The Man-Made World

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For anyone who cares about a more fair-minded society where every individual can flourish, The Man-Made World; or, Our Androcentric Culture proves to be an inspirational volume.

In this probing critique of "androcentric culture," pioneering feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper, Herland) analyzes with wit and insight the many negative effects of male domination, not only on women in particular but on the welfare of the human race as a whole. Society's long history of male hegemony and female subservience has not enhanced the natural qualities of the human race but rather distorted them, says Gilman, as can be seen in many of society's institutions. In separate chapters she discusses family, art, literature, games and sports, ethics and religion, education, fashion, law and government, crime and punishment, politics and warfare, and industry and economics. In each case she shows how the domineering male influence has caused grievous problems.