The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead
A house does not need a wife any more than it needs a husband.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that a home does not require a specific gender role to define its completeness or function.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's quote emphasizes the idea that both a house and a household can operate independently of traditional gender roles. It implies that a home is not solely defined by the presence of a wife or husband, but rather by the relationships and dynamics that exist within it, advocating for a more egalitarian approach to domestic life.
Themes
HomeGender RolesRelationshipsEqualityHousehold
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about gender equality in household roles, this quote can illustrate that both partners are equally significant.
More from Charlotte Perkins Gilman
All quotes βTo swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead
Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming. As they get older they pass off the stage, somehow, into private ownership mostly, or out of it altogether.
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We all need one another; much and often. Just as every human creature needs a place to be alone in, a sacred, private "home" of his own, so all human creatures need a place to be together in, from the two who can show each other their souls uninterruptedly, to the largest throng that can throb and stir in unison.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead
Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead
When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanRead
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