The Handmaid’s Tale is one of Margaret Atwood’s most popular works. Published in 1985, the novel is of the dystopian genre and speaks of tragedy and speculative fiction in a typical dystopian fantasy model. Set in the near future, the novel is based on the region of New England and comprises of a totalitarian, heavily patriarchal and white supremacist society. The region in question is known as the Republic of Gilead, with the presiding authority having overthrown the US government. Offred is the main protagonist in this Atwood novel and is a woman who is part of the group of women known as handmaids. The handmaids had their reproductive rights suppressed and were handpicked and assigned the task of bearing children for a group of ruling class men who were known as commanders. The novel is a story of these women, the suppression of their rights, the place and struggle of women in a patriarchal society and their attempts at overcoming these challenges (Kurikkala, 2018).
The group of fertile women who are selected as handmaids commonly use a phrase “under the eye”. The phrase has religious connotations since the Republic of Gilead is set in a highly theocratic society. It refers to the religious thinking that God is always watching over everyone. For the handmaids, it was a reminder to them that God was always watching their actions, and that the oppressive government was a benevolent watchful force, with their best interests in mind. The phrase also refers to the powerful male leaders and elite within the Republic of Gilead who constantly keep an eye on the handmaids. The police force has several spies who are sent out to spy on all the people of Gilead. They are supposed to turn in those who harbor resentment against the authority, dissenters, and traitors in general. The phrase ‘under his eye’ therefore has religious overtones as well as totalitarian and patriarchal undertones (Rhyne, 2019).
As initially noted, The Handmaid’s Tale is doused in heavy themes of patriarchy, masculinity and the general structure of patriarchy. This chapter will assess how the theme of patriarchy is drawn, the structures of patriarchy are set up, and the way masculinity and traditional gender roles are presented in the handmaid’s tale.
1.1 Patriarchy
Margaret Atwood presents the way the authority enforces patriarchy upon the people of Gilead, with the reader then able to draw comparisons with their own society. One of the ways in which Atwood presents patriarchy in the Gilead society is through the use of language. The novel uses language as a means of maintaining a patriarchal authority and for conveying the structure of the same. It serves as a critique of our own society and the problems present within as a result of our own structure of language. One of the ways in which language is used to convey patriarchy is through the various labels that the people of Gilead are assigned. Apart from the fertile women who are called handmaids, there are also Marthas, wives and Commanders. Each of the labels denote various levels of societal status and convey special significance about an individual’s role in the society. The labels also carry with them various prejudices about the person carrying that label. Women are isolated due to the labels they carry, and are assigned inferior roles in society meant to please the men (Matthews, 2018). In addition to the labels, the people of Gilead also have designated colors of clothing to help identify them from the other groups. In regards to the assigned roles and colors, Offred says “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Marthas, some in the striped dressed, red and blue and green and cheap and skimpy, that mark the women of the poorer men” (Atwood, 1985, P 24).
The effect of the labels and the using of color coding to separate women from men and segregate them into different classes is profound. Women lose their self identity and are unable to recognise themselves from the roles assigned to them. Women can only recognise themselves in respect of the label attached to them, and consequently the color coding they are matched to and the social role assigned to them. Again, the concept of women losing their self identity as a result of the patriarchal nature of the state is seen when Offred glances at a mirror and sees the image of herself “like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger” (Atwood, 1985, P 8). Women are therefore unable to identify themselves beyond their labels as handmaids or marthas, and beyond their color.
Patriarchy in The Handmaid’s Tale is enforced further in the context of sexual reproduction. While women can be described as fertile or fruitful and others as barren, the law states that men cannot be referred to as sterile. The removal of certain phrases and terms from the state’s lexicon enhances the structures of patriarchy and gender stereotypes. While men cannot be at fault for any reproduction issues, women on the other hand are to be blamed for all arising issues. This increases the societal pressure and expectations placed upon women. The patriarchal nature of the sexual reproduction language used in Gilead is captured when Offred says: “There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law” (Atwood, 1985 p 61). Women who are not able to give birth to healthy babies are labeled the term ‘unwomen’. They are sent to colonies which is a punishment for their inability to procreate fruitfully like other women. Women are therefore robbed of their humanity through the patriarchal laws and system that has been put in place (Barkass-Williamson, 2016).
