Engendering Utopia: From Amazons to Androgyny

By Ruth Nestvold and Jay Lake

Originally published in May, 2005 on IROSF

Utopias, Dystopias and Anti-Utopias

Fictional concepts of utopia — “no place” — and dystopia — “bad place” — have invariably been used as an imaginative form of social criticism.  While the literary utopia might seem to be far removed from reality, it is essentially a challenge to the actual world of the writer, and the meaning arises through the confrontation of the impossible with the known. Despite the derivatio...