Jef Mantuano

Mantuano 1

English 101
Professor Ogbara
12 December 2015
A need for Feminism
The essays Shakespeares Sister by Virginia Woolf and The Yellow Wall-Paper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman both described how women in the past lived in a patriarchal society. In
other words, the line of men in every family had authority over women. Through time, women
became fairly treated. They now have the right to vote and have the chance to acquire any career
of their choosing. Even though they now have more rights and privileges than before, there is
still a need for feminism because women are still mistreated.
Women do not receive equal salary than men who have similar careers. An example
would be the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Womens National Basketball
Association (WNBA). Both sexes who play for each sport are in the professional league and
have bested other players to actually make a living out of basketball. In this case, why do NBA
players have larger salaries than WNBA players? This applies to Woolfs statement, who
declared that it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come, to have the genius of
Shakespeare (696). This illustrates that any woman can never be as talented Shakespeare. This
might have been true in the past because women did not have the same privileges as men did
towards education. As of now, anyone can achieve greatness because everyone is given more
opportunities with education. With the same level of education, any woman can be as good or
maybe even better than any man. In other words, men and women with similar careers and are
the best at their job or sport should be paid equally.

Mantuano 2
If a man were to give orders to his employees, he is known to be a boss. On the other
hand, if a woman were to give orders to her employees, she is labeled bitchy. This shows that a
womans voice is translated to be weaker than a mans voice. For example, I dont like our room
a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and
such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of it. He said there was only
one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another. He is very
careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction (648 Gilman). This
illustrates that the authors husband, John, was always in control of her life. John always wanted
to keep her on check, but he never provided what she desired. In other words, this proves that
women in the past and present are still being mistreated. This also shows that women needs are
believed to be emotional needs, being the reason why women are not taken seriously when
voicing their concerns.
Inequalities between men and women can lead to unfortunate events. Both essays by
Woolf and Gilman show that oppressing and mistreating women can lead to mentally strange
behaviors and sometimes, eventually killing themselves. According to Gilman, then I got so
angry I bit off a little piece at one corner but it hurt my teeth (655). All the stress that John has
put her through caused her to go insane. As for Woolf, she states, To have lived a free life in
London in the sixteenth century would have meant for a woman who was a poet and playwright
a nervous stress and dilemma which might well have killed her. This means that even if a
woman were free in the past, she would have probably killed herself due to the ignorance they
faced.

Mantuano 3
To conclude, there is still a need for feminism because women are still being mistreated.
Men and women should be paid equally if they both possess similar education level, skill, and
careers. They also should not only be known for their emotional needs, but also for their
intellectual and ability to lead. To prove that women could be as good or better than men at being
leaders, my female supervisors job operations work in a more excellent manner than my
previous two male supervisors.