Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932)

I stumbled across this author and short story almost by chance when an article about her popped up in the Google feed on my phone a few days ago, perhaps occasioned by its being the 75th anniversary of Indian independence this week. Published in 1905, it centres on a lady who falls asleep in her house and wakes up in a world dominated by women and where men are confined in the zenana, the section of the house in which women are confined in traditional communities in India and other countries. In this parallel world, women have taken over after most men have been killed by an invading army, which in turn was defeated by the women. It has interesting and advanced for its time things to say about women's right and renewable energy. The author was a pioneer of women's rights and education in Bengal of the early 20th century. She is still well known in that region, but should no doubt be better known internationally.… (mais)

A thought-experiment short story about a woman who dreams she's in a utopia called Ladyland where gender roles are reversed. As a result of men not making societal decisions, there is no crime, work days are only two hours long, and technological advances made by women provide everything society needs. It points out ridiculous arguments for the oppression of women. I'm glad to have read it and (from the introduction) learned about the Muslim Bengali author's feminist achievements in the early 1900s.… (mais)