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, 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.