A prominent American sociologist, novelist, short story writer, poet, and lecturer for social reform, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 August 17, 1935) was a "utopian feminist." Her vast achievements, recorded during a period of American history where such feats were quite difficult for women, cast here as a role model for women everywhere. And her unorthodox concepts and lifestyles cast her as a role model for future generations of feminists.