Herland: Experiements in Cultivation

So much of what we accept as natural is cultivated. It is cultivated over such a long period of time that we no longer think about it and cannot imagine it any other way. I think Gilman's point in Herland is that we need to examine and interrogate what we think is natural, to discover if it is actually cultivated. If it is cultivated, then we  can cultivate it in a different way, just like Gilman's women of Herland did.

In U.S. society, the types of things that have been cultivated in the past are gender roles. Kerri gives a neat summary as to how this can play out in her March 22 post on this blog. In addition, there are the obvious statistics, such as, the United States has only ever had male presidents; corporate boards continue to be dominated by males (2020 Women); males also continue to dominate the U.S. Congress (Manning and Shogan). It is easy to continue to ignore these statistics because, as Van suggests in Gilman's novel (68), "Some...things we have grown to accept as perfectly natural, or as belonging to our human limitations...."

Gilman presents an alternative to the cultivated order of U.S. society as it stood at the beginning of the twentieth century, and in some respects, continues to persist to this day. The education of women  was carefully developed and implemented (55), along population control through "negative eugenics" (59), health and hygiene practices virtually eradicated sickness (61), and the sense of community, which was described by Van (67) as "a unit, a conscious group...." was highly developed. Van adds (61) that "...they did not seem "cultivated" at all - it had become a natural condition." All of this was achieved by the women of Herland over a 1500 year time frame.

http://agriorissa.blogspot.com/2012/01/carrot-cultivation.html

As a society, we need to continue to do as Gilman suggests, through Van (68), and shine a light on those "things we have grown to accept as perfectly natural." We need to challenge these ideas that seem perfectly natural and come up with our own way to address a cultivated situation that has grown out of control. As a result, hopefully we can cultivate our own, healthier, society.




Works cited:

2020 Women on Boards. 2020 Women on Boards, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1998. Print.

Manning, Jennifer E. and Shogan, Colleen, J. Women in the United States congress: 1917-2012. Congressional Research Service. RL30261. 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

Not for the feint of heart (There's sex in this post! *gasp*)

^ You have been warned. 

So.... I feel the need to get real about something here.

There were many things in Herland that bothered me. It bugged me that the women there are nothing like women in reality. It bothered me more to think of a race of people with practically no faults and by extension missing many virtues. It bothered me even more that they had no passions beyond inclinations and motherly love, and that affection and intimacy between adults was unknown to them. But I draw the freaking line in the sand over SEX.

            Ok.... so they are bizarre asexual dual gender ex-women, but I just can't let them represent female kind. 

 As most posts of mine, this is 'something of great personal irritation to me' (which is totally becoming my battle cry here. *does Tarzan impression*). Frankly, I've never been able to accept that men and women are that different. Lets break it down though, just for me to be clear. In a physical sense, there are some differences. There are the obvious sexual organ differences. Men tend to be larger in limb and body frame then women. Women tend to have broader hips and are CAPABLE (not saying that they actually possess it) of greater flexibility and agility then men. Men on the other hand tend to have broader shoulders and are CAPABLE (re-previous statement) of greater muscular strength. Women have more estrogen, men have more testosterone. Women mature sooner than men in body and brains- but men catch up after a few years.

Do girlies have to like pink and flowers and sugar and spice and niceness? Nope

Do 'dudes' have to like cars and explosions and videogames with both those things in them? Nope.
.

Do WOMEN exist who like video games? You're reading the rant of one.

Do MEN exist who like a nice flower garden as much as the next girlie? Yeah, they are actually out there, and no, they don't have to be gay!

But what does that actually change about our intellectual lives? Or even our instinctual lives? Do we actually want different things out of life? Are our thought patterns really that different? Do we actually have different 'needs'? OOOORRR could it be all that  'society' nonsense that we keep perpetuating for no reason through out all our history just because some idiots had some nasty ideas way back when and convinced a bunch of people they were right?

No. Our minds are our own, each individual. Women are not tailor made to certain pursuits and neither are men. Everyone has their own gifts in different areas, man or woman. Some PEOPLE are better at science. Some PEOPLE are better at medicine. Some PEOPLE are excellent artists. Some PEOPLE are good with kids. Most PEOPLE like sex, a lot!

BREAKING NEWS: MEN AREN'T HALF SO HORNY AS THEY THINK THEY HAVE TO ACT, AND WOMEN ARE MUCH HORNIER THAN PEOPLE GENERALLY ARE COMFORTABLE ADMITTING.

And the best bit is that the sexual drive is exactly the same in both genders. It's our residual animal brains telling us to reproduce. Its not girls wanting to be moms and guys wanting to feel nice and then fall asleep. Men want sex because they want to be Daddies on a subconscious level. Get over it. I didn't write the biological imperative, I am just sayin' it. 

