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Fertility in the handmaid's tale
Oppression as a solution to infertility in handmaid’s tale
Surrogacy debate
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Recommended: Fertility in the handmaid's tale
Surrogacy is not usually a word which is used in someone’s daily vocabulary. So, what does it mean then? By definition of Merriam-Webster, Surrogacy is a woman who becomes pregnant usually by artificial insemination or surgical implantation of a fertilized egg for the purpose of carrying the fetus to term for another woman. Surrogacy can be seen throughout The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood but also in modern-day society. Personal attitudes towards surrogacy, how society views surrogate mothers, and mother’s views towards surrogate mothers are all points which are shared between these two topics. But despite bearing some minor similarities, the differences between the attitude towards surrogates differs throughout the characters in The …show more content…
To begin with, today's society has a very split opinion on surrogates. According to Conceive Abilities, a blog, states how part of society looks at surrogates as “compassionate and altruistic” by choosing to offer their wombs who women who experience infertility. Whereas, Conceive Abilities also explains how society views surrogacy as dangerous and unethical. Stating how because the birth is surgical people argue it is unbiblical and unnatural, putting the mother's health at risk as well as the unborn child. While either side is not deemed right or wrong, there is definitely a split on viewpoints. However, throughout The Handmaid's Tale there is a consistent opinion how society views surrogacy. Handmaid's are viewed as merely an object, being stripped of everything which humanizes them; from their names, ability to read and write, and freedom. Authoritative figures like the Commander try to remind Handmaids of their “duty” of surrogacy throughout the book by manipulating them using Bible verses, one of them being, “Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her” (Atwood 88). As the government is based on religion, there is an expectation these authoritative figures try to create for the Handmaids. In other …show more content…
These differences can be seen through the personal attitudes of surrogates, society views of surrogates, and mother’s attitudes towards surrogate mothers. Even though Webster gives one definition of “surrogacy” it can be seen how people in different societies can take very different meanings to
To conclude, it is clear that this process is one that deals with significant controversy. Society’s views on Queensland’s current surrogacy laws vary, however a majority believe that the legislation is fair and just, without violating the rights of any individuals. We live in a society that is changing rapidly, and although we may be moving away from traditional family values, we are moving into a new time where it will eventually have to be made acceptable, with this rising change in what is seen as a traditional family.
Surrogate pregnancy was talked about and questioned in the early 1970’s but was not put into practice until 1976. The first case documented actually comes from the bible. It was the story of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah talks about her experience with infertility. She then turns to Hagar, her handmaiden, and asks her if she would carry their child for them since she was unable to. Hagar was their maid so in a way it was a command, not exactly a favor or question.
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.
In her novel, Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood conceives a dystopian society, set sixteen years from now, in which the United States has become the New Republic of Gilead. This version of the future takes root because of a nuclear and biological war that leaves many women unable to reproduce. Thus, those who are still fertile are treated as illicit liaisons for rich older couples who want a child but cannot. These fertile women are called “handmaids,” a term referring to a story in the Bible, where Rachel sends her handmaid to Jacob to bear him a child in her stead. Although it is arguable that Margaret Atwood fails to create a convincing dystopian society in her novel, it is plausible that today’s current events, laden with war, sexism, and
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
Commercial surrogacy commodifies children because by paying the surrogate mother to give up her child, they treat the child as an object of exchange or commodity that can be bought and sold. As any business transaction, the parents give money for the exchange of an object, the child. The parents get their desired child and the mother gets the money, but what about what thee child think about this event? The parents and surrogate mother’s action were done with self-interest. It could be argued that they wanted the best for the child. However, the first priority in the intentional procreation of the child was not the welfare of the child but rather to give it up to the parents in exchange of money. Additionally, women’s labor is commodified because the surrogate mother treats her parental rights as it was a property right not as a trust. In other words, the decisions taken concerning the child are not done primarily for the benefit of the child. The act of the mother relenting her parental rights is done for a monetary price. She disposes of her parental rights, which are to be managed for the welfare of the owner, as if they were property right, which are to be handled for personal
I agree with you that the issue of reproductive rights is one of the main concepts that were connected in the novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale.” With the new government, women were organized into different categories, which include Wives, Econowives, Marthas, Handmaids, and Unwomen. The protagonist is labeled as Handmaid, whose job is to bear a child in the household of Serena Joy and her husband. The reproductive rights were listed in the lecture 10, Sex and Reproduction. Some of the reproductive rights include “freedom to have a child or not have a child”, and “control over pregnancy and childbirth process” (Lecture notes, p. 8). These two rights were certainly violated by the new regime in the Republic of Gilead. Offred and other handmaids
Gestational surrogacy, especially when it involves commercial surrogates, challenges the status quo in the ethical theory of reproduction, because with this technology the process of producing a child can no longer remain a private matter. Now a public contract exists between two parties, the couple and the surrogate ...
