Herland (1915)
AUTHOR: Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
---. Looking Backward: 2000-1887
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Housekeeper and the Food Problem”
---. Moving the Mountain
---. With Her in Ourland
Grimké, Sarah Moore. Letters on the Equality of the Sexes
Howells, William Dean. The Altrurian Romances
---. New Leaf Mills
---. “Turkeys Turning the Tables”
Jackson, James Caleb. American Womanhood
Lovell, Mary Frances. “Address on Humane Education”
Moore, J. Howard. Ethics and Education
---. High School Ethics
---. “The Logic of Vegetarianism”
Nichols, Mary Sargeant Gove. Mary Lyndon
Nichols, Mary Sargeant Gove and Thomas Low Nichols. Marriage
Nichols, Thomas Low. Esperanza
---. Nichols' Health Manual
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle
Stow, Marietta. “Grand Triennial Conclave”
--- Unjust Laws Which Govern Woman
Thoreau, Henry David. A Yankee in Canada
Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Chapters from a Life
Woodhull, Victoria. The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government
SUMMARY (Bryn Skibo):
The women of Herland do not keep animals for food because they reserve the land for growing food (nuts, fruits, cereals); birds live in Herland and they keep cats (very selectively bred cats, which do not hunt birds) to restrict the population of mice. The women of Herland do not eat meat; they are shocked and sickened by accounts of the US meat industry and, in their veneration of motherhood, are scandalized by the commodification of bovine maternity by the (milk) dairy industry. The men (especially Jeff, the botanist) are amazed at the intelligent way in which the women cultivate the land for food production and create aesthetically pleasing environments at the same time. Slavery is indirectly referenced: the society that preceeded Herland is said to have kept slaves and the slave women were eventually brought into the new community. As the patriarchal US culture of the men is brought into relation with the exclusively feminine culture of Herland, interesting comparative discussions arise that contrast the utopia of Herland with male-female relations in the contemporary United States, masculine and feminine versus "human" traits, relations between the sexes, education, population control (the women practise parthenogenesis), architecture and town planning, class relations, and land use.