The Gateway To Women's Country: A Nightmare Of Feminism
Uploaded by SamSkillz on Dec 22, 2004
The Gateway To Women's Country: A Nightmare Of Feminism
In The Gate to Women's Country, Sherri Tepper gives the reader a look into the post-apocalyptic future in which society is broken up into three main groups: Women, servitors, and warrior men. The women and servitors lived inside walled cities while the warriors would live in garrisons located outside the walls. At first glance, a city like Marthatown may seem like a utopia to some. At times, it seems that the people within the city consider it a utopia. On the outside, the society in which they live is female dominated. One would think that women would have all the rights and freedom they wanted. In essence, the city of Marthatown would be a feminist's dream. Unfortunately, at second glance, the city is not, by any means, a feminist's dream. Quite the contrary, it would be a feminist's absolute, full blown nightmare. Within the society, women are still mistreated by men, unable to think for themselves, and do not have any freedom for the most part.
In regards to the treatment of women, Marthatown is not, by any means perfect. In fact, women for the most part get treated like second class citizens when it comes to the warriors from the garrison. One of the first examples of this mistreatment is Chernon's behavior toward his mother. He would say the nastiest, most disgusting remarks to his mother. Chernon would also get into fights with his mother intentionally during his visits. One would argue that he was forced to do this by his superior officer / senior warrior, but the fact is that he treated his mother like crap. This was not an isolated case involving the behavior of a warrior or potential warrior disrespecting women. Stavia stated and her mother agreed that warriors were always disrespectful toward women and their own mothers. The atrocities to women do not end there. When Chernon and Stavia were out alone, Chernon was so eager to impregnate her that he just cut out her implant and "jumped her bones" without thinking of the consequences of such a procedure in regards to Stavia's well being. The best example of the mistreatment of women involves Firstborn and his wife Humility, a 14-year-old girl. During their act of sex, he actually slapped her around because she was screaming from pain....