In Aminder Dhaliwal’s 2018 graphic novel “Woman World,” men have gone extinct. Without them, babies are artificially born and are all female. The new generations will only know of men through the artifacts they find — like a DVD of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”
Dhaliwal’s take on a world without men is hilarious. While there are some principal characters who guide the story, including a grandma and her granddaughter, the novel is composed of humorous vignettes of a village establishing themselves in this new “woman world.” From establishing a flag for their district (a photo of Beyoncé’s thighs) to discovering dildo factories, Dhaliwal creates a hysterical tale from the perspectives of women who have never known men in a world that was once run by them.
Conflict in Dhaliwal’s woman world only goes as far as unrequited love; Dhaliwal writes that in this universe, “the women spent their days … appreciating loved ones, strengthening the community, wisening up, growing older and spreading love.” “Woman World” is more than wholesome, though; it truly is laugh-out-loud worthy. Dhaliwal paints inclusive portraits of women in terms of age, body and race, highlighting and embracing all aspects of their humanity.
Like “Woman World,” Tillie Walden’s “On a Sunbeam” is a story without men, though it takes place in outer space as opposed to our familiar world. While the focus of Dhaliwal’s novel is the extinction of men, their absence is just a perk of Walden’s. Mia is our protagonist who is desperate to find her long-lost love. In the present timeline, Mia joins a team dedicated to fixing infrastructure in outer space, which is made up of other women and nonbinary people. While she works with them in the present, she reflects on her past, which is how we learn the story of her love — Mia meets Grace at her (seemingly all-female) boarding school, and they share a special connection. In spite of their bond, though, Grace abruptly disappears, leaving Mia with a staunch resolution to find her.
“The Power” by Naomi Alderman is another example of a literary world run by women, though less peaceful and progressive than the aforementioned universes. Alderman takes our world and gives women — from babies to seniors — lethal powers. Men still exist, though they understand this new power as a threat to their livelihood. The book takes place in different parts of the world and showcases how different countries react. In the United States, for example, the government wants to prohibit women from working with children and in government positions. Soon, though, the attempts of men to control women and their new power is inverted, as women begin to rise up all over the globe.
What begins as a “girl power” movement quickly evolves into brutally flawed chaos. Women start to adopt the problematic ideology of abusing their power “because they can,” which although is understood to be a mockery of the world we live in — where powerful men constantly abuse their power because they too simply can — is questionable. Alderman almost seems to excuse the behavior of oppressive, powerful men by saying that, if given the chance, women would do the exact same thing.
These literary worlds run by women look drastically different from one another, amplifying the dimensionality, capacity and greatness of women. Dhaliwal, Walden and Alderman tell us that universes led by women are just as distinct and eccentric as women themselves; ruling literary worlds is just the beginning.
Daily Arts Writer Lillian Pearce can be reached at pearcel@umich.edu