For centuries, men and women have been taught from an early age how to behave. Boys are taught play war, hunting, and other skills considered "manly." The women are also taught how young women should behave. Women have to take care of housework and raise children. For the last 150 years, women have fought to combat these stereotypes and break away from traditional gender roles. Imposing traditional gender roles on women (or men), instead of allowing them to forge their own identity, can be harmful to the health and well-being of a woman and her family. In 1898 the “Declaration of Sentiments” was published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The second paragraph begins with “We hold these truths to be self-evident” (Stanton 287). This reflects the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. It continues to say that “all men and women are created equal” (Stanton 287) while the Declaration of Independence only mentions men. This was a way for women to be listened to in a calm and rational manner. Stanton goes on to describe how men have “absolute tyranny” (Stanton 287) over women. They do not have the right to vote, yet they are subject to the laws and have “deprived of his rights which are afforded to the most ignorant and degraded men, both native and foreign” (Stanton 288). It clearly outlines how women were treated (and in some societies still are treated). Although women have as many rights under the law as men, they still struggle to be considered equal. In "Yellow Wallpaper" Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows how a woman is treated like property and fragile, following her decline into a nervous breakdown. . She appears to suffer from postpartum depression and is treated by her doctor husband John for "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency" (Gillman 130). She is not allowed any say in her care or treatment and is treated like a prisoner. The speaker describes her surroundings by saying: “First it was a nursery and then a games room and a gym, I would say; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings in the walls” (perhaps to restrain the patients) (Gillman 131). He talks about the great room and how the wallpaper is torn and the floor is gouged (Gillman 134), the "great still bed - it's nailed down" (Gillman 135).