The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Sexualities, Histories, Progressivism (Women in Culture and Society)

Famous for her short fiction—most notably “The Yellow Wallpaper”—Charlotte Perkins Gilman also produced a vast body of nonfiction in tandem with her work as a Progressive-era feminist reformer. Rooted in groundbreaking research on Gilmans extensive correspondence, publications, and speeches, this keenly argued intellectual biography reconstructs her controversial output and the heady context in which she produced it.

            Judith Allen provides the first comprehensive assessment of Gilmans complicated feminism by exploring the renowned writers theories of sexuality and evolutionary analyses of androcentric—or male-dominated—culture. These ideas, Allen shows, informed Gilmans many contributions to the suffrage movement, the fight to abolish regulated prostitution, and efforts to legalize birth control. Restoring a previously overlooked public intellectual to her preeminent place in Progressive-era politics and the history of feminism at home and abroad, Allens landmark study provides the fullest account available of Gilmans consequential life and profoundly influential work.

List of Illustrations        

Preface

Introduction

Part One: Sexuality and Subjection in History   

            1          Desires, Matings, and Couples

            2          Longing, Leaving, and Loving   

            3          Gynaecocracy and Androcracy

            4          Sex Slavery, Home Cooking, and Combat       

Part Two: “As to Feminism”     

            5          Woman Suffrage, the Antis, and Masculism      

            6          Debating Gilmans “Feminism” 

            7          “The High Priestess of Feminism”         

            8          Toward a “Human” World       

Part Three: Embracing Progressivism    

            9          Reconfiguring Vice       

            10        A Progressive Era Public Intellectual    

            11        The Later Gilman         

            12        Gilmaniana Today        

                        Conclusion      

                        Notes  

                        Select Bibliography                              Index