Martina Devlin
The inspiration sprang from two sources.
First of all, I grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and because two communities were more or less segregated (living in different areas, attending different schools) a gap grew up between them. And with it, a sense of 'otherness' regarding the other side. That gap meant there was opportunity for extremism to put down roots.
I could have explored the themes in 'About Sisterland' by having two tribes kept apart: two religious or political groups. Instead I chose two genders.
The second inspiration was a book written by a woman with groundbreaking ideas, whose work I admire. The novel is ‘Herland’ and the author is Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935). She was an American writer, feminist, social activist and lecturer who urged economic independence for women.
‘Herland’ was published exactly a century ago, in 1915, and serialised in her magazine, ‘The Forerunner’. She isn’t particularly known for humour – a sweeping piece of work called ‘Women and Economics’ would be more representative – but ‘Herland’ is a playful satire. It recounts the story of three male explorers who stumble on an all-female community in the Amazon jungle and are amazed to discover it’s a paradise without class division, crime, or disease.
That set me to thinking. The more I reflected, the more I concluded that an all-female community wouldn’t be a paradise. Quite the reverse. And then I had to explain why.
Here’s how my thought processes developed. Imagine if women ruled the world… wouldn’t life be nurturing for all? No more extremism running amok. No more wars. No more refugees fleeing from dictatorships. No more barricades to lock them out from wealthier countries. No more financial collapses. No more sex slavery. No more porn. I know, I’ll write a novel about it.
As soon as I started, two key facts struck me. One, this brave new world would be saddled with its own set of problems. The human species doesn’t do perfection. Two, it couldn’t be set in the present, as I intended initially. Not if I wanted to show how power had corrupted the ruling elite. That happens time and time again. Even relatively mild-mannered individuals undergo a transition and start to inhabit ivory towers once they taste power. They become convinced they are infallible and stop taking advice. I wonder if they aren’t afflicted with temporary insanity?
First of all, I grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and because two communities were more or less segregated (living in different areas, attending different schools) a gap grew up between them. And with it, a sense of 'otherness' regarding the other side. That gap meant there was opportunity for extremism to put down roots.
I could have explored the themes in 'About Sisterland' by having two tribes kept apart: two religious or political groups. Instead I chose two genders.
The second inspiration was a book written by a woman with groundbreaking ideas, whose work I admire. The novel is ‘Herland’ and the author is Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935). She was an American writer, feminist, social activist and lecturer who urged economic independence for women.
‘Herland’ was published exactly a century ago, in 1915, and serialised in her magazine, ‘The Forerunner’. She isn’t particularly known for humour – a sweeping piece of work called ‘Women and Economics’ would be more representative – but ‘Herland’ is a playful satire. It recounts the story of three male explorers who stumble on an all-female community in the Amazon jungle and are amazed to discover it’s a paradise without class division, crime, or disease.
That set me to thinking. The more I reflected, the more I concluded that an all-female community wouldn’t be a paradise. Quite the reverse. And then I had to explain why.
Here’s how my thought processes developed. Imagine if women ruled the world… wouldn’t life be nurturing for all? No more extremism running amok. No more wars. No more refugees fleeing from dictatorships. No more barricades to lock them out from wealthier countries. No more financial collapses. No more sex slavery. No more porn. I know, I’ll write a novel about it.
As soon as I started, two key facts struck me. One, this brave new world would be saddled with its own set of problems. The human species doesn’t do perfection. Two, it couldn’t be set in the present, as I intended initially. Not if I wanted to show how power had corrupted the ruling elite. That happens time and time again. Even relatively mild-mannered individuals undergo a transition and start to inhabit ivory towers once they taste power. They become convinced they are infallible and stop taking advice. I wonder if they aren’t afflicted with temporary insanity?
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