On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, Kate Williams wrote:
> > Question: Does anyone know of any feminist utopian works that
> >don't portray men or male institutions as "the problem"?
NH: Reading very sketchily, as I am on a break at work, so forgive if my
answer doesn't quite jibe with the discussion. Has anyone brought up
Ursula Le Guin's _Always Coming Home_? Seems to me that it's a utopian
work, with its exploration of societies based on using technology
appropriate to one's needs as opposed to tech for tech's sake. Being Le
Guin, it's feminist. And I don't think that it portrays men as the
'problem.' Warlike behaviour is problematized, but although men are the
oppressors in the warmaking society portrayed in the novel, there are
plenty of positive, human male examples in the agrarian society, and even
one or two among the belligerents. And it felt to me as though the women
were portrayed as human too; they made good and bad choices, had a range
of personalities. I really love this book.
-nalo
>
"Sleeping in shifts, or working in shifts, or if you were so tired you
couldn't sleep you stared at the television and learned a new language.
Whadya say. They learned this. Watched every show. After, feeling
confident they'd gained something, a key to the day..."
Dionne Brand, _Another Place, Not Here_
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