Herland: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This was an interesting, yet humorous account of what woman could do in a world without men. Three learned men seek out a society they've heard of from natives, where there are only women. Once they find this place, Herland they are taken back by how advanced and peaceful the woman are in living. The entire book deals with the men and woman comparing their homes and Herland and Herland looking better. In the end the men are banished from one of the men trying to take advantage of a woman, and one of the women leave with them. Gilman furthers her feminist agenda by the use of a male narrator, Vandyck Jennings. Van is characterized as the most reasonable and objective of the three men. He is the male character that men and women readers alike find agreeable. He serves as the middle man where Jeff and Terry are completely different. Throughout the book Van's interest in Herland is presented as educational and distant, instead of personal. Towards the middle of the book two long conversations occur from Van’s disbelief that woman, without men, are neither vain nor competitive. He is surprised that women wouldn't want to wear feathers in their hats to enhance their beauty. He doesn't understand the communal raising of children as this takes the ownership and competitiveness out of parenting. The men, Van included, think of these qualities of vanity and competitiveness as feminine characteristics. Van does not grasp the idea Gillman is presenting that characteristics are neither manly nor feminine, but rather human qualities. Van has an example of vanity right in front of him. "Terry, in particular, was fussy to a degree about the cut of his beard". All of the men were vain in their dress "Being offered a wide selection of garments, we had chosen according to our personal taste, and were surprised to find...that we were the most highly decorated, especially Terry." Although Van is presented as the man who understands Herland, he may not be a reliable narrator because he does not address the idea that gender does not dictate behavior. As a reader we are left wondering Van’s actual agenda and if he believes the message that women can embrace the whole of life just as men. After the two conversations above Van shows his own vanity in how he flaunts to the reader his acceptance of the Herland community more than either of his friends as though his need for our acceptance drives the story's end.