Journal Entry 1 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Monday, May 11, 2009

I'm not sure where exactly this book came from - it was buried deep in the farthest reaches of Mt TBR, looking like it had been there for quite some time.

Anyway, an amusing early feminist take on Utopian fantasy. Three men exploring the depths of the jungle come across a mysterious plateau (shades of The Lost World) inhabited only by women. Of course, the more they discover about this ideal society, the more sharply the failures of our own are shown.

It's interesting to compare Gilman's feminism of 100 years ago (the book was originally published in serial form between 1909 and 1916) with today's. While they have a lot in common (for instance, the idea that there is no task that men are inherently better at than women, and that marriage does not confer ownership of a woman on her husband), Gilman's vision is still centred on the idea of motherhood being the most valuable role a woman can play - something that many women who have chosen career over children would dispute. Her attitude to sex reflects the time she lived in too: the women of Herland have a Victorian* squeamishness about sex, seeing it as a necessary evil to be tolerated at best.

Probably what's most interesting (or depressing) is how relevant the satire still is. We may have made great advances in the last 100 years, but I think a traveller today visiting Herland would still find plenty of areas where our society compares badly.

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*Yes, I know 1909 is Edwardian, not Victorian, but Gilman was born in 1860, well within the Victorian period. 

Journal Entry 2 by futurecat at Tangente Cafe , Moray Place in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Monday, May 18, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (5/16/2009 UTC) at Tangente Cafe , Moray Place in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Happy bookcrossing to the finder!

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P.S. If you live in the Christchurch area, you might like to join us at our monthly bookcrossing meetups. For details, see the BCNZ Yahoo Group.