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Even though Gulliver knows, intellectually, that the Yahoos are humans, his own perspective on what it means to be a human prevents him from being able to reconcile himself to the truth of this knowledge. Thus he examines the Yahoos as a foreign species and refers to them as “monkeys.” Houyhnhmn society treats human Yahoos much the way European human society treats its animals. Gulliver is mortified because, though he considers himself different from the Yahoos, the young woman proves that, from the Yahoo perspective, he is a Yahoo. Houyhnhmn society is governed by absolute reason—their dedication to rational thinking and behavior produces a perfectly moral, egalitarian society, albeit one lacking in individual personality and affection. Houyhnhmn society embodies the utopian ideals of equality and balance. Still, embracing those ideals seems to require them to abandon any chance of individual love and choice. Another example of Houyhnhmn society’s embodiment of a utopian, egalitarian ideal. This equality of the sexes is in marked contrast to European society’s sexism. Another example of Houyhnhmn society’s embodiment of utopian ideals: their state is perfectly democratic and treats all subjects equally.