Oppression In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Oppression of Women in the USA There have been many stories of women in other countries undergoing oppression like female genital cutting in Kenya and Egypt, unequal rights in education in India, between men and women, the rising rape cases in Darfur and much more. In fact, Americans are usually aware of such and sometimes charities help out through sending aid in such cases and educating the masses on such practices. Themes in the literature refer to universal ideas that different authors explore in their literary works to communicate a message. In the “The Handmaid’s Tale’ critical reading the author, Margaret Atwood addresses diverse themes, focusing mainly on oppression of women by hierarchical government through cutting women’s rights

The women are sourced from coercion or kidnappings. Coercion is done under false pretenses where women are offered jobs as waitresses or domestic workers and they forced to prostitution (Vega, 1007). The trafficking of women and girls for the prostitution is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the United States. A term "sex work" is the most frequently used by those who argue that this is a form of labor. Opinions on this theme vary for instance according to Vanwesen beck prostitution is a form of slavery (Vega 1005). Since most people think of slavery as something that had passed it is hard to imagine that sex trafficking might be happening in our own town or neighborhood, invisible to our eyes, while we are busy with our daily comfortable life. The victims are subjected to suppression through constant physical and sexual abuse in order to force them to obey them. Thus, the blind desire to have a job leads the victims to the pit of darkness. It is difficult and mostly impossible to escape from this slavery. Whoever managed to do so are often ignored by society. This ignorance makes them do suicide or return back to their "sex work". It is incredible to note that vices that people expect to be in still developing countries happen right on American

The society in the 1900s expected women to stay at home as mothers and submissive wives who would wait for their husbands when they get home from work. This idea hasn’t been changed very much during last twenty year as well. In the Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale the author tells of how women were used as political instruments and that their duties were to reproduce and serve the male figures in that society. The state or government here oppresses women by controlling their rights to own property, be employed; voting rights and all other rights that would liberate them from subjectivity were banned. They were not supposed to be independent as it would make them look down on the government or their husbands. The women were thus not treated as human as they were only perceived as owners of a womb and ovaries. The 1900s in the USA had the same picture of expecting submissiveness and rallying for unemployed women whose main achievements was to be a good wife and mother, reducing their role in reproduction as well(Bienefeld 4). In addition, men oppress their female partners through domestic violence and even