the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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3.6.2.1. Excluding men from her utopia and from the realm
of reproduction, Gilman alms at dispelling the prevailing
notrons and stereotypes regarding mothersjmotherhood. Even
though motherhood is the chief preoccupation of the women of
Herland, lt is a motherhood evolved from thelr essential
nature, rather than one dictated by patriarchal culture
Susan Gubar [clted in Peyser 1992 91 describes Herland as
a place where "culture is no longer opposed to nature".
Gllman hlnts so much herself when she has Van, the male
narrator of Herland, say that the chlldren dld not seem
cultivated at all -- it had become a natural condit~on In
Berland, the narrator reallzes that femlnine charms are
"mere reflected mascul~nlty -- developed to please us
because they had to please us, and in no way essentlall' (H
591 The women In Herland are free from conventional
femlnlnlty, whlch 1s an offshoot of thelr economlc
Independence Incidentally, Gllman believed that "a woman's
economlc Independence 1s the basls of her freedom -- as long
as a woman depends on a father, brother, or husband for
materlal support, she wlll depend on h m emotionally and
intellectually as well" (clted In Sapler 1972 1C9)
3.6.2.2. What one sees in Herland 1s a plcture of
naturaljauthentic motherhood untouched by patriarchy
Sensitive to the difference between motherlny as a
biological experience and motherhood as an instltutlon or