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I Stand Here Ironing By Tillie Olsen

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The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen is a tale about the difficulties of motherhood; as it goes through the life of a single mother in the working class. Olsen uses the idea of women's disempowerment and having to sacrifice their needs for their children to show how primary gender roles can shape the battles women are destined to face when it comes to family, personal ambition and the requirements of work.
The basis of this short story is a mother-daughter relationship and specifically how the mother sees it. Throughout the story, the mother's endeavors are shown to stem from the social structure during this time, like how she is assumed to be the caregiver because she is a woman, but then is not provided with the correct resources to …show more content…

In spite of these obstacles she stays strong for her daughter, she uses the limited resources given to her and makes it work. This shows that even when she went through so much; her marriage breaking down, being stuck in poverty, and lots of illness the system cannot truly break every woman. Gossage2
Olsen also shows throughout the story that women are affected by having to choose between what they want for their own life, doing their duties as a mother, or providing for their child's needs. The mother is constantly faced with wanting to chase her dreams but then feels guilty because she needs to provide for her child. Then further ruins her mental health and how she views herself because now she is wondering if she did enough for her child. After all, she wasn't always there or had to work long hours. So because her lifestyle didn't fit into the exact mold that modern society thought motherhood should look like it changed how she viewed herself even knowing she was doing the most she could for her child. This relates to

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The mother is clearly counting how much time she has away from her children. Her awareness of the time shows her unhappiness. What she wants is to be free from this restraint. Everything about Liza was an obligation she had to satisfy. If she did not tend to Liza’s needs, then both her ideal and reality would fall apart.

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The contrast between success and independence is what makes this short story so memorable, it is a give and a take for the mother, the mother gives her the idea of her success while saying she is a slut that she is bent on becoming makes the undertone of freedom. The story overall though can be taken many ways can be seen as a mother reaching out to a teen girl in hopes to make her a great

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The women endured additional burdens like campaigns against hiring women because they thought jobs should go to male breadwinners and then three quarters of the school districts in the country banned married women from being hired as teachers (Henretta, 2009). The women in Minnesota in breadlines were subject to sit in employment bureaus and hoped for work to try to provide for their family (Bethel University, 2005). The women here are those who are middle-aged, some have families, while some have raised the children and now they are alone (Bethel University, 2005). The others are those who have men that are out of work (Bethel University, 2005). These women are left to struggle to fed many mouths by themselves, while the women who pride gets the best of them starves silently, leaving the children to find work (Bethel University, 2005).

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The book shows Beyonce as a woman who appreciates being a mother and shows that she takes it as being a huge responsibility 9Gailyah, 2014, p78). Her feelings of hardness and the troubles she has passed through make her appreciate being a mother. One of the main tragedies was the miscarriage she had; it is a time in her life that made her stronger. Another issue that she has gone through is drawn out conflict with depression and a distressing clash with her manager and father Mathew. All these events that happened show that Beyonce is a woman who knows about the hard times someone can go through in the pursuit of their happiness (Bailer, 2014).

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The concept of motherhood and the role of women have existed since the beginning of time and throughout various points it has differ. There is no limit to what can be considered motherhood. To one person, motherhood might mean the act of raising children and taking care of their family, and to another; motherhood might be what defines them as a person. This is seen in Tillie Olsen’s short story “I Stand Here Ironing” and the “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In both stories, the main characters were dealing with the struggles of motherhood and being a wife.

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Tillie Olsen’s short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen appears to be a byproduct of an oppressed single working-class mother. This story has many literary elements connected to feminism. To truly understand how feminism is involved in this story we must look at this story through the feminist perspective. We must also look at how the background of the author and see how much of this story is closely related to the author’s personal life. By doing so we can see how the mother is a victim of feminism.

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This shows what she had to endure to try to keep her baby healthy. It appeals to the loving protective side of the reader. It makes them think about what the baby must be going through beacuase of their economic situation. Rhetorical questions are used to directly engage the

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