ipl-logo

The Oppression Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

1340 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Handmaids tale gileads treatment of women

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” (Ghandi) In the Handmaid’s Tale women are harshly oppressed, even though they are the foundation of society. Additionally, in Luce Irigaray’s story Women on the Market, women are deprived of power, yet ironically they determine the social status held by men. In both societies, women are treated like slaves and are seen as nothing more than powerless objects. I believe that women are essential to the continuation of humanity even though the highest ranking men further empower themselves, by making sure women remain oppressed through their harsh rules and reproductive roles, which strip women of all power. Imagine a society in which the most important people have …show more content…

The main character, Offred, shares her views of this society while incorporating many of her flashbacks of the wrath she received from the system in which she is enslaved. I believe that the restrictions set in place are unnecessary and are comparable to modern day slavery. For example, speech is highly regulated by the secret police. During her limited outside time Offred has “never said anything that was not strictly orthodox” (Atwood 19) These cruel limitations are irreconcilable with the first amendment of the Bill of Rights; which emphasizes freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The purpose of the first amendment is to empower the people and stray from the government having too much power. The Gilead Society takes an antithetical approach and choses to limit these rights in order to impose fear into the …show more content…

Before this society existed women had power through their looks and romantic potentials, however this influence is now non-existent. The power that many women possess is in their reproductive organs. The elite men are aware that without their ability to reproduce, society would cease to continue. This is why the founders of the Gilead Society needed to create the role called a Handmaid; whose job is to be impregnated by an elite member of the community. For example, Offred’s job is to bear the child of a Commander; to accomplish this they must have sex. Offred describes this act as “Not making love...not does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven’t signed up for” (Atwood #) Offred has been deceived to believe that she has a choice in this act because she chose her role in society. However I believe this is rape, considering that the women were only given cruel and dehumanizing choices to choose from. While the primary purpose of the act is reproduction; another aspect is the fact that this act of sex contributes towards further oppressing women in society. Similarly, in The Women on the Market the women are subjected to roles that revolve around reproduction and the continuation of

Show More
Related
1008 Words | 5 Pages

Document D shows a statute from Virginia protecting an individual’s right to practice or to not practice religion: it says that an individual cannot coerce others or be coerced into practicing a religion. Document H shows an ordinance banning slavery in the Northwest Territory of 1787. An individual has the right to his own thought, being it's not a violation of anybody else's rights when he thinks. This individual right is protected by the Virginia statute, and that this right is specifically mentioned and defended by the government is proof that the government admits to their responsibility to protect it. The ban on slavery on the Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River, as noted in Document H, is yet more proof that the government is assuming the role of the guardian to individual rights.

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

Are we, women, just a mere prop to strengthen men’s power and pride? Are women only existing in this world to serve and satisfy men? Back in the day when men are dominating the government and our society, women are just left in their houses. Society sees them as a puppet, a person who is only capable of doing household chores or even a mere baby maker. Freedom is non-existent to a woman’s life and they are treated like criminals who are sentenced to life imprisonment or like a bird whose wings are broken and trapped inside a cage.

Read More
661 Words | 3 Pages

In history, and present time, many events foreshadow women obtaining more rights and becoming equal with men. Many people think that women have not gained much power, or are losing it. I on the other hand, believe that women’s rights have not died down but progressed over time. In many circumstances, women have proved themselves, and have gained power over time. Sometimes this power was even seen as a problem.

Read More
553 Words | 3 Pages

Inequality of women Vera Nazarian said, “ A woman is a human. She is not better, stronger, wiser, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. She is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is a human.”

Read More
107 Words | 1 Pages

Oppression in The Handmaid’s Tale Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale there are many ways in which the people of Gilead are oppressed. The government of Gilead uses fear and threats of death or violence to control its citizens. The eyes organization play a large role in the oppression of the people of Gilead. The characters do not know who they can trust and are scared to speak their own opinions.

Read More
91 Words | 1 Pages

Secondly In most cultures, men have historically held most of the worlds resources, until relatively recently women in western cultures could not vote or hold property, making them entirely dependent on the male Gender , A group with a power of wealth advantage maintain their control over resources such as political, economical and industrial power by usually representing the majority. Conflict between the two genders caused such events such as the woman’s suffrage movement and was responsible for a degree of social change. If we look more to the modern Era,

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

Most women nowadays do not seek approval from men, but living in the Red Center showed otherwise. In the novel, The Handmaid 's Tale, Offred lived two lives; one where she was free making her own choices and another where choices were made for her. Atwood revealed that men were superior and women had to play by their rules. Gilead was set out to be the worse when it came to men and women. The novel shows the way manipulation in Gilead lead to the control of women as shown throughout the actions of both genders.

Read More
981 Words | 4 Pages

In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the Republic of Gilead actively represses women by forcing them into very narrowly defined, ultra-conservative gender roles. This totalitarian government strips women of all rights and protections, and imposes severe punishments for defiance. Pollution and disease had caused severe infertility in this society, drastically reducing birth rates. In an effort to reverse a drastic population decline, this thoroughly misogynistic and power-hungry regime, takes full control over the human reproductive process. Furthermore, the leadership uses various dehumanizing methods to achieve complete subservience of women to men.

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

“What it really means is that she is in control of the process and thus the product. If any.” (109). The society of Gilead wants to make sure that the child is the Commander’s wife’s child as much as possible, and they believe that by having Serena Joy hold the hands of Offred, then that is possible. In this way, Offred, and all of the other Handmaid’s are sexually dehumanized.

Read More
1250 Words | 5 Pages

www.jstor.org/stable/2199896. In The American Journal of International Law, author Myres McDougal examines the rights of women in society are based on their gender. He describes women as the “inferior sex” the moment they are conceived. Men are quickly seen as the more powerful sex in the fact that can own property, have voting rights, and can hold a political position.

Read More
996 Words | 4 Pages

Handmaid’s whom are the fertile women in the Gilead society, are stripped from all freedom and rights, banned from knowing any form of literature and have to be submissive to men, allowing their bodies to be sexually used to produce children. In contrast, women who are not fertile such as Wives have their freedom taken away too as they are confined to doing assigned jobs around the house. In contrast, the Aunts and the Commanders are shown to have the highest rankings in the Gileadean society. They are powerful figures, with privileges such as the Aunts being allowed to read and write and the Commanders being permitted to get married and have a handmaid's assigned to

Read More
476 Words | 2 Pages

Women’s place and role in the society is something that has been discussed and changed over time. Should their rights be the same as men’s? Should they be superior? Inferior? The world faces a dilemma on weather they should be or not equal as men.

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
1004 Words | 5 Pages

Although times and conditions have changed, women in today 's society are still being discriminated against because of the same belief that women are inferior to men. Women in the united states and other first world countries are being deprived of equal pay and equal rights. Women in today 's society make 80 cents for every dollar a man makes and get discriminated against because of the belief that women aren 't as strong and intelligent as mem. They have been excluded from numerous educational opportunities and in some middle-eastern countries, are stripped from their basic human rights like education and equality. Women all over the world are now coming together to fight for the rights that they

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

To maintain a functional democracy the citizens must do their part in that society. I am a 13-year-old citizen of the United States of America. As a member of our society I have freedom and opportunities. Although I am only in 7th grade, I will have more capabilities and more requirements as I grow older. My role as an effective citizen in the American democratic society involves tasks I must, should, and could do.

Read More

More about The Oppression Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document