Concerning children. By: Charlotte Perkins (Stetson) Gilman: Novel

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman( July 3, 1860 - August 17, 1935) was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis. Early life Gilman was born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, to Mary Perkins (formerly Mary Fitch Westcott) and Frederic Beecher Perkins. She had only one brother, Thomas Adie, who was fourteen months older, because a physician advised Mary Perkins that she might die if she bore other children. During Charlotte's infancy, her father moved out and abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in an impoverished state.[1] Since their mother was unable to support the family on her own, the Perkins were often in the presence of her father's aunts, namely Isabella Beecher Hooker, a suffragist, Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom's Cabin) and Catharine Beecher. Her schooling was erratic: she attended seven different schools, for a cumulative total of just four years, ending when she was fifteen. Her mother was not affectionate with her children. To keep them from getting hurt as she had been, she forbade her children to make strong friendships or read fiction. In her autobiography, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Gilman wrote that her mother showed affection only when she thought her young daughter was asleep.Although she lived a childhood of isolated, impoverished loneliness, she unknowingly prepared herself for the life that lay ahead by frequently visiting the public library and studying ancient civilizations on her own. Additionally, her father's love for literature influenced her, and years later he contacted her with a list of books he felt would be worthwhile for her to read. Much of Gilman's youth was spent in Providence, Rhode Island. What friends she had were mainly male, and she was unashamed, for her time, to call herself a "tomboy." Her natural intelligence and breadth of knowledge always impressed her teachers, who were nonetheless disappointed in her because she was a poor student.Her favorite subject was "natural philosophy," especially what later would become known as physics. In 1878, the eighteen-year-old enrolled in classes at the Rhode Island School of Design with the monetary help of her absent father, and subsequently supported herself as an artist of trade cards. She was a tutor, and encouraged others to expand their artistic creativity.She was also a painter.

Genres: Classics, Parenting, Feminism

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression.

She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the error in classification, this is actually authored by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Even taking into consideration the time in which it was written, it's hard to overlook her language of eugenics and the descriptions of savages vs civilized people. At the same time, though, Gilman was brilliant, and a lot (but not all) of her ideas concerning childcare remain relevant.

“The ‘habit of obedience,’ forced in upon the impressible nature of a child, does not develope judgment and will, but does develope that fatal facility in following other people’s judgment and other people’s wills which tends to make us a helpless mob, mere sheep, instead of wise, free, strong individuals. The habit of submission to authority, the long, deeply impressed conviction that to ‘be good’ is to ‘give up,’ that there is virtue in the act of surrender, --this is one of the sources from which we continually replenish human weakness, and fill the world with an inert mass of mind-less, will-less folk, pushed and pulled about by those whom they obey.”

[Ghala Anas · Rating 5 out of 5]

انتهائي من ترجمة الكتاب الثالث والعشرون، بعنوان "عنِ الأطفال" لعالمة الاجتماع والفيلسوفة والكاتبة شارلوت بيركنز جيلمان، بالتعاون مع دار قارات للنشر – العراق.

ترجمتُ لهذه الكاتبة أربعة كتب إلى الآن، وهذا الخامس، ولا زلتُ أرى فيما تقدمه فكراً ثورياً أجد غرابة شديدة في عدم شهرته خارجاً وترجمته إلى العربية إلى اليوم، فقد عاشت الكاتبة بين العامين (1860 - 1935) ونشرت العديد من الكتب والمقالات والقصص والروايات الجديرة، والتي يستحق القارئ العربي أن يطلع عليها ويدرسها ويرى النفع العظيم الذي تحمله فيها.
تتحدث الكاتبة في كتابها "عنِ الأطفال" عن الأساليب التربوية المعتمدة عادة في المجتمعات في تربية الأطفال وتعليمهم، وتناقش أهم المسلمات التي نعدُّها غير قابلة للنقاش في هذا الشأن، وتحوم حولها العديد من الخرافات والأقاويل البالية.
تُريد منا الكاتبة احترام كيان الطفل بما هو في ذاته، وتوفير البيئة السليمة والآمنة له ولأقرانه، باقتراح منشآت خاصة به يقضي فيها عدداً من الساعات يومياً، وتناقش الإهمال والسخرية التي نحملها عادة تجاه أطفالنا الذين نُحبهم، وحسن النية الكامن وراء العديد من الممارسات الخاطئة المؤذية للطفل وكيانه، وضرورة تأهيل الأمهات والمُربيات جيداً قبل تولي المسؤولية العظيمة في التربية، ورغم تعدد المحاور التي تناولتها الكاتبة في كل فصل، مناقشة كل فكرة على حدة، إلا أن عبارات الكتاب كلها متصلة ببعضها لتقدم للقارئ وجبة فكرية دسمة من النظريات والمقترحات والأسئلةـ تخص الشأن التربوي خاصة، والاجتماعيَّ عامةً، وذلك كله في قالب من التساؤلات الفلسفية والمنطقية التي تقدم بها عملها وتدعمه.
ليس هذا كتاباً لتعليم الإجراءات الفورية في شؤون التربية، وإن كان المرء من بعده يفكر في العديد من الإجراءات لتربية أطفالها وفقها، إلا أن الكتاب موجه ليقلب مسلماتنا رأساً على عقب، خاصة تلك المؤذية منها والتي تجعلنا، جيلاً بعد جيل، نخلق نماذج بشرية مؤسفة نتيجة فشلنا في التربية.
جيلمان جادة في طرحها عادة، ومن الماتعِ دائماً الترجمة لها.