Gender Roles In The Handmaids Tale

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Once upon a time in the recent future, a country went wrong. The country was called the Republic of Gilead.” The movie The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) is a dystopian society fable. America, now Gilead, is ruled by puritanical right-wing extremists. Gilead has a totalitarian government which suppresses its peoples’ freedom of choice. Gilead has become a male-controlled police state dedicated to the oppression of women. Gilead's separation of men and women into mutually exclusive roles points to a system of binary divisions coded by gender. Although male characters are rarely portrayed in the film, their power is omnipresent. Men are either corridors of power, or are fighting soldiers known as the Angels. In The Handmaids Tale, women are stripped of their real names, their voices, and their rights. They are indoctrinated into the religion-based ideas of this new society where they will be Handmaids. The production of children has become the Republic of Gilead's overarching goal, governing nearly every aspect of life. Women are grouped into classes (Handmaids, Wives, and Marthas). Everyone dresses alike within their social group; clothing serves the purpose of revealing status, but masks individuality. With ninety-nine percent of the female population sterile, handmaids are de-eroticized baby-making machines. Handmaids are forced to lie between the legs of the wives, while their husbands penetrate them in a militaristic way. They are seen as a commodity to the privileged upper-class, and are being indoctrinated by Old Testament orthodoxy. They are treated in a misogynistic way not only by men, but by other woman known as the aunts. The aunts teach moral pieties, and indoctrinate the handmaids through dehumanization. Those who do no... ... middle of paper ... ..., and family, a patriarchy where women are inferior to men. In Gilead, patriarchy is enforced in a variety of ways, including intimidation of women through violence, sexual assault, slut shamming, and goes as far as blaming women for rape. Jeanine: I was raped when I was fourteen by six guys in my high school class. It was at a party we all had been drinking. I thought they were my friends. I had an abortion, but it wasn’t my fault. My mother she made me do it, she would not let me have the baby. Aunt Lydia: Whose fault was it? Handmaids: Her fault, her fault (in unison) Aunt Lydia: Who led them on? Handmaids: She did, she did (in unison) Aunt: Why did God allow such a thing to happen? Handmaids: To teach us a lesson. Aunt Lydia: What is she? Handmaids: A whore, whore, whore (in unison) Jeanine: I didn’t mean to do it. I led them on. Aunt Lydia: Very good Jeanine.

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