The Handmaid's Tale: A Misogynistic Society

The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will

Books that are banned or challenged often have controversial topics but many don't consider the positive effects of these books. The Handmaid's Tale is an example of this because despite including uncomfortable topics, it also offers meaningful themes and ideas.

In this brave new world, women are subjugated to the will and authority of men and divided into eight distinct classes. Wives are perched atop this government-mandated social strata, followed by daughters and then “handmaids,” a concubine class tasked with the job of continuing the human race, as sterility is on the rise. (Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is the Prestige Miniseries We Need Right Now)

Parents typically don’t want their children reading in depth books about sex; however, The Handmaid’s Tale offers great fictional examples that teach sexism and the mistreatment of women, yet these examples can lead some in the wrong way. Therefore depending on the view in society, The Handmaid’s tale should be banned or kept to certain areas of the world because of the unfair treatment of women.

Furthermore, the modesty taught and practised by the handmaid 's also helps show that the theme of misogyny is an everyday part of life. The modesty of the Republic of Gilead is oppressive towards females. This oppressive version of modesty is best defined when Aunt Lydia says, “Modesty is invisibility”(33). Aunt Lydia compares modesty to being invisible. Being modest should mean that you maintain your inhibitions so that you remain humble, not for you to become invisible. This incorrect form of modesty taught to the handmaids is on display when Offred says, “Like this… I used to dress like that. That was freedom. Westernized, they used to call it”(32). When Offred meets the Japanese tourist, she becomes jealous of the openness and the femininity that women from other countries seem to enjoy on a daily basis. Freedoms like dressing in a “westernised” fashion are inconceivable to Offred. These cruel limitations on females are not only evident in Handmaid 's, but also with other females like

Throughout history, women have been treated inferior and have been viewed as less powerful than their counterpart, and therefore were removed from essential societal events because of the harsh and authoritarian treatment placed upon them. In our society, as time progressed most countries began to give women their proper rights, however in the in the novel “A handmaid's tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the audience sees that their version of progression turned out to be counteractive. In a restricted, oppressed society like the one displayed by Atwood, the audience experiences controversial scenarios relating to sexism which limits the characters opportunities, these constraints influence people to take risks when the timing is right in order to create meaning in their life. Overall, the women in “A handmaid's tale,” are taken advantage of, oppressing them further. The assigned roles in their civilization such as the ‘aunts,’ are used as a psychological device to convince the handmaid's that they are lucky, by stating manipulative phrases to persuade the handmaid's into believing that where they are is not a “prison”, but actually a “privilege,” in the hopes of making them accepting of their role as the republics breeding device,

In Gilead the social relationship that once existed between men and women is a thing of the past. In the former society women had value and felt good about themselves and how they looked. However, in the new society the men have stripped the women of their freedom and equality and lowered them to varying degrees of status. The young healthy women are labeled handmaids and are "issued" (24) by the government to various high-ranking officials in order to offer them the opportunity to create offspring. Getting pregnant is their only hope of survival. Females who are not of childbearing age are called Marthas because their purpose is to work and serve the men. A third category of women is labeled Unwomen because of their worthlessness in this male dominated society. All three categories are divided into colonies to prevent their rebelling against the system. Also, within each colony communication is limited and higher education is denied. In order to enforce this kind of oppressive social structure, the government uses various forms of intimidation.

I chose the topic of Rape culture because this book has to do with it and there is evidence to prove it. Rape culture is used to describe a situation in which rape is normalized and excused in the media and and popular culture and the objectification of women’s bodies. Rape is any sexual intercourse or any sexual penetration done to a person without their consent. The Handmaid’s Tale talked about the rape of Janine at just fourteen years old and what the handmaid’s have to do to be worthy of something. This topic also relates a lot to the objectification of women’s body which goes back to Rape culture and rape that is involved with The Handmaid’s Tale.

In The Handmaid’s Tale women are represented as property and they are only needed to make babies. They are represented like this because the society sacrifices them for a better future. In the Handmaid’s Tale women are represented like property. Some are treated better than others depending on their role.

of the veil is to conceal and hide women as well as to prevent women

A Critical Analysis of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In this dystopia novel, it reveals a remarkable new world called Gilead. “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, explores all these themes about women who are being subjugated to misogyny to a patriarchal society and had many means by which women tried to gain not only their individualism and their own independence. Her purpose of writing this novel is to warn of the price of an overly zealous religious philosophy, one that places women in such a submissive role in the family. I believe there are also statements about class in there, since the poor woman are being meant to serve the rich families need for a child. As the novel goes along the narrator Offred is going between the past and

Feminist discourse has existed for decades in our society, especially reaching its pinnacle in the past year with the 2016 presidential election. There has been much debate over whether or not feminism is necessary, though this notion is not new. In fact, it even stretches back to being at the center of political debate in the 1980s, an era featuring Ronald Reagan’s “Reaganomics” and the rise of the Christian Right Movement. This movement exhibited social desires to uphold religious and conservative ideals and aimed to cast out the feminist agenda altogether. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dark fabrication of what could happen if this Christian movement had succeeded in taking over America, exhibiting a pseudo-religious society named Gilead that functions off of submissive women who are merely viewed as wombs for bearing children to those who no longer can biologically reproduce. Thus, it is evident that the morals of Gilead are a reflection of those of the Christian Right Movement. One of the members of the religious movement was American Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell, who, in 1989, claimed (about feminists), “These women just need a man in the house. That’s all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it and they’re mad at all men.” Falwell makes it clear that he disagrees with the feminist agenda, suggesting that feminists only exist to hate men—and that they need a man to be a

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the author, Margaret Atwood, creates a dystopian society that is under theocratic rule. From this theocracy, each individual’s freedom is, for the most part, taken away. The Handmaid’s Tale creates a dystopia by placing restrictions on the individual’s freedom, using propaganda to control its citizens, and by having citizens of Gilead live in dehumanized ways. Furthermore, the creation of a hierarchal system in Gilead caused its citizens to lose the ability to feel empathy towards one another. In the search to create a perfect society, Gilead caused more harm and problems than expected which created a dystopia rather than a utopia.

In the Gilead society the handmaids have to cover up their bodies, wear long dresses, and cover their faces with vial’s and wings. These rules for the women are the same if not similar in Afghanistan, India, and some south Asian countries. In Pakistan women can be raped and if no evidence is found to prove it was rape the men could get away with it and the women could be charged with pre-marital sex and sentence to prison. This is similar in The Handmaid’s Tale; the handmaids go through “the ceremony” as they call it. The handmaids had to lay on their backs once a month in hope to become impregnated by the commander. The handmaids are valued only for their womb, ovaries, and reproducing. If their ovaries were no good or if they couldn’t have children for any other reason, then the handmaid was not valued or not needed and was sent to “the club” where all the unclean, no use of handmaids are. The handmaids with valuable ovaries are alive only to serve a purpose which is to reproduce.

A handmaid, in red. A wife, in blue. A commander. Two maids and a driver. Welcome to the house of Fred. What do they have in common? They have no say anymore. The government controls and only the government. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor and environmental activist. But what really got people interested was her infamous novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. It sparked many controversial arguments. Including the most prominent; Feminism. Margaret Atwood merely states the reality of Society through a depiction of a dystopian society.