Females, the easy target for everything.
“Nature demands variety, for men. It’s part of the procreational strategy. It’s nature plan.” (298). If men have desires, females do to; they are too brought to this world with the vital organs and emotions that males are born with. Despite this truly convincing fact, Males are considered more superior in many societies similarly to the society of Gilead. Margret Atwood presents a dystopian novel with extreme consequences of a male dominant society. Through the use of tropology and character, The Handmaid’s tale, portrays sexism and hatred towards females by focusing on objectification of women in the society of Gilead, highlighting the misuse of women by contrasting the similarities between Gilead and the society that existed before Gilead. The reader is more aware of Atwood’s message that human nature causes humans to be controlling and rebellious when they are put in a restricted environment. The reader recognizes the outcome of sexism and hatred towards females which have existed for decades and serious action must be taken to stop theses forms of discriminations in order to make this world a better world for females.
In today’s society, females work for less than men while they are doing the same exact work, and some of them also have to be the victims of sexual harassment at work. To top is all off, they are expected to look and behave a certain way so men can accept them because men will surely pick a female wearing a mini skirt over a female wearing baggy jeans, and it is part of their nature. This issue runs in all aspects of different societies and isn’t going anywhere because this stereotype is deeply embedded in the psyche of our society. These stereotypes are present in the media and this means that these gender roles are considered part of entertainment; they are accepted by everyone in our society as being “proper” even if they create inequality and discrimination in our lives. Through the use of tropology the reader sees the similarities in pre-Gilead and in Gilead females were the target of oppression and they had to sacrifices their rights so men don’t commit immoral acts such as gang rape on the females. In pre-Gilead females were degraded and during the conversion from pre-Gilead to Gilead all the clothing that males thought was “sexy” or too revealing was burned, this is articulated through the quote “Clean-cut stony-faced young men tossing things onto the flames, armfuls of silk and nylon and fake fur, lime-green, red, violet; black satin, gold lamé, glittering silver; bikini underpants, see-through brassieres with pink-sating hearts sewon on to cover the nipples.” (288) Which proves that women were exploited because of the way they dressed, the clothing proposed that the working women in pre-Gilead had sex appeal because of the way they dressed, moreover the colors of clothing listed in the quotation suggest that wearing such clothing means freedom, joy and thrill. Secondly, female bodies were exploited and objectified through pornography and there was a strong presence of sexual violence against females which is articulated through the quote, “Sometimes the movie she showed would be an old porno film, from the seventies or eighties. Women kneeling sucking penises or guns, women tied up or chained with dog collars around their necks, women hanging from tress or upside-down, naked with their legs held apart, women being raped, beaten up, killed. Once we had to watch a woman being slowly cut into pieces, her fingers and breast slowly cut with garden shears... consider the alternatives, said Aunt Lydia” (148). Through this horrifying imagery, it is learned that women were objectified in Gilead and pre-Gilead but the methods were different, the quote represents the job of females in pre-Gilead and how they were objects of society and products for the men population. The quote uses strong imagery to show that the females we exposed to brutal violence and sexuality, and how Gilead will protect them if they accept there fate in the new society that they have enter. But in Gilead as well the females were objects, they were still a target for sexual desires. Through the use of tropology extremes forms of misogyny are displayed in the society of Gilead, the women in Gilead are denied the basic rights of owning property, they aren’t allowed to work outside of their homes, they can’t take ownership on the children that they conceive and they have no choice in daily life as they are assigned to, who they can have sexual relations with, who they can be friends with and what clothes they wear. Women are grouped according to their duties in Gilead “Red shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not meant for dancing. The red gloves…everything except the wings around my face are red: the color of blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over our breasts the sleeves are full,” (9). Through this detailed imagery, the quote shows the restrictions on the handmaids and how they can’t expose themselves to the men of Gilead, the color and appearance of the clothing is simple and boring, reflecting on their jobs as handmaids who just have one specific duty and that is to repopulate Gilead, their lack of freedom is shown as they have no choice, personality and individuality. The shoes “flat-heeled” shows that they can’t present their sensuality, on the other hand, the wives that wear high heels shows power, control and a stimulant for sexual needs. The importance of the color red to the comparing of blood symbolizes fertility and womanhood; it also symbolizes danger for the people of Gilead to stay away from the handmaids. It also reminds the reader of a fairytale “the little red riding hood” hence, it is ironic because the life of a handmaid is nothing like a fairytale and they are represents political prostitutes. Moreover Gilead’s regime is extra strict on females, the violence towards is seen during the mass execution. “Beneath the hems of the dresses the feet dangle, two pairs of red shoes, one pair of blue. If it weren’t for the ropes and the sacks it could be a kind of dance, a ballet, caught by flash-camera; mid-air. They look arranged. They look like showbiz.” (346), through this visual imagery and simile, something brutal like death is presented as a performance of some sort. In this extract, Gilead is shown to have power and isn’t afraid to take lives of females, and someone’s life has no value in Gilead, because everyone can be easily replaced.
