Lit Log #2: Infantilization and Oppression

Women can’t add, he once said, jokingly. When I asked him what he meant, he said, For them, one and one and one and one don’t make four. What do they make? I said, expecting five or three. Just one and one and one and one, he said.

He is the Commander, Fred, in his office with Offred, but in Offred’s mind on page 186 of The Handmaid’s Tale. The two chatted after their regular game of Scrabble, the tensions between them diminishing with each secret rendez-vous. After Offred asks about the Commander about the phrase in faux Latin, she offers to write it down. The Commander hesitates, considering whether to allow this forbidden usage of a pen or pencil, which is what pushes Offred to remember what he said about women and simple arithmetic.

Adding is the first math operation that is taught to young children, so it is statistically untrue that women cannot add. Plus, to assume that women would fail to perform at a task that is expected of small children is to diminish the skillset and value of an entire group of people. This is the first step to objectifying women. To determine (falsely) that they are simply incapable of doing certain tasks, rather than trying and being wrong. This way, they are prevented from doing anything other than whatever they assign to them, which in the case of The Handmaid’s Tale, is being silent and carrying children.

What’s more with the Commander’s statement is the implication that women are not allowed to add. They are not allowed to prove his misconception wrong. This means two things. First, the Commander and whoever else “believes” in the sentiment that women are incapable know that they are wrong. They know that their statements fail to be backed up by any scientific evidence or research, but they don’t need to care about scientific evidence as long as they maintain a faux image of power. As long as the Commanders and men keep the women oppressed, stripped of any opportunity to prove themselves and refute the Commanders’ facade of superiority. If women are given a chance, the Commanders know that they will actually thrive and excel, which means there is nothing that makes men superior, and their power becomes useless.

This phenomenon is not exclusive to The Handmaid’s Tale unfortunately. I was immediately reminded of the horror, infantilization, and verbal abuse experienced by women in the gaming community. I have personal ties to this, as my family tried to prevent me from playing video games entirely, always treating the satement, “Girls don’t play video games” as a rule. All of the girls and women in the gaming scope are treated as though they were clueless, needing a man to mansplain and guide them through the game. All of the stereotypes of girls who have cutesy, pink gaming setups who are not treated or respected as “real” gamers, and at the same time, they are reduced to being a sexually favorable woman, being subjected to all types of sexual harrassment. My friends who play combat or RPG games that are male-dominated have expressed hiding their voices or deepening it to avoid being perceived as a woman.

Further examples are in STEM fields, politics, and any argument against women in leadership. Women engineers, for example, are scarce, because of the harassment and undermining they receive. For example, when I interviewed Ms. Serenity Baruzzini last year about her experience as a woman studying engineering, she recalled a story where a male professor said the best students he’s ever had were students who said they were engineers who happened to be women, and that her identities as a woman and engineer should be completely independent of each other. Again, this shows how women being in the STEM field is so unexpected that the entire image of an engineer aligns with a man. This image excludes women and discourages them from pursuing a pathway where they could really thrive.

The last example is the argument that women are too emotional to be leaders. I’ve heard it all the time. In politics, STEM, everywhere. However, research literally suggests that women are more effective leaders. Back to the point of the Commander, it is so much easier to shut women out from these fields and claim that they are incapable, than try to justify their falseties when women are more effective than men. It’s interesting that the Commanders in The Handmaid’s Tale have to continuously oppress and reframe the ethics of their society to prove that they are right. To prove that they are superior. Even though it works in Gilead, it’s no doubt there are flaws in their logic. Especially now when the state of our nation is fragile and uncertain, it is important to remember to poke holes in arguments until they are sound. No one should be reduced, objectified, and infantlized. Oppression will not win.