I sometimes wonder why some, even rich people, do not appreciate what they have. You may say that the problem is rather boring these days. Yes, you are right. It can be a topic, but more for children, so for fairy tales or novels. In fact, 100 years ago, a rather popular American writer, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, perfectly depicted what I wonder about – how poor the life of a woman who did not like the wallpaper in the room she was staying in during a holiday was. Even if, as I said, she was only staying in the room temporarily, she was obsessed about changing the wallpaper in it.
The unhappy woman case is even more ridiculous. It was her husband who paid for the room and thankfully he did not want to hear and pay any more for his wife’s fantasies (like changing the wallpaper in a rented room). But the stubborn woman did not give up. In fact, she, I mean the novelist – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, emphasised the case of the power over “the other”.” In the times of the novel, such power was exercised at home. The other was the young wife who had to fight to speak out. Only those who were able to accept the patterns could be happy in marriage. But Perkins’ female heroine was able to free herself from the patterns she did not accept. In fact, it was not only the pattern and color of the wallpaper, but also its smell that made her sick. Even though the woman’s fate after getting rid of the unwanted wallpaper was rather bad. It was not good for her husband either. The strong man fainted when he saw his wife’s room full of striped wallpaper and his wife told him she was no longer a woman trapped behind wallpaper.
But the act took place 100 years ago and today we live in more acceptable conditions for women within the institution of marriage. We have women like Gilman to thank for that. Besides, we live in the best of times. Everyone at least has the opportunity to speak out. Yes, we have fought for equality So we have it – and now all of us can have partnership marriages and work for perfectly balanced enterprises, wait – should be singular – so – enterprise. The enterprise that I am talking about balances freedom and equality. The more you are in balance, the better for you.