Jeanna Russ weaves four parallel lives across divergent realities to analyze the limitations of gender roles. Joanna lives in a version of 1969 where the Great Depression never ended, while Jeannine survives in an alternate 1969 where World War II never occurred. They encounter Janet, an emissary from Whileaway, an all-female utopia where men died out centuries ago. Finally, they meet Jael, a warrior from a future locked in a literal war between the sexes. When these incarnations of the same woman collide, they confront the social conditioning that defines their identities, contrasting pacifist survival against revolutionary violence.
This book serves readers interested in radical feminist theory and non-linear narrative structures. It appeals to those seeking a deconstruction of patriarchal structures through the lens of speculative fiction. Readers gain a framework for seeing gender as a performance shaped by environment rather than biology. By comparing a world without men to a world at war with them, the text provides a sharp critique of 1970s social expectations. One walks away with a visceral understanding of how different social histories dictate the boundaries of female agency and self-perception.
- Published
- 1975
- Language
- EN
