INTERVIEW WITH CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN! FASHION AND FEMINISM! THOUGHTS FROM THE TIME! ALL IN THIS ISSUE!
March/April 2012 $4.99
In This Issue-A Word from the Editor
T
Flashback!
his issue of 1920s is dedicated to exposing the mental, physical, and social abuse women faced during the late
19th century into the early 20th century before they were
able to create change by being able to vote, wearing pantaloons, and gaining more and more education. We hope to honor women feminists and activists like Kate Chopin, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In this issue you will
find an interview with Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a showcase of the changes in women’s fashions, and stories and poems written by our very own subscribers! We are very proud to share with our readers what lead to the achievements of women at the turn of the century. Without these women who knows where we would be today? Women might still be viewed as weak, ill, and always second to her husband. Luckily, our ancestors were able to overcome these obstacles so this issue we honor those who fought for our rights. -Marielle Rodgers “CAUTIOUS, CAREFUL PEOPLE, ALWAYS CASTING ABOUT TO PRESRVE THEIR REPUTATIONS…CAN NEVER AFFECT A REFORM.”SUSAN B. ANTHONY (BRAINY QUOTE)
A portrait of Ms. Gilman, taken in her mid 20s (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
MEET CHARLOTTE!
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harlotte Perkins Gilman was a writer, commercial artist, magazine editor, lecturer, and social reformer during the early 20th century. In 1930 she agreed to spill the details about her life, feminist movements, and literary works. How did your life growing up influence your work? CG: Well, when I was an infant my father abandoned my family and my mother was unable to support us on her own. As a result, I grew up around the influences of Isabelle Beecher Hooker, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Catharine Beecher who helped to instill my feminist values. During the same period, my mother’s disaffection led me to teach myself to read and I was forbidden to have friendships or read any fictional novels. I attended school until age fifteen and later enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design. You said that the birth of your daughter resulted in your sickness, what was life like for you then? CG: During that period I was extremely depressed, I felt that nothing I did was worthwhile. I grew up around these strong suffragists, yet here I was being a dutiful wife and raising a child. This life confined me, all women held in similar positions were considered hysterical or weak. No one believed that I might actually be ill after
my daughter. What should have been a joyous moment for others only made me regret my life more. But you were legally separated after four years of marriage, a very unusual move. What happened as a result of this? CG: Luckily Charles understood that the only chance I had for recovery was to move away. I moved to California where I was an active feminist and reformer. At this time I also published my first journal, called the Bulletin. I cannot imagine how dull my life would have been if I had continued to follow the prescriptions of Dr. Weir Mitchell. You have publically claimed that his methods only help to amplify women’s symptoms. Has he ever responded to your messages? CG: No, I sent him a copy of my story “The Yellow Wallpaper” so that he could see the errors of his treatment, but he never responded. I have heard, however, that he did read my story and as a result changed some of his methods (Gilman 781). While your novel “The Yellow Wallpaper” is labeled as fiction, it draws numerous similarities to your own experiences. How much of that story is real? CG: While I suppose that all of the story is real when considering the abuse of the many women who followed the “rest cure”, there are definitely auto-biographical elements in the story. While the setting and characters
are of my own creation, the narrator’s descent into madness as a result of being isolated all day with no hobbies or distractions is indeed quite true. One last question, what has to happen for the end of women’s inferiority? CG: We must spread the word, for every woman who learns that a different future is possible is one woman closer to ending this saga. Women must realize that they are in control of their own minds, bodies, and lives; they do not need a man or anyone else to tell them how they should behave.
On the following page is an example of the type of business that Ms. Gilman and other women with nervous disorders would attend for the “rest cure”
WHISPERING PINES A retreat for women who suffer from nervous disorders. Our goal is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those you love and care for. Our practice is based off of the routine of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell who advises women to: “Lie down an hour after each meal. Have but two hours’ intellectual life a day. And never touch pen, brush, or pencil as long as [they] live” (Gilman 781).
Additional costs and fees may vary.
WARNING: Side effects may include headaches, nausea, worsened depression, or even death. Consult a doctor before applying
(Pine Trees Landscape)
POEMS FROM READERS LIKE YOU! We asked you to submit work that reflected the trials of women from the turn of the 20th century or how it has changed us today. Below are the winners, who received a free year subscription! Want to enter for a chance to win? Read next month’s topic at the bottom of the page. Jenny’s Room by Melinda Ryan “Woe is me” said the woman who believed
Day after day she sits and stares
That her husband’s love and care meant
And wishes that she might escape
Staying by her side for better
So she can see the trees and cities
Or for worse. It did not mean
And hear her child’s laughter
Leaving her alone day after day
But until she is well, she is alone
With nothing but her thoughts
When one is left alone to the
The same thoughts and ideas
Same thoughts that placed her
That led him to place her there,
In that room, that cold, hard room
In that cold desolate room
She has heard rumors of others
As time passed her chestnut tresses
Who had similar conditions
Faded to match the walls of her room
And never returned to their lives
She lost herself and her identity
She would prefer the love of a man
Fading slowly into her surroundings
Who saw that she was lonely, not broken
Her husband shows his love
Or if she was not then, she is now
By ignoring her and preventing
Into the walls she paints with her nails
Her from her painting
Painting her message so the doctors
Without a brush or easel she paints
And scholars will learn what
In her mind she covers over the white
They have turned her into As she finally fades into the wall…
All That I Have by Stacy Green My great-grandmother taught my grandmother How to sew and cook and clean She taught her to trust her own mind My grandmother taught my mother About the fight for equality, about the vote My mother taught me that hard work makes anyone equal if they try but most importantly, my mother taught me the lessons of her mother and her mother’s mother and without those I would not be me.
