Although the home may be considered a safe haven for some, for many women, the home is a prison cell with lovely furnishing. The shackles thrust upon her by the home bind the modern woman to some incoherent societal standard. She can not live to her full potential. This injustice has continued long enough!
The woman has been looked at as a sexual being, without her own thoughts and potential. Male aggressiveness along with maternal roles for women was fabricated. They are not necessary for our survival in these modern times. There is no female mind; the brain is not an organ that differs between genders.
Sex and domestic economics must work together. Previously, for the modern woman to survive, she needed to please her husband with her sexual assets. His happiness was vital for their family’s survival. Without a happy husband providing for the family, it would be lost. Because women cannot make as much as men by labor, they are forced to choose between two options. They must either add a full time job in addition to all the work keeping the home entails barelyscratching by, or look for a husband to help financially support the family.
Women should not be trapped as prisoners in their own home. Instead of an economic object, the home should be a refuge to flee from the stresses of the day and simply rest. Although women feel as if they have some duties to take care of, such as the housekeeping and caring for the young, that should not be their entire life. Women should feel more comfortable shattering any invisible barrier that prevents them from earning their own income.
– Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Masses 