Herland

I first read this book 20 years ago, and it has stayed with me. All fantasy/sci-fi is, at its best, a parable that shows us a way out of a social/cultural problem. If we can read the women here as figures of "everyman" (since, after all, we are frequently called upon to view male characters as representative of humanity) we get an interesting and provocative alternative to our current problems with the escalation of violence, the growth of poverty, and the disaster that is our planet.

Back in 1915 when HERLAND was written, women were widely considered weak and uncreative and had the sole responsibility of taking care of home, family, and being socialites. So, when 3 young American men in the novel encounter a country comprised entirely of women, they look everywhere to find out where they must have hidden their men. Of course, being emperialist men, they think it should be easy to conquer and subdue a country of women. However, they are looking at these "women" through the eyes of their own culture, not realizing their full potential as "humans". These are women who have such little land to support their people that they've only kept and cultivated food-bearing trees like most people would cultivate a garden and who have learned how to have children without men. Some women! Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote this novel after leaving her own husband and home, going off to prove that women are as capable as making a living for themselves as men are. I can only imagine the stir this book must have caused among the feminists of the day. Gilman has written a very interesting book with only one minor flaw. She keeps on building the reader up to this "big thing" that the women of Herland evidently have in store for the men who have dropped by bi-plane into their perfect little world. It turns out to not be such a shocking thing after all and pretty obvious in fact. Despite this slight transgression, the book is superb. HERLAND is a short book that is surprisingly quick-paced and imaginative. It's a gem of a book to add to anyone's collection.

I came across this work while researching Utopian and Dystopia Lit in college and it was love at first read. It's rare to find a piece of utopian lit, much less feminist utopian lit written in this period. Yes, some have problems the the lack of modern feminist thought found in Herland, but for me, it was refreshing to find a work in which women are portrayed as intelligent, level-headed and, well, portrayed at all. And the added bonus for me was seeing a "lighter, happier" side to Gilman's writing. It is a must read for all fans of utopian lit.

Three American explorers stumble upon a small country they dub Herland that's populated totally by women. For about two thousand years, the women have developed an intelligent, productive, perfect society, and with the entrance of the three men, they begin learning about the world outside their realm. The three men find that the women of Herland are ignorant (to their minds) of sexuality and gender roles, but the women are far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of education, child-rearing, population control, and agriculture. To fulfill their own curiosity and learn more, three women of Herland agree to become married to the three men. Unfortunately one of the men has not been able to overcome his own prejudices about how women ought to behave, and with one act he brings their time in Herland to an end. This fascinating story is decades ahead of most feminist, humanist works, and gives every reader an inspiring vision of how the world could be.

The title of Gilman's novel may be a bit misleading. The novel is described as a feminist novel. Yet, this is not exactly acurate. The absence of men in the utopian society may seem extreme to some, and it is. This is how Gilman makes her point. She does not create a world without men because men are terrible creatures who have corrupted the world. The utopia which lacks men is a clean peaceful place, excelling in every way American society fails. But, it is neither the absence of men nor the presence of women that faciliates this. Gender, in this novel, is symbolic for the most part. Gilman does separate the two genders to destroy steroetypes, but also to establish a concrete difference between the two worlds. The male world is not bad, and the female good. The world in which people are defined by others and limited to these defined roles is bad, while the world in which people are free to grow without being defined or compared to others, and are able to see the oneness of all people is good. Comparing Herland to the reader's own world, Gilman begins destroying gender based stereotypes. Because there are no distinctions of gender in Herland, nor any superficial characteristics which accompany gender, Herland women take on the roles of all people without considering any limitations. These women are strong, agile, nurturing, intelligent, cooperative, and able to rely on themselves. They are not "typical" females. As Gilman explains through the male character Van, "Those 'feminie charms' we are so fond of are not feminine at all, but mere reflected masculinity--developed to please us because they had to please us, and in no way essential to the real fulfillment of their great process" (59). In the same way, stereotypes about men can be discredited. Such ideas have been made up to help people deal with the differences between men and women. Gilman shows the reader that if people stop basing their identities on what others want, they will no longer be slaves to limitations. They will be free to discover their true selves and will allow others to do the same. Gilman shows readers that men and women are distinct people, but reminds us that they are people first. This can be seen when Somel, a woman of Herland, innocently questions a male visitor, "But surely there are characteristics enough which belong to People, aren't there?" (89). Focusing more on these characteristics, those belonging to "People," allows humans to fulfill their personal potential without fear of jealousy. The women of Herland are able to live in "such universal peace and good will and mutual affection" (99) because "they lacked the sex motive and, with it, jealousy" (99). The women of Herland are free and equal because they are secure enough in themselves to offer and accept help for a joint cause, the betterment of their world. All readers, men and women alike, can learn a great deal from this humanist utopian novel.