The Utopias conversation will go around in circles as long as we do
not ask, Utopia for whom?
For me, the only acceptable utopia so far, is Delany's Triton which
allows for the construction of individual and group utopias in shared
space.
Farah
>
> Joel VanLaven wrote:
> > Perhaps we can tentatively characterize a Feminist
Dystopia, then,
> > as a work that warns of the potential sexist and otherwise harmful
> > consequences of Traditional or Feminist Utopian thought, and
critiques a
> > particular set of Traditional or Feminist social, political, and moral
> > theories by depicting a future in which these theoretical
assumptions
> > ground the systemic oppression of one sex by the other.
> > Judith
>
> The question is how to classify a thought-experiment like Tepper's
> _Gate_to_Women's_Country_ or David Brin's _Glory_Season_ that
presents a
> utopian world and critiques it without putting it in the realm of a
> dystopia? After all, I would think that _Handmaid's_Tale_ might be
a
> feminist dystopia, but neither of the above comes even close to
being
> similar to that book.
>
> -- Joel VanLaven
>
> **** My (Judith) Reply:
> I haven't yet read Brin, but disagree that the society (actually
> three societies: Warrior's Garrison, Women's Country, Holyland)
presented
> in Tepper's GTWC is a Utopia. The ultimate aim of the leaders of
WC might
> be to create a utopia (world without oppression, violence, and war)
but the
> institutional means they have designed to achieve that end are
quite
> dystopic. One example-- Periodic killing of the warriors through
concocted
> 'wars' with other garrisons counts, for me, as systemic oppression
of one
> sex (male) by the other (female). The whole Garrison-WC set up,
after all,
> was designed by the female founder of WC to test for and then
eliminate
> aggressive males. This is not to say that Tepper views the work as
a
> critique of Utopian non-violence. In fact, I'd argue that she presents
WC
> machinations as 'necessary'; there's plenty of textual evidence for
this.
> This controversy (Is GTWC a utopia or a dystopia) is part of what
makes
> GTWC so very interesting, of course.
> *********
>
> Joel VanLaven wrote:
> > What is a Feminist Utopia? Sally Miller Gearhart sets out
four
> > characteristics of Feminist Utopian literature: it "a. contrasts the
> > present with an envisioned idealized society (separated from the
present by
> > time or space); b. offers a comprehensive critique of present
> > values/conditions; c. sees men or male institutions as a major
cause of
> > present social ills; and d. presents women not only as at least
the equals
> > of men but also as the sole arbiters of their reproductive
functions." In
> > any case, conditions of full equality between the sexes must hold
in a
> > Feminist Utopian society.
>
> Ack. I have problems with that definition. Certainly some feminist
> utopias see men as "the problem." However, any feminist utopia
that
> includes men with the same biology as they currently have in
percentages
> similar to the current day must not take that position. Why not a
much
> simpler definition? How about:
>
> Presents an idealized society which has as an integral,
necessary part
> gender roles that do not put men above women.
>
> Another possible requirement is that this society is presented as
> reasonable for beings "essentially" human.
>
> ****** My (Judith) Reply:
> I don't agree with either Booker's definition of 'Dystopia' or
> Gearhart's definition of 'Feminist Utopia', but haven't come up with
> anything much better. It does seem, however, that if not individual
men or
> men as a group, then at least those "male institutions", which
overtly or
> covertly inculcate and celebrate misogyny, ARE the major cause of
sexual
> inequality.
> Question: Does anyone know of any feminist utopian works
that
> don't portray men or male institutions as "the problem"?
> Question: How should 'Feminist Utopia' and 'Feminist
Dystopia' be
> defined?
> Judith
>
>
>
> *************************************************************************
> Dr. Judith Ann Little Philosophy Department SUNY-Potsdam
> Potsdam, NY 13676-2294 littleja@potsdam.edu
>
> ***********************************************************************
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