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Feminism And Religion In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

1100 Words5 Pages

Fourth Wave Feminism and Religion
Introduction
Women in most of the major world religions are not viewed as equals. In Christianity, women are seen as helpers to men and are required to be submissive. In Hinduism, a woman plays various roles throughout her life and ultimately she is seen as her husband’s property (UK Essays). In Islam, the woman is not seen as an equal to man even in marriage a man can marry more than one wife but a woman is to be always loyal to her husband (Freedom House). Despite this being the case, some of the contemporary popular female figures are using religion to spread their message of gender equality.
Beyonce
In 2014 during her Mrs. Carter music tour, Beyonce Knowles-Carter performed in front of bold flashing lights …show more content…

The clothes are meant to help ladies become more appreciative of their bodies and to avoid striving for perfection but rather work to be better.( Gottesman) This is a good example of her use of her star power to shape society.
The Handmaids Tale
In her book, The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts a dystopian future where the United States collapses and a new country, Gilead is established in its place by a Christian fundamentalist group. The hallmark of this story is the gross mistreatment of women in the society. Women in Gilead are seen as inferior to men. Due to effects of environmental pollution, the majority of the women are infertile. The few women who are fertile are taken away from their families.
This is tantamount to slavery, particularly in the form of female sexual slavery. There is the use of the Christian religious teaching particularly so the Old Testament to rationalize and justify these heinous acts. (Williams) For instance, in the Old Testament, if the mistress of the house could not conceive, one of the female maidservants of the house was required to be used in to bear a child in place of her mistress. (Williams)This was based on the biblical story of Jacob, Rachel, and Bilhah. The fertile women are reduced to mere reproduction

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