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       In the world today and in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale​, women are oppressed. In her dystopian novel she writes of a theocratic government that controls and oppresses its citizens. Her novel was published in the 1980s, almost five decades ago and after all this time much of the world is the same today as it was when the narrative was released. Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a warning for modern readers of the dangers in societies that do not value women. Although this has been brought to our attention, the United States and the world at large have ignored her cautionary advice and assumed that we are in a post-feminist world. Despite Atwood’s warnings in The Handmaid’s Tale, we have failed to heed them, and we are far from being in a post-feminist world.

       The rights of women are placed on the backburner in conversations in Atwood’s novel and the world today because many believe that "we have already come so far" and are in a post-feminist world yet women are still treated unequally. In Atwood’s novel the Republic of Gilead has replaced the United States government. The government, located in new England, is a theocracy created by Evangelists that focuses its power and resources to control every aspect of its citizens lives through religion. Everyone is controlled in this government, but women have special roles that are more regulated than men’s roles in this regime. While men are somewhat controlled in Gilead, they have more freedoms such as less restrictions on where they can go, do, and speak. In the United States the inequality between men and women is often ignored because of the progress made with voting and individual rights. While the progress made is important there is still much work to be done to avoid a world resembling Gilead. The gender wage gap is “the difference in earnings between men and women” and “is especially prevalent during the economic struggles caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic” (Sheth, et al.). Regarding the global health crisis “working women are especially affected… as they make up a large percentage of the labor force in industries that are seeing large numbers of layoffs” (Sheth, et al.). With or without the virus the wage gap still exists “over half a century after the US passed the Equal Pay Act” (Sheth, et al.). Even though there is legislation outlawing unequal pay based on gender, women are still being paid less than their male peers. The warning against inequality in wages is clearly seen in Atwood’s novel. When the creators of Gilead were laying the groundwork for the new government, they “[froze]… any account with an F on it instead of an M” (178) and transferred every woman’s money to their “husband or male next of kin” (179). Atwood’s warning is not unrealistic or extreme. Women are already less economically valued, and this lack of respect can lead to a world such as Gilead where women may lose the rights they currently have if Atwood’s advice of valuing all people is ignored.

       Although there are many claims that we are living in a post-feminist world there are many gender-based oppressions that still exist and are emphasized in Atwood’s novel. One of the visible signs of gender-based oppression in The Handmaid’s Tale are the “the white wings” that are a “prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen” (Atwood 8). Atwood mentions the head coverings of the handmaids in her novel and focuses on the impact they have as limitations on their wearers. Gilead enforced these head coverings which is similar to the Taliban’s requiring women “to wear the all-covering burka” (“Who Are the Taliban?”) and both head coverings are a way to control women’s sight. The Taliban is a group that wanted “to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power” (“Who Are the Taliban?”) while Gilead wanted to restore morality and religion in their territory. While both head coverings are connected to religion they are not enforced because of religion. If they were enforced because of religion men would also have similar strict dress codes. While men in the Taliban and in Gilead have attire determined by their governments, they still have choice in how they dress, and the restrictions do not restrict their behavior. Men in the Taliban have beards and the commanders of Gilead wear suits, but these “requirements” do not restrict the behaviors of men nor do they oppress them in any way. The Taliban exists in the modern world even though “Atwood saw cultural conditions that might support the oppression of women” (Adams 75) and warned the world of the existing conditions that could lead to such a society.

       The United States also places numerous restrictions on women, most of which are related to health care. A recent restriction of women’s rights due to religious reasons is the bill signed by Ohio governor Mike DeWine “that requires the cremation or interment of surgically removed fetal remains” (Lynch). This law was passed because many lawmakers, usually belonging to the republican party, bring their religious beliefs into the workplace. They enforce laws similar to the one just signed by DeWine as a means to control women and their reproductive health. This law and those similar are a means to control women. Laws proposing to govern and control the reproductive health of men have been proposed to bring attention to the legislation that controls women and their reproductive health. In 2012 Ohio state senator Nina Turner proposed this type of legislation:

              put forward legislation that would require men seeking drugs like Viagra to first get a cardiac                  stress test to ensure their heart is ready for sexual activity. Oh, and they would also have to                        obtain certification from one of their recent sexual partners that they are indeed experiencing                  problems with erectile dysfunction. And they would be required to see a sex therapist before                    getting a prescription (Tomassoni).
Government officials claim to propose laws legislating the reproductive health of women because they are concerned about the wellbeing of women and children. If this legislation were not about controlling women then they would have also passed legislation governing the reproductive health of men.