But here is the real kicker for me. Since time immemorial, we seem to have one view on sex- its shameful. There are lots of different ways to describe it- dirty being one. Even the people that get a real thrill of the idea of sex being dirty are only reveling in how 'wrong' it's supposed to be. But seriously people? Is it?

I hate the idea of sex always being 'dirty.' I equally hate the idea of sex being strictly for procreation ***hint hint, this might have been what set me off........ again.*** Between two people who truly love, trust, and care for each other, sex takes on a totally different roll. It is intimacy. It is comfort. An affirmation of shared emotion and passion. Of course there is also pleasure, and why not? What's really supposed to be so scary or so wrong about that? I take pleasure in eating a nice ice cream, but I don't blush and hide the fact that I enjoy it. 

I will say that 'free love' and 'casual sex' disgust me. But not for the usual reasons exactly. Not to be all judgey here, but it seems sacrilegious to me. Sexual intimacy without love seems to me something like praying at the alter of a god you don't believe in... or rather more like dumping a load of stinky garbage on it.At that point it ceases to be about sharing or giving pleasure and becomes about taking it at a cost to yourself. It may be that some people lose self respect. But it always seems to me that even if you are truly shameless that you still destroy most of your chances at it being special and wonderful if you ever do have a shot at sharing it with the right person.

 Maybe I was raised with all kinds of bizarre ideas, but I think of sex as something incredible. Mystical even. I think its pretty freaking bizarre for a MARRIED couple in LOVE to not desire that level of intimacy. Why would you not wish to share something like that? Something so fundamentally human? And why oh why oh why does a feminist writer have to make her perfect women baby wanting prudes? Of course, that is the real problem with them anyway, isnt it? They are essentially automatons. They want to make and raise babies, and then die to give them some space. Humans need love! Real stupid messy crazy passionate love that doesn't make sense to anyone but the lovers. 

Of course, Terry's violation of the trust in his relationship is perhaps the worst breach possible. I won't even begin to discuss that or I'll never stop writing long enough to publish this.

People say you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else, yes? But most people willfully refuse to know themselves or understand their real nature and prefer to squeeze themselves into narrow little boxes with labels on. This one says manly. This one says girly. This one says 'jock' and this one says 'nerd.' We are actually beautiful, messy, crazy things called HUMAN BEINGS. I am almost sick of hearing myself sing this song now, but WHY CAN'T WE ACCEPT WHO WE ARE AS INDIVIDUALS AND MOOOOOVEEEEE OOOOOON?!

How are we supposed to try to create a better world when we won't acknowledge our true natures? Women pretending to be 'hard to get' or 'on a pillar' or god knows what and men thinking that other men will judge them as sissypants if they don't go chasing after skirts like one male dog locked in a room with a dozen females in heat?

We are animals. We like sex. Accept it, pick your own personal moral code about it, and throw gender rules right out the window, because they are Grade A Bullshit. 

Harrumph: A Rant

Note: I expect this may make people angry. I don't mean to give offense, but I've just got to say what I've got to say. Please accept my apologies in advance if this offends your sensibilities. It is not meant to.



In my ideal world, negative connotations to personal realities will be gone.

You know, something of personal irritation to me is the line that we must learn our history or be doomed to repeat it. I'm certainly not for covering up dark history— but does it have to be shoved down our throats all the time? As an English student,  often have the agendas of various groups shoved down my throat. The plight of the African American. The evils of women's work. The hardship of industrial era immigrant workers. We keep educating ourselves and others about the seemingly yawning differences between us, and foster resentment and frustration in individuals that have often suffered very little or no real hardship as a result. Racism, classism and sexism still exists, but can we ever escape it when it is crafted into our very education?

There is a phenomenon happening that they often call counter racism or counter sexism. Which is totally ridiculous. Racism and sexism isn't a one way street. It does not just flow down hill like a river. It follows wherever irrational hatred grows, so much of it presumptuous and fictional.

In my utopia, such differences should be a personal matter. Can we not be proud of our femininity or masculinity without feelings of superiority, inferiority or self conciousness? Can went be comfortable within our own gender without making war on the other? Can we not be interested in our heredity and history without inventing the pains of our ancestors into our present? Can we ever manage to make no assumptions about what a person is or what they think or feel besides what they  do and say?

Can I be a woman without it being assumed that I have to fill or avoid traditional roles? Can I be Caucasian without assumptions being made about my liniage or the behavior of my forefathers? Can I be intelligent, well spoken and educated without people assuming I am a snob, a bitch, or having a predefined set of opinions and political views???? WELL WHY THE HECK NOT, WORLD?

Can we stop obsessing about past pain and difficulties and lay down our apparent need to defend ourselves from each other? Can we just be the people of Earth and MOVE ON ALREADY????