The Real America vs. The Real Herland

     What sets the society in Herland apart from any that I have ever seen is simply the fact that women are allowed to be in control of their lifestyles, not having men pose as the "I know what is best for everyone", figures. Seeing women other than as subordinates to men, having the rights of free choice to do what they want unabated in a land of their own, was an extremely fascinating concept for me. To be quite frank, I was impressed with this feministic idea, in such a time in our history when women, along with women's rights oftentimes were trampled upon by the will of men. The simple fact of the matter is that Herland had existed while being isolated from men for many years, and just for that fact alone, it is clear to me that Herland, along with Herland's society, are full of intelligent, bright, and gifted women that are perfectly capable of sustaining a viable society for many years to come. "The proof is in the pudding". This holds very true today, that some of societies most gifted and talented will never be acknowledged simply for the fact that under Patriarchy, they will be deemed inferior, and subordinate, to those on top. What a shame it is that so much potential goes by the wayside, simply “Just because”.

    

      For those non-believers of Herland, let make a comparison to what America has to offer. Let’s start with a direct quote from Terry stating that "In America, 1/3 of women are poor, and that America is separated into societal classes". Now, in Herland poverty goes by the wayside because Herland is setup for the better of the many, essentially eliminating classes and the separations that having classes dictates and forces on its people. No matter what position one may take on this issue, I think that any society looking out for its most vulnerable citizens sets it apart from those that do not. Next, we will examine the concept of educating citizens in America in comparison to Herland. While it is very true that America has some of the best, and most world renowned institutions of higher learning, let us not forget the price tags that accompany these fine institutions, and how that eliminates this opportunity from so many. Not every citizen in America is fortunate enough to attend good schools growing up, let’s just look at the dropout rates, in some of the most impoverished areas and major cities in America such as; Detroit Michigan, Washington D.C., Chicago Illinois, and New Orleans Louisiana. Women and men growing up in these areas, along with the young boys, and girls overwhelming don't have the most positive outlook on life, or their educational opportunities. Poverty can lead one not knowing how they will feed themselves at night, not to mention the alternative of going to a run-down, crime ridden, highly impoverished school that cares nothing about their success . Harvard anyone?  

 

   

 

 

     

 

     On the contrary, in Herland you have a whole community looking
out for the betterment of all, and education is put at a top priority on every level, not separating and limiting the privileged only getting a good education while the impoverished suffer. I have always been under the impression that getting a good education opens doors, but without a fair and equal opportunity such as what was presented in Herland, there will always be a permanent underclass, for the capitalistic society that has eliminated so many in America.
 
     Now with all of that being said, America will always be the land that I love, while Herland, along with the ideals of Herland will always be the land that I see as being pioneer to finally depicting women in the correct light of being strong, capable, intelligent, and self-reliant. This all entails why Herland is my kind of land!  

Two Thousand Thirteen

We live in a very different society to the one portrayed by Orwell through the character of Winston in Nineteen Eighty-Four as the United States prides itself as a country on promoting the idea of freedom. To me, this means the freedom to express our humanity through how we choose to live out our lives. However, these freedoms should never be taken for granted and need to be carefully guarded. We need to be aware of groups that demand conformity, be aware of attempts by groups to control language, and be aware of grabs for power as these are the key weapons in the arsenal of the Party.

The character of Winston loses his humanity to the Party in the novel. Throughout the first two sections of the novel, he tries to hide his humanity by attempting to conceal his personal relationship with Julia and writing his private thoughts in a diary. He even tries to join a secret Brotherhood that works against the party in a clandestine manner. However, in the end, the inexorable, all-powerful Party owns him and he is no longer free to even think about defining himself through relationships, preferences, and passions (Orwell). This matters in our society because many believe we should be free to define ourselves through our relationships, preferences, and passions, as long as we are not hurting anyone else.

Although our society is not at all similar to the one portrayed by Orwell, we are not always free to define ourselves through our relationships. A group that has made this difficult is, in this case, the federal government. The Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal benefits (Liptak). This act rewards heterosexual marriage but disadvantages those who do not share that orientation, devalues their relationships, and provides an example of one group attempting to have another group conform to an arbitrary norm.

In our society, we also need to be aware of how groups attempt to control language. A current example is the debate on gun rights. The language used by the NRA includes words and phrases such as “Ring of Freedom,” “freedom fight,” “right,” “firearm,” and “King Pinocchio” (referring to the President) (NRA). The NRA appears to avoid words used on the other side of the debate by the White House, such as “gun violence,” “wrong hands,” “background check,” and “mental health” (The White House). As Orwell makes clear in his ideas on newspeak in Nineteen Eighty-Four, if a group can control the language used, it can control the message and ideas about an issue, as each of these groups are trying to.

We also need to be aware of grabs for power. In recent history, one of the most incredible grabs for power in the United States must be the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), of which an extension was signed in 2004. This post 9/11 legislation broadened the discretion of law enforcement in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts indefinitely, significantly reduces restriction in law enforcement agencies gathering of data, regulation of financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals, and expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism. The extension in 2004 includes roving wiretaps, searches of business records (including library records), and conducting surveillance of “lone wolves” (107th Congress; “Patriot Act”). The USA PATRIOT Act gives the federal law enforcement powers to observe citizens and immigrants alike without permission from the courts in many instances.

Orwell’s novel contains these warnings for humanity but I go to bed every night safe in the knowledge that members of U.S. society would never put up with any serious imposition on their freedoms. They would never let apathy and taking freedoms for granted to allow any one group to hoodwink them into the kind of slavish devotion to it that Winston experienced. Right?

Works cited:

107th Congress Public Law 56. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools                Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT Act) Act of 2001. Washington: GPO,      2001. Web. 12 April, 2013.

Liptak, Adam. “A Look at Issues in the Defense of Marriage Act Case.” New York Times, 27 March 2013.Web. 12 April, 2013.

NRA Digital Network. National Rifle Association of America, 2013. Web. 12 April, 2013.

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel. Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 1949. Print.

“Patriot Act.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 8 April 2013. Web. 12 April, 2013.

The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 12 April, 2013. 

Picture credits:

qeisecurity.com

fixthispcnow.webs.com

Slavery and More

     I have been brought up with the idea of slavery being something that is negative. I look at Thomas More’s Utopia and wonder if I can fathom the idea of slavery being a tool rather than an atrocity. I see that the possibility of people paying off their debt to society as something that I may not want to accept as a necessarily good idea, but there are little options when people transgress against their society.

     For example, we have jails and prisons to rehabilitate people who owe society for a wrong-doing. We have hospitals to rehabilitate people who are ill (specifically mentally ill). We have schools to teach people to conform to societal norms so that people will not fall into the category of transgression. We also have people that are so impoverished that slavery would be a better option than dying of starvation.

      When I take a look at these factors I realize that although I may not necessarily agree with everything that More says, I realize he has thought through a plan for an Utopia and that plan is better than no plan at all. So, before I jump to a conclusion where I view Thomas More’s Utopia in a negative light, from the perspective of how I was raised, I must look deeper into the functions of society so that I can realize some other factors that I did not see before.

      So, instead of the breaking up of families, starvation, torment and the other disparities that come from the institution of slavery, I propose that a work study program be instilled. It would be more beneficial if we could put these people into a career path and allow them to become upstanding citizens of society. We would require a mandatory sentence to rehabilitating education that leads the citizen to become a working unit of society.

     The mandatory sentence would work with people who are doctors who can inspect the citizen’s mental well-being so that the transformation of the individual not only is physical, but psychological as well. This insures that people are working together. It makes a system of education and checks and balances that hold the individual responsible for being the best citizen he or she can be.