Lesbian utopia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lesbian utopia refers to a conceptual community made up entirely of biological females who are not dependent on men

Man

The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...

for anything.

The concept of an all-female society is mentioned in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

through a legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

of the Amazons

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

, a nation of all-female warriors. In this legend, once each year the Amazons call upon the Gargareans

Gargareans

In Greek mythology, the Gargareans were an all-male tribe. They had sex with the Amazons annually in order to keep both tribes reproductive. Varying accounts suggest that they may have been kidnapped, raped, and murdered for this purpose, or that they may have had relations willingly...

and mate with them.

In recent times, same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

s and unions

Civil union

A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...

have gained legal support

Homosexuality laws of the world

Laws affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people vary greatly by country or territory—everything from legal recognition of same-sex marriage or other types of partnerships, to the death penalty as punishment for same-sex sexual activity or identity.LGBT-related laws include but...

in several countries.

Reproduction

It could be argued that a major hurdle for a philosophical lesbian utopia would be that, as with many species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, human reproduction

Human reproduction

Human reproduction is any form of sexual reproduction resulting in the conception of a child, typically involving sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. During intercourse, the interaction between the male and female reproductive systems results in fertilization of the woman's ovum by the...

requires an egg

Ovum

An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...

(from the female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

), a sperm

Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...

(from the male

Male

Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

) and a womb

Uterus

The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...

as a suitable environment with an available source of nutrients in which an embryo

Embryo

An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...

can develop into a fetus

Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...

and gestate

Gestation

Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....

until childbirth

Childbirth

Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...

.

Scientists have created mouse

Mouse

A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

pups from two female mice. The trial was conducted by researchers from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, led by Dr. Tomohiro Kono. The research uncovered that by suppressing the activity of a certain hormone from the original mouse eggs, they could initiate growth of the eggs by using two sets of female chromosomes, as opposed to one male and one female, by increasing the activity of another hormone contained within the egg.

However, Dr. Komo has stated that the extremely low success rate of the procedure uncovered by his team meant that just 2 out of 598 mice were able to be produced both successfully and safely using this method (Giving an estimated success rate of less than 0.5%). He said that many of the mice died during the trial, with just two of them surviving to adulthood.

Researchers were also dismissed the use of this technology in fertility treatment for the time being, citing that it is impossible to tell whether this treatment would even be applicable for use in this area without further research. Dr. Komo has also expressed reservations regarding human fertility treatments, stating, "This is a very complicated thing. So no, It is impossible to do this experiment in a human. And I don't want to do it". However, some researchers still believe the methods could have potential applications in stem cell research.

Scientists have also found a way to fertilise human eggs using genetic material from any cell

Cell (biology)

The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....

in the body.
This could eventually allow two or more females to conceive and bring a baby to term without male assistance. There have been some public health concerns amongst a vocal minority about the viability of the techniques put forward in this instance, particularly regarding the health of the children conceived through biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

, as well as the "high risk of creating damaged people" through genetic engineering of this type.

It is as yet unknown if this any new biotechnology could be applied to humans, regardless of any ethical

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

issues which may arise.

In Fiction

A historical fictional example of this concept is Herland
Herland (novel)
Herland is a utopian novel from 1915, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis . The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination...

, a novel written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...

(1860–1935). The full text is available online here: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GilHerl.html

More contemporary examples of lesbian utopian fiction include Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...

's The Female Man
The Female Man
The Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...

(1975) and Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith is a British science fiction author, editor and essayist. Griffith is a 1988 alumnus of the Michigan State University Clarion science fiction writing workshop and has won a Nebula Award, the James Tiptree, Jr Award, the World Fantasy Award and six Lambda Literary Awards. She also...

's Ammonite
Ammonite (novel)
Ammonite is Nicola Griffith's first novel, published in 1992 . It won both the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT fiction, and the James Tiptree, Jr...

(1993). These often include the premise that a gender-specific pandemic

Pandemic

A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...

has eradicated all male human life on Earth or another world. The lesbian survivors usually reproduce through parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...

, whether through benign mutation

Mutation

In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...

or technological progress.

The 1984 Polish science fiction comedy Sexmission
Sexmission
Sexmission is a 1984 cult Polish comedy science fiction action film. It also contains a hidden political satire layer specific to the time and place of its production.-Plot:...

features two men, subjects of a hibernation experiment, who wake to find themselves in a post-apocalyptic, all female society.

Lithia, Episode 17 of the fourth season of The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that originally aired on Showtime,the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002...

features a man who was cryogenically frozen and awakens in a world populated only by women.

The comic book series Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra published by Vertigo beginning in 2002. The series is about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth...

, is set in the United States, after a plague has killed all men in the world but one.

British sci-fi writer Edmund Cooper

Edmund Cooper

Edmund Cooper was an English poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction, romances, technical essays, several detective stories, and a children's book. These were published under his own name and several pen names...

explored the subject in several of his novels, including 5–12 and Who Needs Men.

Reproduction

In Fiction

See also