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3. How do the women in Herland differ from women across the globe? Do you think
Herland could ever exist? What stuck out to you from the novel as still being relevant
today?

More Powerful Women Equals a Better World

Terry says there are two kinds of women, “desirable and undesirable” (Gilman 51).

Unlike the majority of women today, the women in Herland did not care to make themselves

desirable to the three men. This a characteristic of them which leads to their successful

civilization and women today could learn from this. Society has made women feel as if there is

something wrong with them if they do not have a boyfriend or husband. There are unfortunately

many men who consider a women desirable if she is merely attractive and is willing to sleep with

him. Terry is an example of this as he attempts to rape Alima. Alima’s resistance to him is very

inspirational and women today do not act in this way enough. Perhaps it was easier for Alima to

act in this way because Terry had no power over her.

Another reason Herland is so powerful is because the women are unified and do not

compete with each other. Van says, “We seemed to think that if there were men we could fight

them, and if there were only women— why, they would be no obstacles at all” (Gilman 51).

Today, women are constantly compared and put against each other. Women spend too much time

competing with other women, while they could be bettering themselves. This competion of

women is influenced by men because often times men will put down another group of women to

make the individual women he is pursuing feel better about herself. Women need to completely

stop allowing this to happen because it does no harm for men, but it takes a toll on a woman’s

priorities and self esteem.

The women of Herland do not possess “feminine” characteristics. For example, “If their

hair was only long,’ Jeff would complain, “they would look so much more feminine” (Gilman
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59). The women are ignorant to society’s idea of femininity and that empowers them. They only

act in ways that are going to make them happy or better their civilization as a whole. Rather than

having long hair, they focus on their physical capabilities, like running. The women seem happy

and it is not even the lack of men, but rather the lack of oppression which causes their happiness.

It is unimaginable to think of a world where a women does not have to care about her

appearance.

Herland could exist today, especially with fertility treatment. However, it would be

extremely challenging for the civilization to survive because men, like Terry, would be

constantly trying to sabotage it. If a place like Herland did exist, these men would invade with

weapons and try to dominate the women. Gilman’s Herland emphasizes how much better the

world would be if women had more power. Jeff says, “They haven’t hurt us in the least! They

could have killed us— or—anything— and I never felt better in my life” (Gilman 55). Men tend

to be more violent than women and having leaders who constantly want to conquer other

territories, rather than cooperating with others, is why our world has become so violent.
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