Life As A Handmaid

The first thing I want to talk about is how in The Handmaid’s Tale they aren’t allowed to look at magazines because they are outlawed. The whole idea of them being outlawed is because it will think of individuality and in Gilead which is a sin because the women are only supposed to think about bearing children. It also tells how women should dress, in the book it describes the colors of what the girls wear, and they all have no individuality for them to stand out from the rest. Sexuility has a lot to do with it too because in some magazines it shows nudity and skin and the point of being a “woman” is being modest for men so you can find a good husband because that’s what men like. One quote I found interesting was,“Staring at the magazine, as he dangled it before me like fish bait, I wanted it. I wanted it with a force that made the ends of my fingers ache. At the same time I saw this longing of mine as trivial and absurd, because I’d taken such magazines lightly enough once. I’d read them in dentists’ offices, and sometimes on planes; I’d bought them to take to hotel rooms, a device to fill in empty time while I was waiting for Luke. After I’d leafed through them I would throw them away, for they were infinitely discardable, and a day or two later I wouldn’t be able to remember what had been in them. Though I remembered now.” It reminded me of how women would have been inspiring the world with their creativity and showing their difference in the world.

Shopping was a big part of Gilead. The handmaid’s would grocery shop mostly everyday for their households, and it was a part of their “culture” since they did it a lot. This relates to the shopping bags because it shows what is acceptable for what women should do, and how a woman should accomplish her everyday duties. How women are viewed in the society like all women are good for is to bring home food and shop in piers to “safety” What roles a woman should play in being a handmaid.

The difference between modesty and immodesty is one tells more about what kind of girl you are. Modesty plays a big factor in in this book because the men believe that the women get raped or SA because of the clothes they wear. It also has to do with the bible, in the bible the women shouldn’t be showing no skin because it gives a man right to stare at her sexually and you would be a whore if you didn’t cover up. “Two-thirty comes during Testifying. It’s Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion.But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault. We chant in unison. Who led them on? She did. She did. She did. Why did God allow such a terrible thing to happen? Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson.” Men try to explain this by covering up and we as women wouldn’t be seen as sexual beings.