New vs True Womanhood

Women's submission and men's overarching control was deeply ingrained in many parts of society, and required a gradual process to change the public opinion of what womanhood was.  In the so called 'Cult of True Womanhood', "women were imprisoned in the home or private sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family" and "religious piety and submission...[were both] borne of and a part of the ideology."  This idea of female submissive extended to both the home and religion, which were almost the entirety of daily life for women in that era.  The doctor and husband in "The Yellow Wallpaper" 'reflects men's disparaging attitudes.  His Rest cure calls for complete rest, coerced feeding and isolation."  Additionally, he did not let her write, causing her to only write in secret when he was not present, akin to "Gilman's struggle to throw off the constraints of patriarchal society in order to be able to write.'  Gilman's story was one of many that challenged patriarchal ideologies and helped redefine what Womanhood meant, changing it from dependence on men to freedom and independence.