Gender Stereotypes In The Yellow Wallpaper And Boys Girls

Here’s a thought, a couple goes out on date, one orders burger and fries while the other a nice healthy salad. Through existing gender stereotypes, one will automatically assume that the male ordered the burger and fries as the female the salad. This is because society has assumed its own gender roles and believe what is already perceived by the public. Authors of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” and “Boys Girls” implement these received ideas into three main characters. Gender stereotypes are negatively exaggerated through the three distinguishable protagonists including the narrator from Boys and Girls, the narrator from the yellow wallpaper and Dave from the man who was almost a man; analysis of these three characters will display the controversial effects of society on an individual.

The gender stereotype presented in this story is when the narrator who is unnamed, is restricted to being obedient to her authoritative husband. Instead of being a loving and passionate husband, John takes on a more commanding role advancing through the story. Another stereotype is that the males in the story are predominantly more erudite in terms of careers and professions. As the narrator states “My brother is also a physician… of high standing.” (130) In this the author presents a stereotype that men have more household value, because the only two females are the narrator who is mentally unstable and Jeanie the housekeeper. This cliché expresses that females should be confined in their homes doing the duties of a wife or