Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Herland: An Unfeminine Feminist and A Female World Without Women
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Authors
Parsons, Leslie M.
Issue Date
1991
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in New England,
lived a long and productive life, and died in 1935. During her lifetime
she was described by her peers as one of the most influential women
in the United States. She also wrote a book, Women and Economics,
that was read all over the world in several different languages by
thousands of people. Yet, traditional history books do not recognize
her. As with many women writers in history, Charlotte was forgotten
as soon as she was no longer in the world to make sure her voice was
heard. With the revival of the feminist movement in the 1960s and
1970s, many ideas and authors were rescued from obscurity. One
night I read the utopian novel Herland, and noticed many familiar
concepts from current feminist theory. In doing this paper, I gained a
greater knowledge of feminist theory. I also realized that, like much
of the current feminist theory, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's ideas come
from the same white, middle class setting in which she was raised. In
order to give a perspective to Charlotte's thoughts on feminism, this
paper begins with a section on Charlotte's life and influences. An
important aspect of feminist theory is the concept of gender, and
Charlotte began to conceive of it as socially constructed while most
thinkers of her day believed that gender characteristics are inherent.
From her views on gender and politics, aspects of the novel Herland
can be compared to current feminist issues.
Description
46 p.