Herland · Chapter
VI: Comparisons Are Odious explained
The men engage in deep discussions with the Herland women about social structures, motherhood, and economics.
What happens
The men engage in deep discussions with the Herland women about social structures, motherhood, and economics. The women question the men about poverty, wage labor, and the treatment of women in their home countries, leading to uncomfortable comparisons. Van reflects on Herland's unique concept of conscious motherhood and cooperative society, while Terry struggles to accept the women's ability to cooperate. The chapter also touches on Herland's history of population control and the women's eugenic practices.
Themes in this chapter
Motherhood and Social Motherhood
The chapter deeply explores Herland's concept of motherhood as a conscious, national, and racial duty, contrasting it with the men's view of motherhood as a personal instinct.
Cooperation vs. Competition
The women's cooperative society is contrasted with the men's competitive 'struggle for existence,' with Jeff arguing that women are natural cooperators.
Economics and Social Class
The men explain poverty and wage labor in their countries, leading to a comparison with Herland's planned economy and population control.
Characters to notice
- Van
Narrates the chapter, reflects on Herland's social organization and the women's concept of motherhood, and attempts to explain his own society's economic struggles.
- Terry O. Nicholson
Resists the women's explanations, insists that women cannot cooperate, and is challenged by Jeff's examples from nature.
- Jeff Margrave
Supports the women's views, uses examples from nature (ants and bees) to argue that women are natural cooperators, and answers questions about poverty and childbearing.
- Zava
Questions the men about poverty and the 'laws of nature,' gently probing their social systems.
- Somel
Provides Van with further explanation about Herland's history and population control, and reassures the men that the people want to see them.
- Moadine
Observes the discussion about wage earners and notes the contrast between Herland's laws and those of the men's countries.
Key passages
“Here we have Human Motherhood—in full working use. Nothing else except the literal sisterhood of our origin, and the far higher and deeper union of our social growth.”
Zava explains that Herland's society is built on the principle of Human Motherhood, which encompasses both biological sisterhood and a deep social unity.
Highlights the central theme of motherhood as a social organizing principle.
“They sat down in council together and thought it out. Very clear, strong thinkers they were. They said: 'With our best endeavors this country will support about so many people, with the standard of peace, comfort, health, beauty, and progress we demand. Very well. That is all the people we will make.'”
Van describes how the Herland women solved overpopulation by collectively deciding to limit births to maintain their desired quality of life.
Illustrates the cooperative and rational approach to population control, contrasting with the men's world.
“Mother-love with them was not a brute passion, a mere 'instinct,' a wholly personal feeling; it was—a religion. It included that limitless feeling of sisterhood, that wide unity in service, which was so difficult for us to grasp.”
Van reflects that in Herland, motherly love is elevated to a religious and communal duty, encompassing all children and the nation, not just one's own offspring.
Key insight into the transformed meaning of motherhood in Herland.
