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The Herland Trilogy: Moving the Mountain, Herland, with Her in Ourland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
madrarua13's review against another edition
4.0
I read this lovely story last year but completely forgot to write a review. Which is a sin, really. I would describe this book as the perfect answer to the question: What would a society of only women look like? and what awful commentary on that society might men have?
The story follows three young lads with a taste for adventure and too much time on their hands, evidently. On their travels, they hear of a legend of a land up the mountains inhabited by only women. Women that have made a bit of a point of isolating from the outside world and who clearly don't wish to be bothered. So of course here come our protagonists to do just that! Our protagonists being a merry band of misogynists, Vandyck "Van" Jennings, Jeff Margrave, and Terry Nicholson.
Each of them exemplifies different flavors of misogyny: Terry and Jeff are like personifications of the madonna-whore complex. Terry is exactly what you imagine when you hear misogynist. He sees women as either sexual or aesthetic objects or as relatively useless. Jeff is more the adorkable misogynist. He views women as virtuous and pure. He's a southern gentleman so naturally, to him, women are meant to be worshipped, worshipped as motherly and nurturing, of course. Finally, Van, our narrator who parrots the prejudices of his culture as well as the others, but with less enthusiasm being in possession of all the groups brain cells he's the least invest in those ideologies.
The story follows the three stooges as they enter Herland underestimating the inhabitants only to have their asses handed to them tactically, emotionally, and philosophically.
They end up each falling in love along the way and attempting some character development to varying degrees of success.
I love how this story handled the nuances of its themes but be warned that with that nuance comes less than morally simple characters and no neat cathartic ending, but still, the little disappointing twinges of reality that slip in don't kill the girl boss mood and definitely add texture to the story.
Also 10/10 for the kick-ass female characters that I sadly can't talk much about without delving into spoiler territory.
The story follows three young lads with a taste for adventure and too much time on their hands, evidently. On their travels, they hear of a legend of a land up the mountains inhabited by only women. Women that have made a bit of a point of isolating from the outside world and who clearly don't wish to be bothered. So of course here come our protagonists to do just that! Our protagonists being a merry band of misogynists, Vandyck "Van" Jennings, Jeff Margrave, and Terry Nicholson.
Each of them exemplifies different flavors of misogyny: Terry and Jeff are like personifications of the madonna-whore complex. Terry is exactly what you imagine when you hear misogynist. He sees women as either sexual or aesthetic objects or as relatively useless. Jeff is more the adorkable misogynist. He views women as virtuous and pure. He's a southern gentleman so naturally, to him, women are meant to be worshipped, worshipped as motherly and nurturing, of course. Finally, Van, our narrator who parrots the prejudices of his culture as well as the others, but with less enthusiasm being in possession of all the groups brain cells he's the least invest in those ideologies.
The story follows the three stooges as they enter Herland underestimating the inhabitants only to have their asses handed to them tactically, emotionally, and philosophically.
They end up each falling in love along the way and attempting some character development to varying degrees of success.
I love how this story handled the nuances of its themes but be warned that with that nuance comes less than morally simple characters and no neat cathartic ending, but still, the little disappointing twinges of reality that slip in don't kill the girl boss mood and definitely add texture to the story.
Also 10/10 for the kick-ass female characters that I sadly can't talk much about without delving into spoiler territory.
shaguirre's review against another edition
3.25
Interesting, confusing, wrong, right, thought provoking, anger provoking. Racist but considering the times not as bad as it could be. Would be a great book group book.
It definitely makes one think. I tried to keep an open mind and not judge things as being simplistic or silly - because I kept remembering that I really don't know how an all-woman society would work. I have always thought of myself as a person first, then a woman and unusual in that I don't subscribe to a lot of what society puts upon women. I tried hard to not get my back up about how motherhood is talked about as being the one thing women want to be (in Herland) because I think I would be okay with that if the world was like Herland. I think that some woman are good for making babies but not raising them up and some are good at teaching but not having any of their own. I think it takes a village. I think that a lot of what we consider feminine is just something that we take on to be different than men, or in the attempt to attract a man so there was a lot I could agree with here. There were parts that were just so funny because they are true. How clothes in Herland would have a lot of pockets. I adored the sections on how children will learn. I wonder if they would be so even tempered though but not having had children or children around me that were raised in near perfect conditions (basic needs met, freedom) maybe that is possible.
It definitely makes one think. I tried to keep an open mind and not judge things as being simplistic or silly - because I kept remembering that I really don't know how an all-woman society would work. I have always thought of myself as a person first, then a woman and unusual in that I don't subscribe to a lot of what society puts upon women. I tried hard to not get my back up about how motherhood is talked about as being the one thing women want to be (in Herland) because I think I would be okay with that if the world was like Herland. I think that some woman are good for making babies but not raising them up and some are good at teaching but not having any of their own. I think it takes a village. I think that a lot of what we consider feminine is just something that we take on to be different than men, or in the attempt to attract a man so there was a lot I could agree with here. There were parts that were just so funny because they are true. How clothes in Herland would have a lot of pockets. I adored the sections on how children will learn. I wonder if they would be so even tempered though but not having had children or children around me that were raised in near perfect conditions (basic needs met, freedom) maybe that is possible.
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