University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnNebraska College Preparatory Academy SeniorCapstone Projects Nebraska College Preparatory Academy

Spring 2015

Become a Herlander: Eliminate Gender RolesLizeth FraireGrand Island Senior High School

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Fraire, Lizeth, "Become a Herlander: Eliminate Gender Roles" (2015). Nebraska College Preparatory Academy Senior Capstone Projects.26.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ncpacapstone/26

Become a Herlander: Eliminate Gender Roles

Lizeth Fraire Nebraska College Preparatory Academy

Grand Island Senior High 2015 University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

In her novel, Herland, Gilman illustrates a flourishing civilization whose only occupants are women. "Gilman envisions this emancipated 'new woman' as ‘honester, braver, stronger, more healthier and skillful and able and free, more human in all ways’" (Lathrop 8). By comparing Herland to the women in the Victorian Age and even modern society, it’s obvious that they thrive because they do not have a notion of what they are supposed to be because of their gender.

Conclusion

I believe it is time to stand up taller, and be the women Charlotte Gilman dreamed we could be. Let us be whoever we want to be; smart, powerful, ambitious, while wearing six inch heels or sneakers. Demanding respect wherever we may find ourselves, saying we are more than just our gender. It is time to break free of the chains society has put us into. We are not weak, we are not fragile, and we are not silent. We are smart, courageous, honest and can do anything we set our minds to. We are not the women from the 1800’s, we have a choice, a choice to be greater than what our modern society has lead us to believe. We are no longer constricted by expectations set upon us by society. You are Free. You are a Herlander.

Works Cited Appell, Felicia. "Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society's Ideals on Victorian Relationships." Scholars: Journal of Undergraduate Research 18(2010): n. pag. McKendree University. Web. 25 March 2015 Gilman, Charlotte. Herland. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola, New York, 1998. Print. Hausman, Bernice L. "Sex Before Gender: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Evolutionary Paradigm of Utopia." Feminist Studies 24.3 (1998): 488-510. Omnifile Full Text (H.W. Wilson). PDF file. 18 Mar. 2015. Lathrop, Anna. " 'Herland' Revisited: Narratives of Motherhood, Domesticity, and Physical Emancipation in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Feminist Utopia." Vitae Scholasticae 23(2006): 4-17. Omnifile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). PDF file. 19 Mar. 2015. Schaer, Ruben. "It's Always Sunny in Herland." It's Always Sunny in Herland. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015 Solomon, Miss. "The Dating Truth." The Dating Truth. N.p., n.d. Web. 2

Key Points

Herlanders thrive because they are not constricted by gender roles in education, the workplace, love, or marriage like the ones present in the Victorian Age or even in modern society. ●  Education-Domestic vs. Limitless ● Occupation-Workplace vs. Home ●  Love -Trophy vs. Motherly ● Marriage- Ownership vs. Freedom