Where are the women utopias? Oh well looks like we got one, or did we. Sure Herland is about a female society that has managed to survive, thrive, and create amazing advancements but is it really a great success for women? I don't think so.
Like Laura said it's great that they are found a way to survive, create scientific advancements, and live in a society of total peace and isolation from the outside world but really they never get angry? It's human to get angry or really have any emotion other than a seemingly drug induced state of bliss. They were too happy!!! All the time!!!
They captured these three guys who admitted they wanted to conquer them and the Herlanders invite them in and let them live among them. I'm cool with giving people chances but these guys run away and try to escape, are caught, brought back and encouraged to marry into the society.
These independent women are still playing into 18th century ideas. Women are meant to be proper and well mannered. The Herlanders are the perfect hosts to these strangers, with the exception of the watch guards. They express only "preferred" emotions, happiness, joy, ect.
Herland just irked me. I'm glad someone decided to write a female centered utopia but I think Gilman could have put a little more thought into it.
Brigid, I completely agree with you! the fact that these women show absolutely no anger or negative emotion angered me. Every response that they had was just a polite smile or "how charming" and it was really annoying. I was excited for a female utopia too but what a turn off!
ReplyDeleteYes I agree. The women in this society still fit into the idealized female roles for their time. They are prim and proper, socially uptight, exclude negative emotions, keep pretty houses and they aren't even allowed to like sex. The history of society's views on female sexuality irk me to the bone. After the middle ages end, women are suddenly supposed to be grossed out by sex, and men are supposed to want it 24/7. Neither of which is remotely true. I just don't think that the genders are separate that way.
ReplyDeleteI think you have to remember that a woman wrote this book as well, in a response to the issues with society at the time. The book was extremely sexist and profiled men to the extreme. Frankly, I was getting annoyed with its ridiculousness and insistence that men are pigs.
ReplyDelete