I just finished Herland for class. I rarely really enjoy mandatory reading, but I loved this book. It is a feminist, less satirical, version of Utopia. It is a very interesting view on what would happen if a society grew lacking all men. How would women change. How would society change. It’s very interesting. Of course the book is more than a little misandrist, but given that it was written in 1860 I’m not surprised that the author is a bit hostile to men. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, wrote my favorite short story of all time–“The Yellow Wallpaper” which is short and out of copyright so easily found on the web. If you have any interest in cultural development I highly recommend this book. It’s neato.

My favorite section from the book is about religion:
“You see, we are not accustomed to horrible ideas,” she said, coming back to me rather apologetically. “We haven’t any. And when we get a thing like that into our minds it’s like–oh, like red pepper in your eyes. So I just ran to her, blinded and almost screaming, and she took it out so quickly–so easily!”
“How?” I asked, very curious.
“Why, you blessed child,’ she said, ‘you’ve got the wrong idea altogether. You do not have to think that there ever was such a God–for there wasn’t. Or such a happening–for there wasn’t. Nor even that this hideous false idea was believed by anybody. But only this–that people who are utterly ignorant will believe anything–which you certainly knew before.’
“Anyhow,’ pursued Ellador, ‘she turned pale for a minute when I first said it.”
This was a lesson to me. NO wonder this whole nation of women was peaceful and sweet in expression–they had no horrible ideas.
“Surely you had some when you began,” I suggested.
“Oh yes, no doubt. But as soon as our religion grew to any height at all we left them out, of course.”
From this, as from many other things, I grew to see what I finally put in words.
“Have you no respect for the past? For what was thought and believed by your foremothers?”
“Why, no,” she said. “Why should we? They are all gone. They knew less than we do. If we are not beyond them, we are unworthy of them–and unworthy of the children who must go beyond us.”

Very interesting reading…