Handmaid's Tale costumes and faulty reasoning

[tstadheim]

I was just watching a news program in which women were dressed in Handmaid’s Tale costumes and protesting abortion laws. I read this book (admittedly a few years ago) and seem to remember forced sex was involved, not just forced childbearing. Do these women not see the disconnect? They are not being forced into sex, after all…

 

[Zach]

You mean you actually got through the book? I tried reading it but couldn’t get far. I’m not sure what all the hype is about. I found it boring.

 

[FrancisFan43]

Friend you have to remember these are the people that think child murder is completely acceptable and normal behavior in civilized society. These are the same people that will harp on at you about the science of climate change, but then deny the science of biology and say that there are a bajillion genders and counting.

Cognitive dissonance is just part and parcel of living in a modern society. A society which we live in, unfortunately.

 

[Beryllos]

Do these women not see the disconnect?

I would not call that a disconnect or faulty reasoning. In the story, women’s role in reproduction was controlled by the state, or by those in power. Some women today see restrictions on abortion similarly as a power/control issue.

The red capes are, unfortunately, a clever and effective literary reference. Maybe we pro-lifers could identify and use other literary and cultural images to promote life!

I tried reading it… I found it boring.

As long as we’re doing book reviews, I’ll put in my two cents: I read it a long time ago, and I couldn’t put it down. It’s scary, plausible, and thought-provoking.

P.S. Haven’t seen the movie. Probably never will. After reading the book, I find most movies don’t measure up, and so badly that the memory of the movie forever taints my high regard for the book.

 

[EnglishTeacher]

I have never read it, though I am familiar with the plot basics and the costumes. Watching the previews for the Hulu series of the same name makes me chuckle that anyone takes this story seriously. It seems like the author/creator is trying to drum up fear that a similar scenario could occur if conservative Christians get into power. (Insert eye-roll.)

On a related but different note, I cringe a little that that the author decided to call women forced into childbearing “handmaids.” The actual meaning of the word refers only to a female servant, a maid who waits at hand. But since most people only recognize the term from its current fictional pop culture usage, they are now going to think “handmaid” refers to women forced into childbearing. So basically they ruined the beautiful passage in Luke 1:38: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." I mean, I know it can be translated “servant,” too, but I hate it that current pop culture usage and ignorance put an ugly connotation on the word.

 

[Dovekin]

Handmaid was used because of the story of Sarai and Hagar,

Sarai said to Abram: “The LORD has kept me from bearing children. Have intercourse with my maid; perhaps I will have sons through her.” Abram obeyed Sarai.
Exodus 18:2

The novel is brilliant in its exploration of biblical themes. It pulls down princes from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.

 

[tstadheim]

I thought the book was great too. I thought the movie was good, haven’t seen the series (and don’t plan to).

 

[EnglishTeacher]

Handmaid was used because of the story of Sarai and Hagar,

I am familiar with the story of Sarai and Hagar, but I do still think they changed the term unfortunately, at least in people’s minds as the book and TV series surged in popularity these past few years. Hagar was a handmaid (i.e., female servant) who was forced into bearing a child for her master and mistress, but she would have been a handmaid regardless of whether they had pressed her into this service, because the term handmaid has nothing to do with forced sex/forced childbearing.

I get what you are saying, though, that the author got the idea and reference from this biblical story. It just bugs me that now ignorant people will think that’s what the term handmaid means and it will be one more thing to try to explain if the passage I mentioned above comes up.

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

I work with several people who would self-identify as Democrats / liberals. They LOVE “Handmaid’s tale” and think it’s a powerful allegory for the political situation these days.

 

[Titivillus]

I have never read it, though I am familiar with the plot basics and the costumes. Watching the previews for the Hulu series of the same name makes me chuckle that anyone takes this story seriously. It seems like the author/creator is trying to drum up fear that a similar scenario could occur if conservative Christians get into power. (Insert eye-roll.)

Never read it. Never watched it. But I do remember when the Hulu series and Trump administration converged into the perfect storm, and people started anticipating a theocratic government in Washington: Someone cleverer than I observed:
“If you’re looking for a theocratic, woman-oppressing regime, don’t look to Washington. Look to Riyadh. (But it’s not politically correct to say so out loud)”

 

[Wesrock]

The entire point of calling them handmaids was supposed to be (obviously distorted) based on the Bible. The premise of the plot is that the world is facing an infertility crisis. In the eastern US a hyper-reactionary movement gains power and in the new order women who had a history of “immorality” who were also known to be fertile were assigned to the households of the leaders as handmaids to their wives, and they tried to justify their use in reproduction Biblically for those couples who were infertile. This role was supposed to be how they could make up for their previously “immoral” lives.

In the book, many religious ministers and leaders, including Catholic priests and nuns were noted as having been executed by the Gilead government for opposing their regime.

The first season of the show follows the book fairly closely. The second and third seasons go beyond anything the book ever did. The first season ended at the same point the book does. I’m the books Gilead was also white supremacist and any white woman who had been in interracial marriages were also considered “immoral.”

Anyway, banning abortion is not Gilead.