Factors the Explorers Realize About Themselves and Their Land
The men discover that Herland’s population consists of females only, yet it has its unique civilization and lifestyle despite a lack of male dominance. Van realizes that these women are intelligent, keen observers, curious, and thirsty for more knowledge about other lands to understand their civilization since “Little by little, they wrung from us” (Gilman, 63). Van admits that the women are motherly and care about everything in nature as they care for a child.
On the other hand, Terry refuses to believe that women can dominate the land and rejects Herland’s different history and tradition as “…traditions as old as Herodotus….” (Gilman,70). Terry admits that contrary to his sexist belief, “…we all know women can’t organize…. are frightfully jealous…”, Herlandian women are immaculate, and ‘….as neat as a Dutch kitchen…” (Gilman, 67). According to Terry, Herland’s women are neither feminine nor attractive like the women from his land.
Jeff admits that Herlandian women are independent, courageous, and harmonious. They do not need nor understand being under the protection of men since they abolished male dominance during the war to conquer the land, proclaiming them as heroines. Generally, jeff believes that the Herlandians can never recognize them as their protectors, and they would have to live as equals, unlike in America, where males dominate the land.
The Argument About Poverty
The men are uncomfortable with the argument about poverty because they realize their views about poverty are sexist, socially discriminating, and based on irrelevant traditions. According to the author, the men discover that their idea of poor people is sexist when they say only poor women work in their country while the rich are pampered and sheltered by their husbands. When the Herlandians wonder why working women are considered inferior, the men lack a counterargument since the idea is that a woman could work to be independent regardless of wealth. When Modine asks, “…This inferior one-third have no children, I suppose?” (Gilman, 67), Jeff contradicts the statement argument that poorer people in their society reproduce more like a law of nature for many years. The view is stereotypic of poor people’s lifestyle, which contradicts Herlandian’s views on working women.
The Primary Role of Women in Herland
Herlandians take motherhood as a very significant and pleasant role. In Herland, women represent both maternal and paternal parenthood, and raising children is communal. Unlike modern women who take motherhood as a burden, the Herlandians treasure the role and maintain it through bearing up to only five children, whereas most women only give birth once to balance the population. The women educate their children communally and maintain the practice through record keeping of each “child’s exact line of descent…” (Gilman,91) which helps mothers identify their children while raising them in a collaborative approach.
The Goal of The Women of Herland and The Challenges of Achieving Them
Herland women have a vision of integrating foreign men into their society to become an all-gender civilization. Since Herland comprises women only, the possibility of having men is intriguing, pushing them to retain the men to acquire information about other cultures and propagation. However, the Herland women have lived for so long without men that they are hopeless in romance and sexual activities, posing a challenge on the issue of marriage and sexual desires.
Consequently, gender roles are different between the two parties where the men work with male dominance while the women are not used to male chauvinism. Jeff tells Celis, “…a woman should not carry anything…” (Gilman, 96), but she refuses to claim gender roles are unnecessary in their land. Adjusting cultural norms and achieving romance could be challenging, but the challenges create the thrill of adapting through mutual concession.
Work Cited
Gilman, Charlotte. Herland. Antiquarius, 2021.