The Handmaid’s Tale was first published in 1985 by Margaret Atwood, and was celebrated as a feminist novel centred on a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. When the Hulu television series based on the original book premiered in 2017, viewers were quick to recognise the similarities between the show and what was happening in numerous countries across the world, where women’s rights were at risk of erosion. With the fourth season beginning in April 2021, the TV show has sparked several conversations on a woman’s right to choose and the dangers of what can happen when the State strips that fundamental right away.
Kerry Abel, the Chair of Abortion Rights UK, said: “The Handmaid’s Tale has shifted the conversation of abortion away from just talking about the foetus and focuses instead on the control of women. The women in The Handmaid’s Tale’s backstory had rich and diverse lives compared to their roles as incubators in Gilead.”
The handmaids in Gilead (the new name for what was once the United States of America) wear long red dresses to signify they are fertile along with a white headdress to hide their peripheral vision, and must submit to the male leaders of Gilead. Their names no longer exist; June Osborne, played by Elisabeth Moss in the TV adaptation, becomes Offred—literally of-Fred, the name of her Commander.
The handmaids are subjected to state-sanctioned rape once a month where their Commander attempts to impregnate their handmaid and produce a child for him and his infertile wife. This horrendous act, named ‘the ceremony’, is painful to watch, as the handmaids are not even regarded as autonomous people. The right to control their bodies is not a concept in Gilead as they are forced to bear children that they are not even allowed to mother.
Kerry Abel added: “Since The Handmaid’s Tale aired, the United States has seen several abortion clinics shut down and a change of laws attempted in states like Alabama and Georgia. There are still waves of anti-choice legislation being pushed through states even after Trump left the White House and the implications will be felt for years to come with an anti-choice Supreme Court.”
Viewers were quick to notice the frightening similarities between what was happening in The Handmaid’s Tale and Trump’s anti-choice message. In March 2016, Trump said women seeking abortions should endure “some form of punishment”, and this awful rhetoric was echoed on our screens in Gilead just a year later. Women in the show were no longer allowed to own property, have access to their bank accounts, nor leave the country, effectively making women property of the State.
In our reality, several abortion clinics in states from Alabama to Georgia in 2017 and 2018 were closed or heavily scaled back, and women would arrive at the State Congress to protest the restrictive bills wearing Handmaid-inspired outfits. The red dresses and white ‘wings’ were symbolic of changes in law that could lead to a complete federal ban on abortion, and result in similar circumstances to that of Gilead, where women no longer had the right to control their bodies.
Abel added: “The dystopia set out in the fictional Gilead is very real for a woman in Texas who can’t afford the money or the five-hour drive for her abortion because the law has made it so difficult to keep clinics open. Indeed, in Poland, where they are protesting against the almost complete abortion ban, the situation is bleak, and the campaigners are facing draconian attacks on their civil liberties.”
The Women’s March, which occurred on 21 January 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration, was brought to mind when June and her best friend Moira were protesting the stripping of their civil and economic liberties in the TV series. Indeed, many events in the TV series suddenly seemed like they could become a reality, such as declaring martial law, as seen in the wake of the Capitol insurrection in January this year, denying the freedom to protest, as seen in the UK’s recent anti-protest bill and increased police powers, and the stripping of LGBTQ+ freedoms, as seen in Poland’s discriminatory ‘LGBTQ+-free’ zones.
Without explicitly mentioning its name, the #MeToo movement is alluded to at the end of season two when Fred and Serena Waterford visit Canada. When the Canadian public becomes aware of the abuse towards women in Gilead, a display of women hold placards saying “Her name is…”, referencing the stripping of women’s identities in Gilead. Canadian refugee Moira, who was forced to change her name to Ruby when working in the brothel ‘Jezebels’ in Gilead, approaches Fred Waterford saying, “My name is Moira… not Ruby, asshole.”
Abel concluded: “‘We know, where bans and restrictions happen in one part of the world, it re-emboldens those who want to take abortion away elsewhere, so this has wider significance to us all. Abortion Rights UK ensures this discussion is kept in the public eye, so we see the end to abortion stigma and restrictive access.”
At the end of season three, June manages to help nearly a hundred children escape to Canada. The little girls cannot believe their luck when they are told Canada does not enforce dress codes and allows women to read and write. The innocence of the children, who do not even realise their lack of freedom, is incredibly poignant, and reinforces the desire to never let a totalitarian regime like Gilead arise.
The Handmaid’s Tale has certainly opened up discussions on a woman’s right to control her own body, and the dangers of what can happen once that right slowly diminishes. I’m certain that season four of series will only add to that conversation, and this feminist cannot wait!
Words by Dorothy Reddin
This article was published as part of The Indiependent‘s May 2021 magazine edition.
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