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Eugenics in Late 19 th ‐Century Feminist Utopias
Author(s) -
Lake Christina
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/ajes.12251
Subject(s) - eugenics , morality , sociology , the imaginary , reproduction , utopia , immorality , environmental ethics , state (computer science) , gender studies , law , psychoanalysis , philosophy , political science , psychology , biology , ecology , algorithm , computer science
Late 19 th ‐century feminist utopian fiction provides empowering examples of societies governed by women. However, these imaginary societies only exist through radical changes to women’s reproductive roles. At the same time, these societies also anticipate feminist interest in eugenics through proposals to regulate marriage, eliminate unhealthy members of society, and adopt measures for the moral improvement of the human race. Elizabeth Corbett’s New Amazonia (1889) argues that a state governed only by women would achieve high moral standards, while eugenics and strict scientific regulation would guarantee improvements in health and longevity. Mary E. Bradley Lane’s Mizora (1880–1881) proposes an entirely separatist world where the elimination of men, following the development of an asexual process of reproduction, would lead to a scientifically perfect society. Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant’s Unveiling a Parallel (1893), on the other hand, questions the idea of the intrinsic immorality of men, showing a utopia wherein women behave as badly as men given the same societal freedom. Instead, eugenic selection has supported evolution to a higher state of morality in which children are no longer conceived through sexual acts.