Language Discourse and the Miscommunication Between Genders in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper."
Julia McGrath
EL 2222-005: Women's Voices
Professor Schmermund
1 May 2020
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Miscommunication is people assuming things through their knowledge rather than asking about what is assumed through a different perspective. Patriarchy has formed assumptions about each gender that cause misinterpretations between men and women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a classic case of language discourse and the toxicity that is non-communicated through patriarchy. Words and phonology (the organization of speech sounds) cause discourse through spoken language because men and women have different outlooks of what is meaningful. The vocabulary, phonology, and the use of language used in the short story cause miscommunications between men and women through gender roles, sexism, and stereotypes that serve patriarchy.
Men and women communicate differently when speaking. Mary Crawford's book differentiates the genders' ways of expressing emotions through language. What is interesting is that Crawford states, "women and men have different conversational styles because they have different conversational goals" (19). Crawford's statement is significant because she proves that men and women have different purposes when communicating with the same or the opposite gender, even if "the words used are the same concept" (22). It is crucial to consider the research because the narrator and her husband have different objectives when it comes to the narrator's health, which signifies that their aims become miscommunicated through different perspectives on what is best. Additionally, Crawford further proves that miscommunication is gender-based because of the conversation styles and goals pursued by each gender. Crawford argues, "communication failures and (what appears to be) male dominance in conversation arise because men view conversation as a way to negotiate status, while women view it as a way to establish intimacy" (20). The argument is prevalent because the narrator's husband relies on his status as a doctor to help her. The narrator relies on her emotions to help her cope with her depression.
Sexism is a common phenomenon that genders deal with, but women experience sexism more than men. Sometimes, women blame their ideas and actions on sexism because women are taught that society favors men. When the narrator speaks about her condition, she subtly blames herself. Gilman narrates, "I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes…I think it is due to this nervous condition" (447). The narrator blames her Postpartum Depression on her disagreeing with her husband. The husband and the narrator's Physician brother think that "medicine," "journey's," "air," and "exercise" (447) will make the narrator feel better. Gilman says, "Personally, I believe that congenial work…would do me good" (447). The narrator disagrees with the men on what would be best for her coping with her depression. Her indecisiveness shows that she is non-communicative because she thinks that hobbies will help her, but the men think that medicine and locking her up in a room will make her feel better. The discourse is that neither gender communicates with one another on what is best for the sufferer, which is a big problem because people deal with their problems differently from someone else.
Since men are favored, the men are going to use strategies that best suit men rather than any that adhere to the women. Research by Joan Busfield indicated that psychiatry is correlated to sexism because psychiatry favors men over women. Women are diagnosed with mental illnesses more than men because of their emotions. Busfield states, "[The] position as one in which sexism is held to be constitutive of psychiatry. By this [it] means that…if there were no gender-role maintenance, there would be no psychiatry" (348). Busfield does not deny the pros of psychiatry, but what she is inclining is that certain disorders are characterized more toward women or more toward men. Psychiatry can cause miscommunication because many men and women have specific roles, and neither will consider the perspective of the other. The issue relates to sexism because there are tons of women whose emotions are out of control not because they have an illness, but because women's emotions are ignored.
John uses medicine as a way to deal with his wife's stereotypical hysteria. The medicine will help the narrator cope with her Postpartum Depression, but medicine is not enough. After the narrator says that she believes that her condition is making her "sensitive" (447), Gilman writes, "John says that if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself – before him, at least, and that makes me very tired" (448). John assumes that the narrator becoming angry is a "lack of self-control," (448) which is exceptionally stereotypical because the narrator's anger stems from being locked in a room after having a baby that she cannot see, and her husband giving her high doses of medicine to the point where she feels tired. Since men are supposed to be logical, emotion is a discourse for logic because John cannot give the narrator emotional support. John's rationale relates to patriarchy because women are supposed to be quiet and reasonable, so any woman who is the opposite has "hysteria."
Gender Roles cause a dichotomy in any opposite gender relationship. Society teaches to be in charge, where society teaches women to listen to what the men say. The narrator does not like the room that she is locked in; she feels isolated from the world. Gilman iterates, "I don't like our room a bit … but John would not hear of it" (448). The quote is relevant because the narrator wants to stay in a room that gives her more access to the world. The husband prefers locking her in a room than deal with her depression. John refuses to listen to why the narrator does not like the room because, as a man, he is the breadwinner, so what he says goes. Gender roles cause language discourse because women feel that their opinions and feelings are inadequate while the men assume that they make the best decisions for their families. John thinks that locking the narrator in a creepy room will help her condition, but the narrator feels that the room will not help her cope. Gender roles cause verbal tension because both parties only understand the roles they play in society.
