Editing Charlotte Perkins Gilman (section)

==Career==
At one point, Gilman supported herself by selling soap [[door to door]]. After moving to Pasadena, Gilman became active in organizing [[social reform]] movements. As a delegate, she represented California in 1896 at both the [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]] convention in Washington, D.C., and the [[International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress, London 1896|International Socialist and Labor Congress]] in London.<ref>Gilman, ''Autobiography'' 187, 198.</ref> In 1890, she was introduced to the [[Nationalist Clubs]] movement which worked to "end capitalism's greed and distinctions between classes while promoting a peaceful, ethical, and truly progressive human race." Published in the ''Nationalist'' magazine, her poem "Similar Cases" was a satirical review of people who resisted social change, and she received positive feedback from critics for it. Throughout that same year, 1890, she became inspired enough to write fifteen essays, poems, a novella, and the short story ''The Yellow Wallpaper''. Her career was launched when she began lecturing on Nationalism and gained the public's eye with her first volume of poetry, ''In This Our World'', published in 1893.<ref>Knight, ''Diaries'', 409.</ref> As a successful lecturer who relied on giving speeches as a source of income, her fame grew along with her social circle of similar-minded activists and writers of the [[feminist movement]].

Over the course of her career, in addition to publishing poems and fiction, Gilman published six significant books of non-fiction; a contribution which led her to be seen as one of the “women founders” of the discipline of [[sociology]].<ref name="Social Structure 2006">"Charlotte Perkins Gilman--Gender and Social Structure," in "The Women Founders: Sociology & Social Theory, 1830-1930" by Patricia Madoo Lengermann and Gillian Niebrugge.(Longgrove, IL: Waveland Press, 2006).</ref> These works, and additional published journal articles, exposed both gender and class inequality, criticizing it as illegitimate and unfair. She was a member of the [[American Sociological Association]] from the time of its founding in 1905 to her death in 1935.<ref name="Social Structure 2006"/>

==="The Yellow Wallpaper"===
{{Main|The Yellow Wallpaper}}
[[File:The Yellow Wallpaper (1899 edition - cover).jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[The Yellow Wallpaper]], one of Gilman's most popular works, originally published in 1892, before her marriage to George Houghton Gilman.]]
In 1890, Gilman wrote her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper",<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJGpDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5 |page=Introduction 5 |year=2016 |isbn=9781410348029 |title=A Study Guide for Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Herland"|last1=Gale |first1=Cengage Learning |publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning }}</ref> which is now the all-time best selling book of the [[Feminist Press]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/the-yellow-wall-paper |access-date=August 26, 2018 |website=[[The Feminist Press]] |title=The Yellow Wall-paper}}</ref> She wrote it on June 6 and 7, 1890, in her home of Pasadena, and it was printed a year and a half later in the January 1892 issue of ''[[The New England Magazine]]''.<ref name="Britannica"/> Since its original printing, it has been anthologized in numerous collections of [[women's literature]], [[American literature]], and textbooks,<ref>Julie Bates Dock, ''Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the History of Its Publication and Reception.'' University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998; p. 6.</ref> though not always in its original form. For instance, many textbooks{{which|date=October 2024}} omit the phrase "in marriage" from a very important line in the beginning of story: "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." The reason for this omission is a mystery, as Gilman's views on marriage are made clear throughout the story.

The story is about a woman who suffers from mental illness after three months of being closeted in a room by her husband for the sake of her health. She becomes obsessed with the room's revolting yellow wallpaper. Gilman wrote this story to change people's minds about the role of women in society, illustrating how women's lack of autonomy is detrimental to their mental, emotional, and even physical wellbeing. This story was inspired by her treatment from her first husband.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669#marriage-and-inspiration | title=Charlotte Perkins Gilman| date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> The narrator in the story must do as her husband (who is also her doctor) demands, although the treatment he prescribes contrasts directly with what she truly needs—mental stimulation and the freedom to escape the monotony of the room to which she is confined. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was essentially a response to the doctor (Dr. [[Silas Weir Mitchell (physician)|Silas Weir Mitchell]]) who had tried to cure her of her depression through a "[[rest cure]]" and who is mentioned in the story: "John says if I don’t pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall." She sent him a copy of the story.<ref>Dock, ''Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the History of Its Publication and Reception,'' pp. 23–24.</ref>

=== "The Home: Its Work and Influence" ===
In 1903 Charlotte Perkins Gilman published a [[non-fiction]] book "The Home: Its Work and Influence". In this influential work, Gilman explores the role of the home in society and its impact on individuals, particularly women. She challenges traditional [[gender role]]s and argues for greater autonomy and fulfillment for women beyond domestic responsibilities. Gilman critiques the notion of the home as solely a woman's domain and advocates for social and economic reforms to empower women and improve their well-being. "The Home: Its Work and Influence" is a seminal text in the [[First-wave feminism|early feminist movement]] and continues to be studied for its insights into gender, society, and the [[Private sphere|domestic sphere]].

=== "The Crux" ===
{{Eugenics sidebar}}
The Crux is an important early feminist work of fiction that brings to the fore complicated issues of gender, citizenship, [[eugenics]], and [[frontier nationalism]]. First published serially in the feminist journal The Forerunner in 1910, The Crux tells the story of a group of New England women who move west to start a boardinghouse for men in Colorado. The innocent central character, Vivian Lane, falls in love with Morton Elder, who has both gonorrhea and syphilis. The concern of the novel is not so much that Vivian will catch syphilis, but that, if she were to marry and have children with Morton, she would harm the "national stock." The novel was written, in Gilman's words, as a "story . . . for young women to read . . . in order that they may protect themselves and their children to come." What was to be protected was the civic imperative to produce "pureblooded" citizens for a utopian ideal.

=== "Suffrage Songs and Verses" ===
"Suffrage Songs and Verses" is a collection of poems and songs written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published during the suffrage movement in the early 20th century. In this collection, Gilman uses her poetic voice to advocate for women's rights, particularly the right to vote. Through verse, she expresses the frustrations of women who were denied political participation and calls for gender equality. The poems celebrate the strength, resilience, and determination of [[Suffragette|suffragists]] while critiquing the patriarchal society that oppresses women. "Suffrage Songs and Verses" serves as both a literary work and a rallying cry for the suffrage movement, capturing the spirit and passion of the activists who fought for women's enfranchisement.