"My Utopia"

Title"My Utopia"
Year for Search2008
AuthorsMountaingrove, Ruth(1923-2016)
Secondary TitleSinister Wisdom
Volume / Editionno. 72
Pagination104-06
Date Published2007-2008
KeywordsFemale author, US author
Annotation

The author describes her Arcadian utopia as having no men with, as in 1915 Gilman, parthenogenesis; no money, which is replaced by barter; and no private property. Women would be able to have work they loved. All children would be welcomed and cared for. There would be peace and harmony with a council deciding any “small disputes.” No lawyers. Healing wise women instead of doctors. No religion.

Author Note

The author (1923-2016), a well-known photographer, was born Ruth Shook and changed her name to that of the intentional community to which she and her partner moved in 1971. She and her partner, who also took the name Mountaingrove, founded the journal WomenSpirit in 1974, which was published collectively for ten years.

Full Text

2008 Mountaingrove, Ruth (1923-2016). “My Utopia.” Sinister Wisdom, no. 72 (Winter 2007-2008): 104-06. © 2008.

The author describes her Arcadian utopia as having no men with, as in 1915 Gilman, parthenogenesis; no money, which is replaced by barter; and no private property. Women would be able to have work they loved. All children would be welcomed and cared for. There would be peace and harmony with a council deciding any “small disputes.” No lawyers. Healing wise women instead of doctors. No religion. The author, a well-known photographer, was born Ruth Shook and changed her name to that of the intentional community to which she and her partner moved in 1971. She and her partner, who also took the name Mountaingrove, founded the journal WomenSpirit in 1974, which was published collectively for ten years.