The Handmaids Tale 3

The Handmaids Tale 3

           

The society is all about restricting women’s sexual rights, and feminism is all about giving women rights like the right to choose. In the end their goals are the same, the control of women’s' sexuality in one direction or the other. There was a scene where Offred had a flashback to a memory from college where women were burning pornographic pictures. I’m assuming they were feminists. The leaders of the Republic of Gilead are obviously extremists but so are the feminists who take things to far. It's bad to go to far in either direction, which I think, is the point of this book. When I read the first few chapters I was one hundred percent thinking like a feminist, everything was completely wrong and women had no rights and why aren’t these women fighting for themselves? But then I thought about some of the ridiculous things we discussed in class like the whole thing about the empire state building being seen as a phallic symbol and how things are separated black and white. You’re either a feminist or a misogynist; there is no in-between. Which is what’s happening in the book with the societies extremist religious views, its ridiculous.

I wasn’t really sure what happened before the creation of the society of Gilead for a while but now it seems like it was some sort of war against pornography. Which may have been taken to far and the feminists got out of hand. When things get out of control and anarchy ensues people look for something to believe in, something grab onto and follow, and more often then not that thing is religion. This is very similar to the collapse of the Roman Empire, which was a pretty advanced society. What came after it was the dark ages, the world regressed back into chaos and the thing that brought back order and control was religion. Leaders threatened the wrath of God and the people for the most part fell into submission.

The society in the book is similar to the dark ages in a way, if a women cant conceive its her fault no the mans even though he might be sterile, especially since back then as well as in the book the men are way older then the women they are trying to impregnate. The Commander must be at least sixty-five. Becoming pregnant is an escape though, the woman from several chapters ago was so happy that she was carrying a baby. Offred goes to the doctor and he offers to “help” her, which is kind of creepy but it really would help her because not becoming pregnant is failure. Instead she chooses to remain trapped, which is becoming comfortable for her. Like I said in the last post, after a while it all becomes normal and comfortable. Freedom becomes scary. 

Aunt Lydia says, “blessed be the Meek.” Because she wants Offred and all the women to feel safe trapped in the Commanders compound because they cannot be hurt there like the women were in the past. Aunt Lydia reminds them all of the past how women were rapped and unprotected, she uses fear to control them. I Googled blessed be the Meek and its from the bible. The religion of this society is really messed up; they only use the parts that are convenient for them. The second half of that phrase is “for they will inherit the earth.” Suggesting that someday those oppressed women will have their rights back that they will be in control.