For the younger generation, the last time you saw the word “utopia” was probably in a survival show called Girls Planet 999. However, the utopia we refer to today is a traditional philosophical concept.

1. What is Utopia?

“Utopia” was first proposed in 1516 by Thomas More in on the Best State of a Commonwealth and on the New Island of Utopia, or Utopia for short.

The Greek adverb ou-‘not’-with the noun topos-‘place’- and giving the resulting compound a Latin ending. (More et al., 2002, p.xi.)

In this highly attractive place, no one goes hungry or homeless, because Utopian regimes practiced a planned economy and advocated plain living, which makes  strikingly egalitarian. Instead, to ensure the livelihood of the citizens, both men and women must be engaged in agricultural labor 6 hours per day. Besides, their personal freedom is restricted in ways large and small. (more details…)

Dystopia took off when people realized that utopia had its flaws.

 

2. Flaw：Gender Inequality

Although Utopia is problematic in many ways, I want to focus on gender inequality.

Utopia advocates equality between men and women apparently, such as adhering to monogamy, however, wives still need to serve their husbands at home.

But to return to their manner of living in society: the
oldest man of every family, as has been already said, is
its governor; wives serve their husbands, and children
their parents, and always the younger serves the elder. (Stephen Duncombe, Thomas More’s Utopia, p.103)

Hence, Utopia is still a world based on patriarchy.

As mentioned previously, the author of Utopia states that each woman had to work, like each man. However, More’s starting point was for the country to have more labour to do production and not to keep idle people, rather than really regarding men and women as equal.

For example, some jobs that would have been considered inferior in the 16th century were reserved for women only.

All the uneasy and sordid services about these halls are performed by their slaves; but the dressing and cooking their meat, and the ordering their tables, belong only to the women, all those of every family taking it by turns. (Stephen Duncombe, Thomas More’s Utopia, p.106)

In 2007, the TV series adapted from the dystopia novel the Handmaid’s Tale became popular in the United States, making more people, particularly women, reflect on the meaning of survival and existential.

This video shows the life of women under totalitarian rule. The heroine has received such a decent education that she has experienced discontent, distress, unease, and in existential anxiety.

Fortunately, neither the real world nor the utopian world is that bad.

In fact, there are some constructive laws in Utopia can effectively relieve existential anxiety of female and contribute to gender equality.

For instance, both bride and groom are required to naked each other before marriage for premarital examination (Stephen Duncombe, Thomas More’s Utopia, pp.142-143).

 

3. Conclusion

It might have given way to a more just and egalitarian society, if the regime can make men and women equal and respect for human rights. More specifically, it formulates that the value of human existence is greater than the value that human can create.

Hopefully utopia will be transformed into a truly attractive and perfect world in the future.

 

Part of the lyrics of Utopia:

기대하고 있어 큰 소리로 외쳐 (I’m looking forward to it. Shout it out)
오랫동안 기다려왔던 빛을 향해서 (Towards the long-awaited light)
기다려 왔는걸 (I’ve been waiting)
저 높이 날아볼까 두 눈 앞에 펼쳐진 나의 (I’m gonna fly high)
Utopia (Utopia)

Reference:

More et al., 2002. Thomas More : Utopia / edited by George M. Logan and Robert M. Adams. Rev., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Thomas More’s Utopia, 1516, Thomas More open|Utopia Edited and with an Introduction by Stephen Duncombe