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority of each household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many
Arguments against commercial surrogacy typically revolve around the idea that surrogacy is a form of child-selling. Critics believe that commercial surrogacy violates both women’s and children’s rights. In addition, by making surrogacy contracts legally enforceable, courts will follow the contract rather than choose what is best for the child. However, in her article “Surrogate Mothering: Exploring Empowerment” Laura Pudry is not convinced by these arguments.
Margaret Atwood created The Republic of Gilead, a society based on fertility and being able to have children, in her book The Handmaid’s Tale. Gilead is in the former United States of America. This area has become highly polluted and has caused the birth rates to significantly decline. Gilead was able to take over the United States’ government by killing off every single Congress member. While in a state of shock and panic, The Republic of Gilead took control by helping to “save” the population. The men are now either a part of the military or are a Commander. Commanders run a household and are responsible to “make” the babies. Women are either shipped off, domesticated servants or walking wombs. The Commanders each receive a Handmaid. Handmaids are the one who becomes impregnated. The Handmaids are heavily protected, since they are the only woman left with viable
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a compelling tale of a dystopian world where men are the superior sex and women are reduced to their ability to bear children, and when that is gone, they are useless. The story is a very critical analysis of patriarchy and how patriarchal values, when taken to the extreme, affect society as a whole. The result is a very detrimental world, where the expectation is that everyone will be happy and content but the reality is anything but. The world described in The Handmaid’s tale is one that is completely ruled by patriarchal values, which is not unlike our society today.
A controversy about whether surrogacy is a wonderful or dreadful decision when it comes to building a family has become a debatable topic over the years. Success rates in surrogacy are going up. “With success rates as high as 60 percent and with implantation methods getting better every day…” (Gailie). Surrogacy gives a big opportunity for someone to have a child but cannot because of some issues. Having a surrogate can have a positive effect on the child`s and the child mother. The surrogate can continue to communicate with the child’s mother every day about what is going on through the pregnancy. This topic will forever be an on-going debate because people in general will always look at the bad things that come with surrogacy such
A surrogacy is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two kinds of surrogacy: “Gestational”, in which the egg and sperm belong to the intended parents and is carried by the surrogate, and “traditional”, where the surrogate is inseminated with the intended father’s sperm. Regardless of the method, I believe that surrogacy cannot be morally justified. Surrogacy literally means “substitute”, or “replacement”. A surrogate is a replacement for a mother for that 9-month period of pregnancy, and therefore is reducing the role of the surrogate mother to an oversimplified and dehumanizing labor. The pregnancy process for the gestational mother can be very physically and mentally demanding, and is unique because after birthing the
Surrogacy is becoming extremely popular as a way for people to build their families and women to have a source of income. Many people have various reasons for their opposition to it whether it be by comparing it to prostitution or disagreeing with how military wives take advantage of the Tricare insurance. Lorraine Ali states in her article “The Curious Lives of Surrogates” that one of the more popular reasons to oppose surrogacy is that it contradicts, “what we’ve always thought of as an unbreakable bond between mother and child.” However, a woman’s inability to conceive her own children does not determine the absence of a mother to child bond.