The Handmaid's Tale Mini-playlist

What Was I Made For (By Billie Eilish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpnTd9Dx2OM The song “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish was originally proposed for the Barbie movie, but to me it resonates with society’s stereotypes. This song in particular is written from the perspective of a female, questioning what she has to do with her life. There are moments in The Handmaid’s Tale where this theme is shown. The role that the Handmaids play is to only reproduce and have sex with men. Not only Offred has to follow the rules of Gilead, all women feel strangely controlled by men. Owning the opposite gender means that the female characters in Gilead have no choice of what they can do. In Gilead it is the only requirement they need to fill. If not, the women are considered outcasts or unwomen.

Verse 1: Takin’ a drive, I was an ideal, Looked so alive, turns out I’m not real, Just something you paid for, What was I made for?

Boys Will Be Boys (By Dua Lipa) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QWX2M7W7M The female community are both referenced in this song and in the section “Jezebel’s” of The Handmaid’s Tale. The Commander uses his title to get what he wants. The section focused on the wrong and secretive relationship of Offred and the Commander. The skimpy outfit the Commander made Offred wear to Jezebel’s implies that his intentions are only about sex. Only about his gain and pleasure. “Better never means, better for everyone, he says, it always means worse, for some.” (211) The Commander abuses his power and decides what body parts should be seen or covered. In verse 3, the lyric, “And that was sarcasm, in case you needed it mansplained…” shows a stereotype that takes place in society.

Verse 3: I’m sure there’s something that I can’t find the words to say. I know that there will be a man around to save the day. And that was sarcasm, in case you needed it mansplained, I should’ve stuck to ballet.

Best Days (By Alessia Cara) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEIAcNu6FpI The men in Gilead have a higher role in the society. There are moments where the Commander requests Offred’s presence in his office, where she is not allowed to be. This shows how the Commander can bend the rules for his own pleasure. The relationship between Offred and the Commander starts out as a transactional relationship, but then begins to take an unwarranted turn. “I visit the Commander two or three nights a week, always after dinner, but only when I get the signal.” (p 154). Similarly the song includes uncertainty about life that is not controllable. That interaction with the world around you will change your life in one way or another. What will the next day bring?

Verse 3: What if my best days are the days I’ve left behind? And what if the rest stays the same for all my life? I’m running with my eyes closed, so it goes. You live and then you die. But the hardest pill to swallow is the meantime. Are the best days just the one that we survive?

Locked Out of Heaven (By Bruno Mars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMXxialNbo The song Locked Out of Heaven includes themes about sexual relationships and religious wording. In The Handmaid’s Tale sex is important and is brought up in daily life. Yet, the conversations never seem to be public. Always in private and voiced inside the characters head. “What we prayed for with emptiness so we would be worthy to be filled: with grace, with love, with self denial, semen and babies.” (p 194) There are word choices in Margret Atwood’s writing that challenge the reader to think about the purpose of the female gender.

Verse 1: Never had much faith in love or miracles (ooh), Never wanna put my heart on the line (ooh), But swimmin in your water’s something spiritual (ooh), I’m born again every time you spend the night (ooh)

Dear Society (By Madison Beer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buildkXr1h0 Madison Beer uses her skills of writing lyrics to use metaphors/symbols. Atwood also uses symbolism to indicate the connection to the current world. Cigarettes can be hurtful to a human’s insides. There can be mental and physical consequences. Magazines, another symbol that often comes up in the novel. Images of almost naked women and sexual ads portray the same idea. “It would make me feel that I have power. But such feeling is illusion, and too risky.” The characters in Gilead have no idea about what is happening in the outside world. Nonetheless they can’t change someone’s opinion that they can’t approach.

Verse 1: Sleepless nights and cigarettes. My daily dose of internet. And all the things I shoulda quit, but never did, oh. Evil voices in my head. I woke up in a stranger’s bed…