In the patriarchal Gilead society, women are treated as commodities that can be easily replaced. They are accorded no sense of individuality and humanity and this is visible from the names assigned to them. A woman’s sense of identity is taken away from her and instead, the government replaces it with their own idea of what the woman should identify as (Calvi, 2020). Handmaids have names such as Offred, Ofglen and Ofwarren. The patriarchal undernotes in the names are very visible. The handmaids are not just named according to their desires, but in accordance with their commander’s name. This gives the idea that the women are nothing more than the properties of their masters. They can be replaced at any time, like it happened with Ofglen who was replaced by a new ‘Ofglen’. While these women have their names which were assigned to them at birth, they are forbidden from using them which ensures that the individuality in their identity is removed.
Gilead also uses religion and the scripture to reinforce the patriarchal notions it exerts on its citizens. For example, when Aunt Lydia reads the scripture to the handmaids, she reads the part that states “Blessed are the meek”. For the women, this is supposed to make them believe that their humility and unquestioning nature will be fruitful for them. However, Aunty Lydia omits the rest of that specific piece of scripture which reads that the meek shall inherit the earth. This could possibly mean that the women are entitled to much more rights than they are subjected to and this is the reason she omits it (Atwood, 1985 p 64). The women of Gilead are not allowed to read, and as a result, they are unable to discern that the scripture verses read to them are altered. Patriarchal notions about the place of women in society are therefore easily reinforced through misinterpretation of the scripture.
Upon the rise to power of the Gilead authority, women were the first victims as it sought to institute a patriarchal society. Women were dismissed from all their jobs, all the funds they held were transferred to the male members of their family, and they were prevented from pursuing education. While Aunts were the most powerful women within Gilead, they still were not as powerful as Guardians and angels. The segregation of women into groups further enhanced patriarchal notions. Marthas served as maids and servants as well as wives. Handmaids on the other hand served the sole purpose of bearing children. Jezebels were whores while the women who dared to confront this social structure were labeled unwomen and sent to colonies (Zarrinjooee and Shirin, 2017). Within these structures and set up, patriarchy was forged and women were only seen as fitting for their respective roles.
1.2 The Structures of Patriarchy
Patriarchy is presented in several structures in The Handmaid’s Tale, starting from the home and household, to matters of governance. There are six levels through which patriarchy manifests itself in the novel. At the basic level, it is manifested in the housework and domestic chores, in employment and the work field, in governance matters, in social and economic aspects of life, in gender and sexuality and finally in the general culture of the society. While patriarchy manifests itself on these different levels, they interact with one another to form the various structures of patriarchy in Gilead (Bartkowski, 1989).
In respect to household and domestic chores, women are relegated to handling all the small domestic chores while men are presented as being socially successful. preparing meals, housekeeping, taking care of children and other deserving family members, and doing domestic shopping, among other roles of that sort, depicts the primary responsibilities that were left in the women’s sphere of influence. Women are in charge of all duties such as preparation of all house and family meals, housekeeping, raising children and taking care of them as well as taking care of other members of the family, in addition to doing domestic shopping, amongst other small roles. Women would only be maintained in the household if they satisfactorily accomplished the roles assigned to them. Families are the basic social unit of the Gilead society with men at the pinnacle and women below them.
Another visible structure of patriarchy in The Handmaid’s Tale is through work and employment. When the Gilead regime overturned the existing government, it initially set out to dismiss all women from the jobs they held. Consequently, within the social set up, women are looked down upon as being worthless. The lowest jobs are reserved for women and they are basically viewed as being the most worthless part of the society. The segregation according to social classes puts women in a class which is deemed the most worthless of all. All the jobs the women were supposed to do were low skilled jobs (Lerner, 1986). The nature of the approach towards employment and work cemented the patriarchal nature of the Gilead society.
