Synopses & Reviews
Famous for her short fictionand#8212;most notably and#8220;The Yellow Wallpaperand#8221;and#8212;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 Gilmanand#8217;s extensive correspondence, publications, and speeches, this keenly argued intellectual biography reconstructs her controversial output and the heady context in which she produced it.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Judith Allen provides the first comprehensive assessment of Gilmanand#8217;s complicated feminism by exploring the renowned writerand#8217;s theories of sexuality and evolutionary analyses of androcentricand#8212;or male-dominatedand#8212;culture. These ideas, Allen shows, informed Gilmanand#8217;s 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, Allenand#8217;s landmark study provides the fullest account available of Gilmanand#8217;s consequential life and profoundly influential work.
Review
and#8220;Judith Allen has written the biography that Charlotte Perkins Gilman has long deserved.
The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman restores its subject to her rightful place in the pantheon of Progressive reformers. Allen is a superb researcher and a shrewd judge of evidence and character. By setting Gilman in her time and place, Allen allows us to go beyond present-day exposure of the weaknesses that Gilman shared with many of her contemporaries to assess the strengths that she brought to her analysis of the sex and gender system. This fine work enables us to appreciate the reach of Gilmanand#8217;s ambition, the power of her determination, and the full force of her achievement.and#8221;
Review
"Allen slkilfully weaves a path through . . . complex issues in this richly textured book, pointing out that while Gilman will ineveitably disappointand#160;some we must not forgetand#160;the contribution she made to theorising about women's subjection, and the way she tried to integrate these views into the reform movements of her day."
Review
andldquo;Judith A. Allen has written what will become the definitive biography of Charlotten Perkins Gilman. . . . Allenandrsquo;s enormous achievement is her insistence that Gilmanandrsquo;s life be read as a whole: the much-beloved aspects alongside the much maligned. . . . The importance and rigor of this work, and Gilmanandrsquo;s own legacy, will ensure ongoing and vigorous debate.andrdquo;
Synopsis
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 Gilman's 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 Gilman's complicated feminism by exploring the renowned writer's theories of sexuality and evolutionary analyses of androcentric--or male-dominated--culture. These ideas, Allen shows, informed Gilman's 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, Allen's landmark study provides the fullest account available of Gilman's consequential life and profoundly influential work.
About the Author
Judith Allen is professor of history at Indiana University.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrationsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Preface
Introduction
Part One: Sexuality and Subjection in Historyand#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Desires, Matings, and Couples
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Longing, Leaving, and Lovingand#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Gynaecocracy and Androcracy
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Sex Slavery, Home Cooking, and Combatand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Part Two: and#8220;As to Feminismand#8221;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Woman Suffrage, the Antis, and Masculismand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Debating Gilmanand#8217;s and#8220;Feminismand#8221;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;The High Priestess of Feminismand#8221;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 8and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Toward a and#8220;Humanand#8221; World and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Part Three: Embracing Progressivismand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 9and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Reconfiguring Viceand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 10and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Progressive Era Public Intellectualand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 11and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Later Gilmanand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; 12and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Gilmaniana Todayand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Notesand#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Select Bibliographyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Indexand#160;and#160;and#160;