An American sociologist and writer, she was also 'a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women'. Having read 'The Yellow Wallpaper', I have become interested in how doctors diagnosed supposed 'illness' in women, particularly in Gilman's time, when the rest cure was prescribed. The rest cure comprised of having no more than two hours intellectual life a day, and never picking up a pen, paintbrush or pencil for as long as the patient lived. The aim was to live 'as domestic a life as possible' but this unsurprisingly only worsened Gilman's feelings of depression and helplessness.
This leads onto my work so far that centres around birds and the idea of a captured bird within a cage symbolising a woman stereotypically 'trapped' within the home. Although I'm worried that the symbolism is a little too obvious at this stage, I hope to progress my ideas far enough so that there is a great of ambiguity and questioning within my work. I hope to achieve work that will cause the viewer to question what it is to be woman and how traditional roles differ from the past to the present day.
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