Other hazards include, but are not limited to: oppressive political rule, misogyny, constant surveillance, and unrestrained violence.
Dystopias have been a part of the map since the start of the 20th century – a grim set of countries and worlds lying under a gray fog, ready to remind us of our potential follies. If utopias are our dreams, dystopias are our nightmare realms. Regular dystopian fiction focuses on the Everyman. If a feminist utopia imagines a gender-free life beyond the patriarchy, feminist dystopias amp the system to the nth power and create spaces where gentlefolk are oppressed. Feminist dystopias are gentlefolk’s worst potential realities, where humanity is complacently, incompetently, squarely to blame.
Therefore, it is wise to have a brief list of the top three warning signs that you have entered a feminist dystopian universe or region, so that if you are only there by accident, you may decide to leave. (This guide, of course, bears no resemblance to the “real” world and is only fiction as well.). (This guide also does not cover the regions under sway of Young Adult Dystopias, as they are a rather separate quadrant of the map and quite often one finds hope and change possible there.)
The first appearance on the Speculative Map of the dystopian was the manifestation of a scientifically run, glass city-nation known as the “One State” in the 1921 translation of the Russian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. In 1931, the World State grabbed another large chunk of the map with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Eurasia, Oceania, and Eastasia popped up on the map in 1949, with the publication of 1984. Nadsat is spoken in parts of dystopian England since 1962, so you’ll need a phrase-book.
Visit Dystopia! Everything is fine here! (Paid for by the Dystopia Tourism Board)
These countries are pretty even in their vile and unfair treatments, although, as always, extra care is warranted if you are a gentleperson. But the map was mostly dystopian everyMAN until 1985, when Gilead took over a large section of the North American continent with its distinctive dress code requirements for fertile women and the parables of feminist suppression began.
The Gate to Women’s Country divided parts of the world by the sexes with the creation of a large wall in 1988, leaving half the species free to rewrite history. Los Angeles fell in 1993 with The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, although one can find hope and a potential for change in the Acorn Earthseed community in Northern California. Gated communities, especially those on islands, grew even more dangerous to venture into, much less live in, with Jennie Melamed’s 2017 Arthur C. Clarke-nominated Gather the Daughters.
Here are three of the top warning signs you’ve fallen into one of these (fictional) zones.
Excessive measures to police women; unjust laws (particularly involving reproductive rights)
Police states are nothing new in the dystopian realms, but beware those nations where policing becomes abundant, profitable, and most particularly, based on perceived differences and definitions of “other”. This could mean that you have found yourself in Gilead or are enclosed in a variety of gated communities, such as in Gather the Daughters, in which cultists live in a compound without technology or money, but with strange sexual practices.
Flawed, misunderstood, or abused advances (science, technology, again, particularly involving reproductive rights)
Before considering a move to any of these regions, also make sure to check out the medical systems and state of technology. Are the wonders of science, such as the ability to control timing of a pregnancy (or indeed, where pregnancy is ensured for the good of the nation), being enforced by the state systems? If so, you might need to make sure you’ve packed an extra supply of any birth control devices. Consult your own preferences for genetic manipulation before entering Women’s Country. Is parthenogenesis the reproductive route you wish to take?
Attempts to erase or revise society’s history/manipulation of media
Finally, look at their history books. Who tells the stories? Is the media under governmental control, filled with propaganda favoring the system? Are cultures being erased and history books altered to reflect the patriarchy and remove references to more “primitive” cultures? Have all religions besides Christianity been eradicated such as in the California of Parable of the Sower, and its sequel, Parable of the Talents? Again, consult your own personal tolerances before venturing into, say, Gilead, California, or the male-dominated side of Women’s Country. The ability to rewrite history is always favored in the dystopian zones.
Should you accidentally find yourself trapped in one of these geographically fictitious regions, zones, or even planets, this guide cannot help you if you are an adult. You are probably doomed, and resistance (and subsequent change) looks to be a long, uphill battle as these systems are firmly entrenched in their societies’ bedrocks. However, if you are a teenager, there are some regions, such as Panem, where you can find hope. For surviving young adult dystopias though, you’ll need to consult a different field guide.
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