Does it Have To be Just One Way or Another? Why Not Both?

In the article "Monumental Feminism and Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look at 'The Yellow Wallpaper,'" I found the idea of "binary oppositions" to be very intriguing (Haney - Peritz). The workings of opposing forces within "The Yellow Wallpaper," such as "sick and well, the real and the fanciful, order and anarchy, self and other, and make and female," can be seen as strict guidelines or ideas that have no overlap. It is interpreted from this article that if you do not represent one, you must be the other. For example, the main character in "The Yellow Wallpaper" was seen as not doing well or experiencing unusual behaviors, which is how she described herself from her own view in her writings, as well as from her husband's perspective. Instead of defining her as maybe having anxiety or going through a difficult time in life (background information would lead to a more accurate explanation), she is seen as sick. There is really no in between.      

                                           Day or Night?

This is a picture I took yesterday of part of Hodson and Whitaker. The time of day is not clearly identified as day or night, since the sun is setting; therefore, it would be considered dusk. In addition, the weather we are currently experiencing can be seen as neither winter nor spring, but as kind of a transitional period between them. In comparison to the binary oppositions idea for the yellow wallpaper, the world is not quite as clear cut. 

In relation to this idea, I found this quote that I thought pairs really well. I took this picture from the poster displayed on the second floor of Whitaker, right outside of Student life. I believe it was created in part by the Feminist Student Union. Sorry it is kind of blurry, but the quote reads:

"It is time that we see all gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are" (Emma Watson).

I thought the idea of a "spectrum" was interesting. Not every person is considered to be boxed in to a stereotypical identity, but that there's fluidity between these stereotypes for how we define ourselves.

Lastly, I just wanted to bring up this news article I just came across this week that is quite fitting to this topic. The article is "In Sweden's Preschools, Boys Learn to Dance and Girls Learn to Yell." Thier main goal is to make government funded preschools in Sweden gender neutral. Since "1998, Sweden added new language to its national curriculum requiring that all preschools 'counteract traditional gender roles and gender patterns.'" I just thought this non-traditional technique implemented in schools was interesting to learn about. I also wonder that if teachers are still telling students how to behave, even if the typical roles are reversed, doesn't that still impede on the student's ability to find thier own identity? What if girls in this preschool want to be more outspoken, which is what they are taught, but they still want to learn how to dance? Wouldn't an integration of various behaviors and activities for all students be more beneficial for the creation of thier own identity?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/24/world/europe/sweden-gender-neutral-preschools.html