Deborah L. Madsen explains oppression through Marxist feminism and how women are affected by patriarchy. According to Madsen, "Marxist feminism is organized around the basic conflicts between capitalism versus patriarchy and class versus gender oppression" (65). The definition fits the narrator and her husband's situation because, through capitalism, men are considered a higher class than women. What this means is that oppression develops when there is a class struggle because of gender favoritism. Capitalism strictly serves men to oppress women. Madsen states, "[C]apitalism requires that men dominate women, So…. gender oppression structures all our social relationships" (66). Capitalism affects the narrator and her husband because the husband works for capitalism; thus, he assumes that he knows what is best for her. Capitalism causes issues because, according to Madsen, "women participate in and create their...oppression" (66). Society teaches women that men are the dominant gender, so they essentially oppress themselves because capitalism fits patriarchy. However, men are affected because men will assume that they know what is best for their wives, which could make matters worse.
The way men use words toward women can be dehumanizing. Some men give pet names to their wife/girlfriend without thinking of the context behind the usage of the word used. Furthermore, some women fall under the toxicity of gender roles by adhering to what is acceptable/standard behavior for a woman. John's use of "pet names" is patronizing. When the narrator wakes up to talk to John, Gilman narrates John's usage of names, "What is it, little girl?" (454). (2) The narrator mentions that she is recovering. Gilman states, "I am quieter than I was. John is so pleased to see me improve!" (456). To John, he may think that the term is only a nickname, but the discourse miscommunicates how the word is discriminating. To call a woman, "a little girl" is dehumanizing her by proving that she is a little girl compared to a grown man. The term is saying that she has no control over her thoughts and decisions. The narrator mentions that she is eating better and that she is more "quiet" (456) like her duty is being a meek wife. The discourse in the use of vocabulary shows that when the narrator is quiet and obedient, her husband is pleased when she is talking or is not adhering to what her husband tells her to do, she assumes that something is wrong with her and calls her condescending terms.
Crawford dives into linguistics and how men and women use language differently. She states, "Early in the 1970s, the idea that women and men speak different languages began to gain increased attention among linguists, psychologists, and communication researchers" (22). The style of language used between genders was carefully studied. Anthony Mulac's article describes the communicative differences seen in men and women. He gave a case study on how men hear words as more controlling and women as more sensitive, but some exceptions were depending on the person. Mulac states, "Sex-typed men interpreted questions as most controlling, followed by non-sex-typed men and women, with sex-typed-women perceiving them as least controlling …. Therefore, the observer sex main effect for control and sensitivity was solely the result of differences between sex-typed-men and sex-typed-women" (657). The study is vital because stereotypical men consider questions and words as controlling, because they demand dominance, while stereotypical women consider words and questions rawer since they feel that they have to be subservient. However, there are men and women who do not fit the stereotypes and do not consider language as controlling or sensitive.
Crawford's research explains why the narrator's husband has pet names for her. The husband is showing that he is in control, while the narrator passively ignoring his commanding shows that she feels insufficient compared to him. The difference in language is agreeable because men and women sometimes have issues when the opposite gender perceives language differently. The language barrier is relevant today because men have a commanding and direct tone while most women have a subtle pitch. A male's tone might come off as aggressive and careless while the woman might be labeled as overreacting. In reality, the miscommunication is a language barrier.
Miscommunication is when people's words, opinions, and perspectives cause tension with someone else. Patriarchy has formed assumptions about each gender that cause misinterpretations between men and women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is a story that themes around language discourse and how communication and language become misrepresented through patriarchy. The vocabulary and phonology used in the short story cause miscommunications between men and women through gender roles, sexism, and stereotypes that serve patriarchy. The language barrier is relevant today because men have an assertive voice while most women have a subtle pitch, causing discourse between genders.
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Works Cited
Busfield, Joan. "SEXISM AND PSYCHIATRY." Sociology, vol. 23, no. 3, 1989, pp. 343–364. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42853861.
Crawford, Mary. Mary E. .. Talking Difference on Gender and Language . SAGE.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-paper." The Vintage Book of American Women Writers, edited by Elaine Showalter. First Vintage Books, 2011, pp. 446-62.
Madsen, Deborah L. "Gender and Work: Marxist Feminism and Charlotte Perkins Gilman." Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, Pluto Press, 2000, pp. 65–93. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18fs482.6.
Mulac, Anthony, KAREN T. ERLANDSON W. JEFFREY FARRAR, et al. "Uh-huh. What's That All About?": Differing Interpretations of Conversational Backchannels and Questions as Sources of Miscommunication Across Gender Boundaries." Vol. 25, no. 6, 1998, pp. 641-68. SAGE, https://predator.oldwestbury.edu:2156/10.1177/009365098025006004.