"The Yellow Wallpaper": Decorating the Ugly Truth of Oppression Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born during the women's suffrage movement. Choosing writing as a career, one of the few careers open to women at the time and one that would allow her a voice, she found her niche. Through literature she was able to express her feminist ideals and wield them at men's oppression towards women. In doing so, she became a commanding force for women's rights. While there are many ways to read "The Yellow Wallpaper", given Gilman's past as a feminist writer leads me to the most plausible reading, which is as a feminist statement on the