       While Atwood cautions against strict control of women’s finances and dress, the warning she writes in The Handmaid’s Tale focuses on harm caused by the strict control of women’s reproductive rights. In the novel handmaids are trained to be “two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices” (Atwood 136). Women in Gilead have no control over their bodies and are expected to willingly have children. Atwood’s advice has been ignored and the control of women’s bodies and reproductive health is seen in the United States. Laurie Penny is a journalist and author who focuses on activism and is one of the many people working for a future where everyone is treated equally because we are all human beings. Penny brings attention to the control of women’s reproductive rights and the reasons behind it:

              new anti-abortion measures have also won wide margins of approval in Georgia, Ohio, and                        Missouri. This has been coming for a long time. It’s all part of a strategic frontal assault on                      women’s right to choose, a deliberate ploy to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling                    upholding abortion access as a constitutional right in the United States. These laws are not                        about whether a fetus is a person. They are about enshrining maximalist control over the                          sexual autonomy of women as a foundational principle of conservative rule. They are about                      owning women. They are about women as things. (Penny).
Gilead claims to control women’s reproductive rights because of the country’s infertility and legislators in the United States claim to restrict women’s reproductive rights because they claim that fetuses should have human rights. Both governments restrict women’s reproductive rights to “[take] away women’s autonomy” (Penny). By controlling women and forcing them to have children women are in a unique, vulnerable state that could endanger their lives. Having unwanted children also jeopardizes mothers’ mental and physical health. Not all women are good mothers, not all women want to be mothers, and not all women can emotionally, physically, financially, or mentally be mothers. With all these factors and risks in mind women in both countries are still forced to have children. Women are clearly not seen as human beings in regards to this type of legislation. There are no laws legislating the reproductive rights of men. The existence of these beliefs and the laws they created in the United States is clear evidence that the U.S. has not heeded Atwood’s cautionary advice despite her novel taking place in this country.

       The control of women is reinforced by gender stereotypes which limits the abilities of women to achieve success in the same ways as men and to be seen as equal or greater than men. The undervaluing of women regarding strict gender roles comes in part from the historical idea of the separate spheres. The separate spheres are the idea that men are supposed to be in the public sphere conducting business as the breadwinner while women are supposed to be in the home taking care of the family, household, and morals. The sexism of enforced gender roles is clearly seen in Atwood’s novel. Women in Gilead perform all the tasks that are associated with feminine gender norms. Specifically, the wives are depicted as the moral center and they run the household. This sense of power is seen in the ceremony where “the sitting room is supposed to be Serena Joy’s territory” (Atwood 86) where the husband is “supposed to ask permission to enter it” (Atwood 86). The wives are given this authority because the ceremony is built on the biblical story of Leah and Rachel and as the moral center their role is to guide the household and nurture everyone’s souls. Atwood warns against these norms because they are the foundation for the oppression of women. Other examples of gender stereotypes that negatively impact women are the expectations “to be accommodating and emotional”, to “take care of the children, cook, and clean the home”, and to have feminine professions such as being “teachers and nurses” (“Gender Identity & Roles: Feminine Traits & Stereotypes.”). These expectations limit the opportunities of women because many men count on women to adhere to these strict gender roles due to the sexist belief that women naturally are the traditional services and tasks associated with femineity. While the wives in Atwood’s novel are the moral center, the Marthas do all the cooking and cleaning, and the handmaids provide children. When these sexist beliefs are enforced within and outside the novel opportunities available to women are severely limited. The undervaluing of women regarding strict gender roles comes in part from the historical idea of the separate spheres. The separate spheres are the idea that men are supposed to be in the public sphere conducting business as the breadwinner while women are supposed to be in the home taking care of the family, household, and morals. The expectations from this older idea of gender roles still exist today. The acceptance of these expectations are a sign that we have ignored the warnings in The Handmaid’s Tale and this acceptance contributes to the possibility that a government similar to Gilead could be born.

