GILMAN, Charlotte Perkins [1860-1935] -- American social reformer and writer

Gilman is best known today as the author of The Yellow Wallpaper, a powerful story detailing a woman's mental anguish and progressive paranoia when subjected to the so-called "rest cure" for female depression. Women and Economics, considered to be a major feminist historical text, argues for the socialization of housework through the establishment of communal kitchens and day nurseries so that women could work outside the home. Gilman believed that economic dependence was the main barrier against progress for women.