Literature Network » Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Eugenic Feminism: Asian Reproduction in the U.S. National Imaginary

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From: Novel
Date: 20060401
Author:Nadkarni, Asha

In an 1895 poem, "The Burden of Mothers: A Clarion Call to Redeem the Race!," Charlotte Perkins Gilman launches an argument that places women's reproductive powers at the center of nation building. On the grounds that "through [women] comes the race" (8), she insists as long as women are "fettere d with gold or with iron" (7) humanity will be "besotted, and brutish, and blind" (14). But while her address is ostensibly to the entire human "race," her model is more national than global. Asserting that "No nation, wise, noble and brave / Ever sprang-tho' the father had freedom- / From the mother ...

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