As noted above, governance of the state is another level through which the structure of patriarchy manifested itself in the Gilead society. Through governance, patriarchy was enforced. The laws that reduced women to being second class citizens and not worthy of being on the same level as men were passed through the governance process. Like capitalism and racism, governance was used widely to enforce patriarchal notions in the society. Through governance, patriarchy in The Handmaid’s Tale is pushed both politically and socially. Workers unions that were ultra-politicised and dominated by men pushed for the adoption of legislation that would ensure many employed women were fired en masse. Women then found employment opportunities hard to come by with only the lowest ranking jobs available to them.
Patriarchy in Gilead also structured itself in the form of violence meted out against women. Gender violence against women is almost a norm. Violence is depicted in many forms throughout the novel and it is interesting to note that society tolerates male violence thus making it legal. The authority’s refusal to investigate various violent activities based on the gender of the wrongdoer is evidence of this. Harassment along gender and sexual lines, rape, and domestic violence are among the actions condoned by the government. In cases where such actions are committed by ‘successful’ high ranking men in the Gilead society, the government turns a blind eye to the actions. Violence is therefore one of the prominent ways through which patriarchal structures are set up in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Another way through which the patriarchal structure manifests itself in the Gilead society is through sexuality. In an ideal society, sexuality is something private where every man and woman alike has the right to choose what pleases them and pursue it. This is not so in the Gilead society where women have no voice over societal issues regarding sexuality (Chadha, 2009). The state has instituted a patriarchal system which is founded on gender basis. Through this system, the state has control over women’s desires, their choice on whether to reproduce or bear children, along with other aspects of sexuality such as sexual pleasure. In such a system, women are objectified and viewed only as sexual objects whose purpose is to please and satisfy the men. In the Gilead society, the men are raised with this mindset. They grow up knowing that women are sexual objects who can be used as one pleases.
Finally, patriarchal structure in The Handmaid’s Tale is evident through the culture of the Gilead state. The cultural set up adopted in Gilead is highly patriarchal and undermines women in many aspects. The other levels of patriarchal structure described above all tie in to the aspect of culture. The objectification of women, adoption of social roles based on gender, assigning women the role of reproduction, and segregating them into various groups all boils down to culture. Culture has a big role in setting up patriarchal structures all over the world. Cultural practices such as female genital mutilation in several African communities, the cultural practice of foot binding adopted across some Asian communities, and the practice of gynaecological operations in many Western states are examples of cultural practices that help to enrich a patriarchal structure. Through these six levels described, patriarchy in The Handmaid’s Tale is structured in a way that women are always looked down on, with their rights trampled upon and their sense of self identity taken away.
1.3 Masculinity
Masculinity manifests itself in various ways in The Handmaid’s Tale. It is worth noting that in Gilead, the nature of the relationship between men and women is hegemonic. Prior to the overthrowing of the previous regime, there were various representations of non-hegemonic masculinity. This is mostly presented through Luke who was married to Offred. Offred constantly reminisces about her time together with Luke. They had planned to set up a family together, have children and buy a house. Luke does not follow the normative definitions of masculinity. While hegemonic masculinity usually involves the man using their masculinity to dominate the woman, Luke does not do this. Instead, he compromises with women. In his conversations with Offred, it is visible that he considers her an equal. Their interests are discussed on an equal footing.