Next Month’s Theme: Hollywood For better or for worse, our lives have all been impacted by the silver screen. Did watching films as a child inspire your dreams of being an actor? Do you feel that our country has sold out on its values just for profit? Send us your thoughts to the address given below. 2353 Smith Ave. Suite 55 New York, NY 12950
The 1890s -large arm puffs -small waists -“Grecian Bend� to improve posture -Swimsuits only reach the knees
(Fashion Plate) "Except for the most small-waisted, naturally dumb-bell shaped females, the ladies never seemed at ease, or even if they were wearing their own clothes. For their dresses were always made too tight, and the bodices wrinkled laterally from the strain; and their stays showed in a sharp ledge across the middle of their backs. And in spite of whalebone they were apt to bulge below the waist in front; for, poor dears, they were but human after all, and they had to expand somewhere." Gwen Raverat, Period Piece
Early 20th Century -Sleeve puffs are smaller -women begin to wear ties and pants -clothes are simpler
(Photograph, ca. 1899-1900)
“I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.�- Marlene Dietrich
The 1910s -skirts are thinner -large hats are popular -corsets are used less frequently -shoes resemble boots
(Two WACs in 1910-era)
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.� -Coco Chanel
There are numerous parallels between the changes in women’s fashion and the feminist movement. During the 1890s clothing was constricting, women suffered to confine to the conventional standard of beauty. As women began breaking away from their bonds, the changes were mirrored by the clothing. Corsets loosened, skirts deflated, and some even began wearing pants! The social norms that required tiny waists and layers of clothing even in the middle of summer helped women discover the double standard compared to men, whose clothing was lighter and offered more mobility. Today we are fortunate to wear whatever we want, thanks to the help of the women before us.
(Casual Women’s Dresses)
Need Proof? Letters from Women Who Were Inspired by Feminists to Change Their Lives As a result of the increase of feminist writers, more women were exposed to the ideas of other women and for the first time realized that by bonding together they could end their pain. These are letters borrowed from the Women’s Museum of New YorkCollected by Clara Stein Dear Diary, Lately I have been feeling lethargic and altogether unwell. I told my husband, who is a physician, of my symptoms and he suggested that I spend the next month in complete isolation, away from my family, friends, and daily hobbies. When I protested this numbing of the mind, my husband referred to the philosophies of Dr. Weir Mitchell. I do not trust his ideas, for my friend Ruth told me that she read a story where the main character exhibited similar symptoms and after following the “rest cure”, her symptoms had only gotten worse. I must find this story; I believe it was titled after some colored wall covering. If what my friend told me is indeed true, I will refuse to let my husband take me away to his facilities. -Sarah
Dear Diary, Today I learned the news of my husband’s death from serving our country. At age 27 I am already a widow, it is quite disorienting. I feel conflicted, I did care for him but as a widow I have so many more opportunities; I am no longer confined to be my husband’s lackey, to follow his every whim and agree to his every word. It is true, and yet as I write this I feel terribly conflicted. I know that I am not the only woman who feels this way, for I recently read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and when Louise says that, “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long a procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome,” I felt comforted (Chopin 784). These words helped me to realize that now no one can stop me from achieving my goals of being a writer and painter. I have even considered attending a suffrage meeting, for every woman should have a right that marriage cannot take away from her. The funeral is tomorrow, I must finish the preparations. Fondly, Elizabeth
The Top Three Stories From Feminist Authors 1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe There’s a reason this novel sold 300,000 copies the year it was published in 1852, and led Abraham Lincoln to declare, “so you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war” (Patkus). This story brutally exposes the horrors of slavery the enraptured the North and enraged the South. Almost more interesting than the book itself is the fanfare that followed by increasing the tensions between the two regions that would lead to the Civil War. 2.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Written in 1868, this novel is beloved by all for its four central characters, sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy. Their diverse personalities reflect the changing views of the times as Jo struggles to become a writer in a male dominated workplace, while Beth would prefer staying at home and caring for her family. The complex views the sisters share demonstrates the confines of the world they live in as they try to balance their individualism while satisfying family responsibilities and social tradition.
3. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin This story is quick, exciting, and all within two pages. When a wife suffering from a nervous disorder learns of her husband’s death, she has a temporary euphoria because she realizes that she is, “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin). As she plots how her life will change with this news, a turn of events causes her die from another disease altogether. This fun quick tale is a must read for anyone who loves drama.