The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale, released in April of 2017, depicts a dystopian future in which the United States has been taken over by a conservative form of government and renamed Gilead. The show, based off of the novel by Margaret Atwood, centers around the handmaid of one of the founders of Gilead as she fights against the corruption of the country. In Gilead, the women are given little to no rights and the women who are still able to bear children are slaves to the wealthy families because of their fertility. The Handmaid’s Tale is a futuristic depiction of what the world could look like if we do not take care of the planet and ensure women the rights that they deserve.

When I first read the book during my sophomore year, I didn’t really understand the gravity of the situations depicted by Atwood, which is why I’m so glad it was transformed into a television show by Hulu. There are five basic ‘jobs’ that a woman in Gilead can have, they can be a handmaid (fertile, unmarried women who must carry children), sister (an unmarried, older woman who leads the handmaids), housemaid (infertile, unmarried woman who cleans and cooks for the wealthy families), married woman (infertile wife), or jezebel (sex slave for the very wealthy men). By being confined to five major roles, women are demeaned and looked over in every aspect of life in Gilead, they don’t have any real control over their lives or their bodies. The show is an incredible depiction of the book and caused a lot of conversation about the future of the United States. I think everyone should watch this show in order to understand why women’s rights are human rights.