Herland Blog 1

          Herland, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story of three men that travel and find a land named Herland that consists of only women. The three men are introduced as Van, Jeff, and Terry. Gilman, in her book, challenges the views of men, not only white Americans but other races too. These views are pessimistic to women in general and limit women during the time period to the domestic sphere as opposed to the approved sphere for men, which was the social sphere. Men of the time period most commonly viewed women as inferior to males, which affected every part of their treatment of women. They stereotypically believed that women were just objects that men control and possess. Gilman challenges these views by creating a society of only women that is able to function and prosper without men.
         In chapter 2, the three men first encounter the women of Herland and describe them as women that, "were not young. They were not old. They were not, in the girl sense, beautiful. They were not in the least ferocious. . . I had the funniest feeling of being hopelessly in the wrong that I had so often felt in early youth when my short legs' utmost effort failed to overcome the fact that I was late to school" (Gilman 16-17). In this passage the men, particularly Van, find that these women are considerably different than any others they have encountered before. therefore the men develop, along with previous opinions, separate views about the the women they meet. Van, through his actions and thoughts, is a man that does not particularly discriminate against women, but more rather just goes along with the designated guidelines for men and women of the time to follow. Jeff's perspective is different from Van's about women because he views them not as just possessions but feels romantic and poetic towards them. He believes he can win any woman he wants and have her be "his". But the most dramatic views of the women comes from Terry because of his aggressive and forceful behavior towards women. He sees women as game to be hunted and objects for sexual gratification. He does not think much of women when it comes to being apart of the social world. Gilman uses these three different views about the women of the period and in Herland to represent the different opinions men hold against women all around the world.