ipl-logo

Gender Roles In The Handmaid's Tale

1636 Words7 Pages

The craving for power over another person or group is an innate sense imbedded within people who seek to progress through the ranks of the social ladder. Dominance has consequently been the underlying motivation. Eventually, these conflicts lose significance and are often resolved in some manner. However, one issue left unsettled is the clash between genders: male and female. This divide has historically been unequal, almost always where men declare superiority over women. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, for example, she establishes a society where women are socially dissimilar when it comes to social ranking. Women are assigned roles by men in order to serve a purpose in the community and thus prevented from arising above their …show more content…

Therefore, people maintain these preconceived ideals of the past because they fear the chaos that would occur if these roles were to change. This results from humans siding with what is known because it makes us feel comfortable with our situation. If this is the case, humans are unknowingly stunting the productivity of our civilization through resisting change. To begin, the article We Live in Blank White Spaces portrays the idea that modern day issues regarding human rights between men and women ultimately result from our corrupt history of marginalizing women. Many people concerned with the idea of feminism acknowledge the fact that women were mistreated in this manner to a greater extent in the past (as seen in more developed countries such as the United States and Germany). The situation has improved since then when comparing it to the way women are treated in these countries today. However, although we have collaborated together as a whole community to eliminate this gender “gap,” the prevalence of gender disparities is still highly evident in the present. The problem is that because this issue has improved, a large

Show More
Related
284 Words | 2 Pages

Such was the case of women during the late 1800s and early 1920s, who's minds were lead to believe that their place was in the kitchen. Or African-Americans, who's minds were lead to believe that they were inferior to white people. We are now living in the 21st century and we can still see women slaving away in the kitchen, and many African-Americans along with other minorities, searching for their place in the

Read More
244 Words | 1 Pages

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the oppression of women was the absolute first thing that stood out. The exposing of handmaids inabilities The women that were not able to produce babies such as Offred were sent to this Nazi type regimes called the colonies. There were Guardians or “secret police” watching all of the Handmaids at all times. The Republic of Gilead did something called “Men’s Salvaging”, which occurred when either men, but mostly women got penalized from doing something forbidden and they got hung and killed. Women weren’t able leave their households unless they were going shopping for food.

Read More
1164 Words | 5 Pages

You never know what someones going through until you step into their shoes and walk around in them. Empathy by definition is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is often developed through exposure to other peoples' worlds. Among the many other lessons in To Kill A Mockingbird empathy is one of the most prominent in the book. After reading one can truly come to the conclusion that loss of innocence can lead one to develop empathy, when they see the mistreatment of others.

Read More
823 Words | 4 Pages

This means that males must accept their position of power over women, while the women must live to serve the men. In the novel “The Kite Runner”, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir is troubled by the frequent and sometimes extreme mistreatment of women that his culture allows. He also struggles to live his life according

Read More
1156 Words | 5 Pages

This can be related to C. Wright Mills idea of the power elite, in which those ruling our country have the political and economical power to make decisions that keep their power intact (Marshall, 2012). We have historically had a patriarchal society in which men have held the political power and women were prohibited from it. McCammon, Campbell, Granberg, and Mowery (2001) discuss the suffragette movement and how along with the ability to vote, it led to another the passing of laws that allowed women broader citizen rights and helped to change gender roles (p. 61). This helped with the movement’s success by changing the thoughts of those in politics about the role of women in society (McCammon et al., 2001, p. 65). A woman’s role was clearly defined as being rooted in domestic work and family life, while men’s roles were in business and politics (McCammon et al., 2001, p. 53).

Read More
678 Words | 3 Pages

In the Handmaid 's Tale power is used to control the women and sort them into certain gender roles. Each women in the society of Gilead is assigned a certain job that is stereotypical of a woman 's job such as cooking, sex, and reproduction. These women are the lowest class in Gilead and have no control. The men have superior power of the women but the women such as Ofgeln and Offred gain control in power in their lives. Men have an upper hand in the control of these women.

Read More
1620 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout history, women have often been subjected to prejudice and an inferior status to men. Due to sexist ideologies of men believing that women are not capable of controlling their own lives, women have often been reduced to the status of property. This concept is prominent in many pieces of literature to demonstrate the struggles women have to go through in a predominantly, male structured world. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author illustrates a woman’s battle in an extreme society ruled by men to express the misogyny occurring in the time period when it was written, 1894. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia summarizes Atwood’s story as one that “depicts one woman’s chilling struggle to survive in a society ruled by misogynistic fascism, by which women are reduced to the condition of property.”

Read More
1325 Words | 6 Pages

After Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, many men, women, and children led the effort in achieving equality for all people everywhere--regardless of race, religious beliefs, or gender--through nonviolent protests and radical movements. Besides equality between races, equal opportunity between genders is another prominent matter. Many feminists today would argue that while women’s rights have come a long way, the way present-day society portrays women would just prove that we still have a long way to go before gender equality is achieved. Also, in many countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal, women are treated significantly worse than men

Read More
890 Words | 4 Pages

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, power is defined as “possession of control, authority, or influence over others. ”Although it is customary to see power in straightforward terms such as government or parenting, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores the different limitations and locations of power in society. From the perspective of Offred, a handmaid, the novel tells of a dystopian society called the Gilead, where the people are defined by labels according to designated power and fertility. Atwood is able to expose the diverse range of power through the system of government created, the dynamic of members of a household, and the social interactions between people.

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.

Read More
1209 Words | 5 Pages

Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), presents several controversial yet realistic themes that can be linked to many social justice issues in today’s society. One central point that is highlighted throughout the novel is the objectification of women. In Atwoods novel women transition from normal citizens in society, to baby birthing machines. Women no longer acquire the respect, authority, freedom, and power that men have in the world of Gilead. This objectification that the handmaids are exposed to can be seen all throughout our environment, and there is no limit to where it can occur.

Read More
476 Words | 2 Pages

This idea has been diffused over centuries, but people now are trying to impede gender disparity and efface it. To conclude, we find ourselves on a dilemma. On one side we have machism and men thinking they are better than women and vice versa. On the other, we have people who are just looking for gender equality.

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, argues that women are instruments of the patriarchy, that women know this, and that women allow the system of oppression to live on. Her fictions ask, “What stories do women tell about themselves? What happens when their stories run counter to literary conventions or society’s expectations?” (Lecker 1). The Handmaid’s Tale is told through the protagonist, Offred, and allows readers to follow through her life as a handmaid while looking back on how life used to be prior to the societal changes.

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

cultural constructs of femininity, identity, and the extent of government control. The story explores the affects social and political trends have on society. The Handmaid’s Tale evaluates gender roles and the subjugation of women. Atwood’s use of aphorisms, symbolism, and allusions urges readers to examine the juxtaposition of cruelty and vulnerability in femininity.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

Read More

More about Gender Roles In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document