The Handmaid’s Tale portrays masculinity as a dominant and hyper-sexualized trait (Barco Cuesta, 2018). The roles of Nick and the Commander in society show stratification within the male gender. Initially, the men appear to have dominion over the women. They are the ones in power, the heads of the household, like the Commander. The men act as guards and have access to upward mobility in society. Their ability to move is shown during the marriage ceremony, when Offred says that “The Angels will qualify for Handmaids, later, especially if their new wives can’t produce. But you girls are stuck,” (Atwood, 1985 p 221). Contrary to those in power, Nick still adheres to their past societal values. The passing comments he makes towards Offred, saying “Nice walk?” while Offred replies “I nod, but I do not answer with my voice. He isn’t supposed to speak to me,” (Atwood, 1985 p 45), which demonstrates how Nick disregards societal boundaries.
Luke and Nick aside, most of the other presentations of masculinity in The Handmaid’s tale convey hegemonic masculinity. Men generally treat women with contempt and look down upon them. They are not seen as equals and this brings out the aspect of hegemony. In addition, men have to uphold several behavioral patterns that denote masculinity. They are expected to maintain the highest levels of confidence, heroism, overall tenacity, and individualistic courage to provide and protect the family. The conception of masculinity in Gilead leads to the performance of many unethical practices. It is clear that Offred for example has been subjected to harassment and other forms of oppression by the dominant male gender. Her ability to bear children is misused by the state, and her family is broken up so that she can be used as a servant elsewhere.
Being male in gender is depicted as being a privilege by the narrator. Members of the male gender are accorded many benefits at the expense of the expense of women. On the basis of masculinity, men are given free picks over many things. For example, they are allowed to make advances towards women they desire, while the women cannot reject such advances. In the end, the men believe that it is their right to bear these privileges. An example is when the commander makes advances at Offred. Offred cannot reject his advances even though she would probably want to. The effect of masculinity on the Gilead society is therefore that men are rewarded for their masculinity while on the other hand, women are punished for being feminine. Men are accorded respect and power, and this drives fear into the heart of women who do not have the same benefits as the men have (Carrigan et l, 2018).
1.4 Traditional Gender Roles
In most societies, societal roles are usually assigned due to gender. While there has been a push in recent decades to do away with gender-assigned roles in favor of uniformity across all genders, gender roles still reign supreme. In the contemporary world, there are many societies that still uphold classification of roles according to gender. In the traditional setting, it was viewed that assigning roles according to gender got the best out of everybody. Women were traditionally assigned household duties and chores including bringing up children, while men would go to work and provide for the family. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are assigned general household duties since they are considered inferior to men. Men on the other hand are involved in the core activities of the society such as politics and economic decision making. This means that they wield all the power. Through a hierarchical power structure, the commander in chief was the most powerful person in Gilead. Other men were also powerful with the hierarchy trickling down to the women as the least powerful of the society.
To enhance the gender structure and roles, men were given the role of spies who oversaw the activities of everyone in Gilead and would tell on dissenters and traitors. The activities of the spies and the nature of their work enhanced the level of power men had in the Gilead society. Women who were found to be against the ruling authority were sent to colonies as punishment. This meant that the spies were feared, and this is evident in Offred’s actions and thoughts. She was constantly in fear of being watched by a spy. Men are given the role of protecting the society, with most acting as security in one capacity or another, either at their family level or at state level. Men also lead the society.
Women are considered to be of no importance to matters regarding the affairs of the state. Since they are considered weak, women have no place in politics or in the decision making of the state. As a result, presumably the most important role assigned to women is that of bearing children. They are expected to be fruitful in order to bear the children. The roles assigned to women are characteristic of the nature expected of them. They are expected to be respectful and obedient. Gender roles assigned to women are therefore lowly in nature and meant to make them meek and restrained. Roles assigned to men on the other hand are designed to make them powerful.
The Gilead society is therefore structured in a way to uplift men while women are considered almost worthless. The spying system used by the authority is the genesis of the phrase ‘under his eye’. In addition, patriarchal structures set up, the use of religion, and the concept of masculinity all work hand in hand to empower men and diminish the status of women. The assignment of roles according to gender also ensures that women are only involved in activities that undermine their status.
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