gender Flashcards
(14 cards)
“We exchanged _____: Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June.”
“We exchanged names: Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June.”
Secret naming as a tiny reclaiming of identity under totalitarian erasure.
“Everything except the _____ around my face is _____.”
“Everything except the wings around my face is red.”
Uniform as enforced gender “brand”—Handmaids reduced to reproductive colour‑code.
“We are _____ wombs… _____ chalices.”
“We are two-legged wombs… ambulatory chalices.”
Women wholly defined by reproductive function.
“A thing is _____… only if it is _____ and hard to get. We want you to be _____, girls.”
“A thing is valued… only if it is rare and hard to get. We want you to be valued, girls.”
Patriarchal framing of women as precious commodities.
“The sheet intersects me so that the doctor will never see my _____. He deals with a _____ only.”
“The sheet intersects me so that the doctor will never see my face. He deals with a torso only.”
“_____ is envy… I envy the Commander his _____.”
“Pen is envy… I envy the Commander his pen.”
Medical anonymity: the female body is objectified, identity stripped
“My mouth tastes of _____: fake _____ and plaster.”
“My mouth tastes of toothpaste: fake mint and plaster.”
Medical anonymity: the female body is objectified, identity stripped
“Time as _____ sound… If only I could _____.”
“Time as white sound… If only I could embroider.”
‘Domestic’ crafts become both refuge and shackle—women’s hands are never idle, but their work is trivialized
“This man… convicted of _____… The penalty for rape… is _____. _____ 22:23-29.”
“This man… convicted of rape… The penalty for rape… is death. Deuteronomy 22:23-29.”
Biblical patriarchy weaponized: state‑sanctioned violence masquerades as divine justice
“What we are supposed to feel… _____ and _____. This isn’t what I feel. What I feel is _____.”
“What we are supposed to feel… hatred and scorn. This isn’t what I feel. What I feel is blankness.”
Collective gendered brutality erodes individual moral compass—women become complicit witnesses.
He hasn’t been issued a woman
“Nearly _______ in their thin stockings… their backs arch at the waist, thrusting the ____ out.”
“Nearly naked in their thin stockings… their backs arch at the waist, thrusting the buttocks out.”
Sexualised presentation critiques how Gilead hyper-controls and commodifies female bodies. Protest against enforced modesty and sexualisation.
“They seem ____. It has taken so little time to change our minds.”
“They seem undressed. It has taken so little time to change our minds, about things like this.”
➡️ Brainwashing: Offred realises how quickly societal norms can be reprogrammed. Key in protest genre — warning against passive complicity.
“God made them that way but He did not make you that way. It’s up to you to set the ____.”
“God made them that way but He did not make you that way. It’s up to you to set the boundaries.”
➡️ Religious justification for gender control. Gilead weaponises faith to limit women’s agency — core protest writing idea against ideological oppression.
