate with ongoing struggles for gender equality and social justice, illuminating the need for a more honest, equitable understanding of gender roles. Gilman’s critique invites readers to question accepted norms and consider how societal attitudes shape individual identities and life experiences.

References

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