       In The Handmaid’s Tale Atwood left many warnings against the ill treatment of women and reminded readers that we are not in a post-feminist world. Since the publication of her novel readers have ignored her prophecy and societies around the world have continued to exhibit the same behaviors that led to the creation of Gilead. We need feminism in the world because of the Taliban, the gender wage gap, gender stereotypes, and for other reasons I have not discussed. The unequal treatment of women negatively impacts everyone, not just women.

       Men are negatively impacted by the ill treatment of women because current conversations of feminism focus and emphasize men in an attempt to validate the conversation for sexist men. While sexism does negatively impact men, women are impacted and disadvantaged to a greater extent. The undervaluing and disrespect towards women create a social imbalance that invalidates women. Sexism negatively impacts men in the world as well as in The Handmaid’s Tale. In Atwood’s novel many of the men, including Offred’s Commander, have broken relationships because of the institutionalized sexism. They claim that men were unable “to feel. Men were turning off on sex, even. They were turning off on marriage” (Atwood 210) and with the rise of Gilead men now feel. While men such as the Commander claim this it is obvious that his relationship with his wife is far from fulfilling. When Offred starts seeing the Commander to play scrabble she realizes that she “is taking something away from [his wife], although she didn’t know it” (Atwood 161). During these nightly meeting Offred talks with the Commander and they build a personal relationship. With the strict enforcement of gender roles, the Commander doesn’t have the opportunity to have an emotional relationship. Their relationship only exists as a professional one controlled by Gilead. The disregard for the worth of women as human beings with gender stereotypes creates unequal expectations for women in their social, career, and home lives which negatively impacts women, communities, and the world.

       While Atwood’s advice has been ignored up to this point there is still time to listen to her and work towards creating a world where Gilead cannot even exist as a nightmare. Acknowledging the conditions that enabled the Taliban to rise to power, gender stereotypes, the wage gap, and other symptoms of the rampant sexism in the world today is the first step to preventing the creation of a Gilead. Now that these conditions and forms of sexism are acknowledged, it is necessary to confront sexism wherever it may be encountered. As Atwood says in her note to the reader, everything in the novel has “been done before, more than once”(Atwood) and the novel is “an imagined account of what happens when not uncommon pronouncements about women are taken to their logical conclusion”(Atwood). While Gilead is a fictional government it has existed in the world in various forms and could exist again if her warnings concerning sexism are ignored. Only by confronting sexism in our lives and changing our attitudes and the attitudes of our peers will Gilead’s arrival be thwarted.

Works Cited

Adams, Mary. “Rereading Atwood after the Taliban.” World Literature Today, vol. 76, no. 3/4, 2002,
          pp. 74–75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40157596. Accessed 24 Nov. 2020.

Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. The Handmaid's Tale. Random House Inc, 2017.

“Gender Identity & Roles: Feminine Traits & Stereotypes.” Planned Parenthood,                                                        www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/sex-gender-identity/what-are-gender-roles-              and-stereotypes.

Lynch, John. “Cremation or Burial of Fetal Remains after Surgical Abortion Becomes Law in Ohio.”                  WTRF, WTRF, 5 Jan. 2021, www.wtrf.com/news/ohio-headlines/cremation-or-burial-of-fetal-                    remains-after-surgical-abortion-becomes-law-in-ohio/.

Penny, Laurie. “The Criminalization of Women's Bodies Is All About Conservative Male Power.” The                New Republic, 17 May 2019, newrepublic.com/article/153942/criminalization-womens-bodies-                conservative-male-power.

Sheth, Sonam, et al. “7 Charts That Show the Glaring Gap between Men's and Women's Salaries in the            US.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 26 Aug. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-                pay-gap-charts-2017-3.

Tomassoni, Teresa. “In Protest, Democrats Zero In On Men's Reproductive Health.” NPR, NPR, 15 Mar.            2012, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/03/15/148695307/in-protest-democrats-zero-in-            on-mens-reproductive-health.

​Never mind Winter, Gilead is Coming​

By: Clare Hunter