Cabet’s ideal community focuses on developing equality, however, the equality Cabet developed in Icaria was not what members expected, especially when it came to gender roles. The community constructed barriers based on gender in order to fulfill the operational needs of the community, but such a move limited workforce mobility.[1] The women were particularly displeased with the system. They worked household chores on rotation week in and week out without variation.[2] Besides housework, women had the opportunity to become teachers, but beyond that, the community restricted them. The argument can be made that women across the world were not given the type of equality Cabet described in his writing. However, the conflict of the French Revolution had created a forum to support ungendered equality. The French citizens who emigrated to join the Icarians had this memory fresh in their minds. The new female utopian revolutionists were familiar with the concept of equal rights and were upset because, despite the ability to vote in the community, they did not have absolute freedom to do as they wished.[3] Cabet may not have intended to grant equality to men and women equally in all areas, but the language he uses in his writings can easily be interpreted to support the free and widespread equality the French came to identify with because of the revolutions, such as his belief “that differences in height, form, strength, etc. in no way prevent Equality in rights, in duties, in happiness.”[4] Clearly articulated and executable ideals are essential to the development of utopia and while Cabet’s ideals resonated with his followers, the expectations surrounding his teachings did not match the reality of the community.
[1] Cabet, “Voyage en Icarie,” 147
[2] Sutton, “An American Elysium: The Icarian Communities,” 288
[3] Sutton, “An American Elysium: The Icarian Communities,” 292
[4] Cabet, “Voyage en Icarie,” 146