Handmaid's Tale Feminist Analysis

Women did not have equal rights like men did back in the 1960ś and this then caused a rise of the second feminist movement wave and lasted till 1990ś arrived. In the 1960ś women were limited to doing normal everyday things they did such as anything that involved schooling and going to work in certain areas, but the majority of women were known as stay at home wives. Not only did women not have equal rights, but had to deal with the domestic violence and rape at home for their husbands or any men. The feminist movement is for women who do not have reproductive rights, leave, equal pay, protection from sexual harassment, sexism, etc. Women are fighting for something they should’ve been obligated since they reached their legal age.

feminists are the women (and males) who fight for equality between the two genders, that includes pay, the household, stopping street harassment and other issues. Something feminists are confused as, misandrists, they are the complete opposites of what feminism is, feminists do not hate men, and those who believe this must be educated. The first feminist document was Mary Wollstonecraft’s “vindications of the rights of women (1792)”, but the real change happens when “Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others, in a women's convention at Seneca Falls N.Y. issued a declaration of independence for women, demanding full equality, full educational and commercial opportunity, equal compensation, the right to collect wages, and the right to vote, the movement spread

Society can both be really great and progress forward, but at times society can turn for the worst and progress backwards. In Margaret Atwood’s Fictional book The Handmaid’s Tale. The main character Offred in the Republic of Gilead as a handmaid. In the book the purpose of a handmaid is to reproduce and bear children for older, wealthier men whose wives cannot have children. In addition to being a handmaid Offred and all the women of Gilead are not allowed to read, write, own money, or dress immodest. Men, however, have more power being able to read, write and are able to own themselves.

For many, feminist movement is about giving women liberty, equal opportunity and control over their own destiny. C. ISLAMIC FEMINISM In many Muslim countries, the “f” word (feminism) has sparked tensions, conjuring images of domineering, family-hating woman; similar to other labels such as “Muslim” conjuring images of subjugated woman in the mind of the West. Although these stereotypes are true in a specific historical context, these may not be so when compared to a larger reality. Thus, this does not justify the hostility that follows.

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.” Although written 100 years earlier, this is also seen in the novel, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, because both authors show the oppression of women through the experiences the characters go through and the means of survival they use. The two novels, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas

The Handmaid’s Tale is based in a futuristic world and it contains a strictly enforced control on all the people. This system is called The Republic of Gilead. All must follow the rules set in Gilead and not dare to overstep them. The laws are due to the decreasing number of fertile women and based on biblical teachings. The Handmaid’s roles in this novel are significant; however, their freedom and rights are viewed inferior towards men.

In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group. This society is governed by men, the Commanders with the assistance of Aunts, then comes the Wives, Handmaid’s and Moira. Gilead was formed as a response to the dramatic decreasing birth rates, thus women called Handmaid’s are used to rejuvenate the population. How and why are different social groups represented in a particular way in The Handmaid’s Tale?

5). The first wave feminists are regarded as the ‘godmothers’ of feminism because they claimed for controversial and critical changes, which then became part of women’s lives (Baumgardner & Richards, 2000; Henry, 2004; Heywood, 2006, as cited in Ewig & Ferree, 2013, p. 448). They laid the ground for further following feminists’ waves and movements, as for example the second wave of feminism (1960s – 1970s). Intersectionality was one of the ground-breaking differences in comparison to the first wave of feminism. The second wave feminists included a variety of women, other than just the white-bourgeoisie western women.

Often, we see a society’s cultural values reflected in its citizens. For example, the United States values equality, a standard that is shared in all facets including gender. The opposite is true of Gilead, a fictional society in Emily Bronte’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel’s main character, Offred, is subjected to degrading treatment simply because she is a woman. It becomes apparent that this repeated degradation has affected the protagonist’s mind. Through first-person point of view and the motif of eyes, Brontë establishes the effects of Gilead’s patriarchal society on Offred’s psychological and moral traits, revealing that the only way to survive in an oppressive society is to outwardly conform.

Thesis- Margaret Atwood criticizes what we all know and have, Women's Rights, but Atwood takes them away even the most important parts of all women, being able to own a house, or having a bank account, even being able to speak your mind.

Many themes present in this week’s assigned reading of the Handmaids Tale exist in our contemporary society. The two most intriguing scenarios that demonstrate this include the doctor forcing himself on Offred and the reaction to Janine’s fourteen year old rape story.

In the 1960’s people like Malcolm X and Dr. King fought for the civil rights of African-Americans, while women like the Suffragettes and Betty Friedan fought for the civil rights of women. Feminism has come in four waves in American culture, the first starting in the early 19th century, and the fourth starting around 2012 and continuing to present day. The first wave of feminism consisted of women trying to gain rights to vote, their own reproductive rights, and trying to bring attention to domestic violence against them. Feminism today consists of women trying to fight for equal rights to those of men, like having the same wages, the same social standards, and trying to break gender stereotypes. Feminism has grown and widely spread around

Feminist is ‘a political position’, the female is ‘a matter of biology’ and feminine is ‘a set of culturally defined characteristics’. The representation of women in literature is one of the most important forms of ‘socialization’ and it provided the role models which indicated to women and men to constitute an acceptable version of the ‘feminine’. (122) There are three waves of feminism: the first wave was in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the second was in the 1960s and 1970s and the third from the 1970s to the present. The first wave refers mainly to “women’s suffrage” movements (mainly concerned with women’s right to vote).

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood demonstrates a quizzical protagonist, Offred, in a dystopian, totalitarian society where fertile women are only a mere vessel for child birth. Every month during Offred’s menstrual cycle her Commander, Fred, and his wife Serena Joy perform detached intercourse while Serena holds Offred’s hands. The handmaids of the Republic of Gilead are not allowed to use their mind for knowledge nor take part in formal society. They are but the vacuous-minded property to their Commanders and their infertile wives. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred discloses the day to day moments and her commicalOffred had once lived in a world where she was her own person with a job and a home with a family of her own but now she lives under unfortunate circumstances that disable her from being a true, soulful human. Through the use of biblical allusions and specific word

Feminism has long challenged the societal norms for women, giving them liberation in clothing and thoughts. Some people believe that to be a feminist is to hate men but they are wrong, feminism is to seek equality. Most of the ideas and goals of feminism stay the same no matter which wave of feminism is being looked at. This generation of feminism, known as the fourth wave, is focused most on challenging misogyny and sexism where it exists (Feminism). One movement has shown up in response to the fourth wave feminists called the Men’s Rights Movement; this movement seeks to belittle feminists.