Two works in one, this volume contains the full text of "With
Her in Ourland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as well as an
illuminating sociological analysis by Mary Jo Deegan with the
assistance of Michael R. Hill. "Ourland" is the sequel to Gilman's
acclaimed feminist utopian novel "Herland"; both were published in
her journal, "The Forerunner," in 1915 and 1916. "Ourland" resumes
the adventures of DEGREESIHerland DEGREESR's protagonists, Ellador
and Van, but turns from utopian fantasy to a challenging analysis
of contemporary social fissures in "his land," or the real world.
The republication of "Herland" as a separate novel in 1979 revived
critical interest in Gilman's work but truncated the larger aims
implicit in the DEGREESIHerland/Ourland DEGREESR saga, leaving an
erroneous understanding of Gilman's other/better half of the story,
in which it is suggested that strong women can resocialize men to
be nurturant and cooperative. Gilman's choice of a sexually
integrated society in "With Her in Ourland" provides us with her
answer to her ideal society, but her foray into a woman-only
society as a corrective to a male dominated one is a controversial
option. The challenging message of "Ourland," however, does not
impede the pleasure of reading it as a novel.
Though known more for her fiction today, Gilman in her time was
a recognized and accomplished sociologist who admired Lester F.
Ward and frequently visited Jane Addams of Chicago's Hull-House.
The male protagonist in "Herland/Ourland," Van, is a sociologist,
used by Gilman as a foil on which to skewer the assumptions and
practices of patriarchal sociology. The interpretation presented
here, which adopts a sociological viewpoint, is invaluable reading
for scholars and students of sociology, American women's studies,
and utopian literature.
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