Foster mothers and teachers in Burroughs and Gilman.
Both books have male protagonists who are fostered into the new societies by a caring female member of the alien communities. In Herland, Vandyck, Terry, and Jeff have their “aunties” while in A Princess of Mars John Carter has Sola.
Vandyck, Terry, and Jeff fly into the feminine paradise of Herland. After initial contact with the younger females, they meet the elder females who make them feel like “being hopelessly in the wrong ...”(21). They are captured and moved into confined quarters where they “have been stripped and washed and put to bed like so many yearling babes ...”,(27) indicating the are born anew. They are taught the language and history of Herland but they also are studied and gently interrogated by their tutors.(35) But for all the tutoring and history lessons, not all of the males adapt to the sisterly solidarity that puts the needs of children above all else.
When John Carter leaves his body in the cave in Arizona, he is reborn naked like a baby near the Thark's incubators.(15) He is then given into the care of Sola, who is different compared to her race as she has “disclosed characteristics of sympathy, kindness, and affection;...” qualities that are denigrated by them.(27) Because of the breeding methods used by the Green Martians, fostering John is only a natural cultural continuation even though he is critical of it. (42) Sola is closer to John's culture in that she was loved and raised by her own mother for a short time.(99-103)
In both works, the feminine principal of mothering and teaching comes through loud and clear even though the direction of these customs differ in goals. Herland is building a better female while the Green Martians are raising the next batch of warriors and serving retinue. Both systems help introduce the adventuring aliens into their communities through motherly fostering and teaching.