The Handmaid's Tale Gender Quotes Flashcards
‘We still had our bodies’
Despite everything that has been taken away from them, the Handmaids still have their bodies. The society has taught them that that is all they are worth. This is valid for both our society and Gilead’s society.
‘I have viable ovaries’
Offred sees her fertility as a basic detail of her identity now, as she mentions it after her basic facts such as her age and her height. She has come to value herself for what the society values her for.
‘They don’t want us to look attractive’
The wives have bought into the system and have forgotten ‘the sisterhood’ but their jealousy focuses on appearance because their womanhood, i.e. their ability to have children, has been compromised. It is a small bit of power for them and a chance to assert that the Handmaids are not real women.
‘The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders.’
Gilead’s society teaches that women are more empowered without their bodies on show in contrast to the sexualisation of women’s bodies in our society, but do they actually have more freedom? This section is structured as a rant which shows Aunt Lydia’s passion on the subject and echoes 1970’s feminists. However the simile of roast meat dehumanises and patronises women.
