and remember its points.” Interpretation and analysis Most of Gilman's future writings, fiction and nonfiction, would touch on ideas and concepts introduced in Women and Economics. Many of the reforms proposed by Gilman, such as professionalization of child raising and housework, were considered radical at the time of her writing. Gilman states in the book that she opposes corporal punishment, believing instead that parents should explain their reasoning to their children. Gilman also advised having an open discussion about sex (despite her uneasiness regarding the subject and her near denouncement of sexual pleasures in general). Scholars have pointed out that Gilman drew upon several different sources to create her synthesis. She borrowed the concept that the realm of production is central to human life and that the workplace is the area of both oppression and liberation from Karl Marx, while applying it to gender, rather than solely class. From Charles Darwin, she used the theory of evolution, and ultimately Social Darwinism, that permeates much of the book. She took the idea that women are object of exchange between men from Thorstein Veblen; and from sociologist Lester Ward, she borrowed the idea that women, rather than men, originated evolution and species. While Gilman drew upon these thinkers for concepts, she did not become part of the movements they inspired. Gilman was also very influenced by Edward Bellamy and his work Looking Backward, as seen in her kitchenless home and the other technical advances she advocated to help with housework. Gilman has been called the “most original feminist the United States has ever produced,” but she rejected the term “feminist”, as she was very uncomfortable with the sexual liberation mantra that had become an important segment of feminist thought. Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, two feminist scholars, stated that Women and Economics was “the theoretical breakthrough for a whole generation of feminists, [for it] appealed not to right or morality but to evolutionary theory.” Conversely, one scholar stated that “Gilman’s evolutionary feminism does not provide contemporary feminism with a model to emulate,” despite its frequent use in university classrooms, but rather offers an alternative view of the social problems faced by women. In Women and Economics, Gilman looks at the intersection between gender and class, but almost completely ignores race. It seems quite clear that when she does refer to “the race,” she is referring to a solely white race. In various