Abstract
Charlotte Perkins Gilman is best known today as the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” It is not generally known that she also developed a systematic and powerful philosophy of education. In this article I present and analyze her educational theory using three conceptions of education that are found throughout her theoretical writings and her Utopian novel Herland: education as social nourishment, education as social parentage, and education as social motherhood. I analyze the strengths and limitations of these three conceptions as metaphorical statements about education. I also discuss the incisive feminist insights that Gilman's theory contains, and the radical ramifications it has for the role of women in society and the nature of education as a social organization and function. I conclude by discussing what her theory has to offer educators today.
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