The Role of a Woman

The Role of a Woman

Lately I’ve been reading a fiction book called The Handmaid’s Tail, by Margaret Atwood that triggers me to think about the roles of women in society. This book’s society is completely altered and limited to the performance bare necessity functions. Women are divided into different rankings with a punishment and reward system in place; their existent becomes "only good for certain things". For me this new society portrayed in the book is widely altered and twisted… contradictory to everything I currently view as the role of women and men in society. Atwood's book in sort is a warning to our own society, to pay attention to our fragile infrastructure, and that one-day it could change.

The book presents women, in this new society, divided into five different ranks: the Commander’s wife; the Handmaid who is to give birth to babies for the Commander’s wife who is unable to make babies; the Martha who are cooks; the Econwives who are wives of poor men that does everything for the men; and the Unwomen who cannot do anything and that are not useful anymore: they are either to die or be shipped off to some other place. First off I think that it is not right to rank women or just people in general because of the things that they are able to do or unable to do and to kill or discard them when they do not have the skills that are needed. It feels as if women are just trash; that once they are used up after they fulfill their duties, it doesn’t matter much if they are still alive or dead, and that their lives are worthless afterwards. An example is when a male dates a woman only to use her for her money or possessions, and when that runs out he will not find her useful anymore and will leave her. This idea makes me really mad because I feel that women and men should be equal, I that it takes a balance to bring harmony. Not one gender has more power or the right over the other one; that it is a 50/50 relationship.

I think the origin of how this society got to this place is due to the notion that women are supposedly physically weaker than men, so therefore they are lower than men and can be taken advantage of. The derivation of this society is unknown and is controlled by a force, yet unknown, to the people. It is quite sudden one day that the President is dead, the Congress are all dead and the Constitution abolished. Society is controlled by a military of some sort with specific agenda and the leader unknown. With the Constitution gone, there are nothing left that will protect a women’s right. The people are terrified to do anything because they are unable to see their enemy, which in sort, make them easier to be controlled. New rules are published with severe punishment to keep people in place. The first one is “Women can’t hold property anymore.” (pg.178). They are not allowed to have any money or any sort of ownership, such as owning a store or a house or a car. Secondly, women are not allowed to read, or to be educated, in fear that if they will revolt and be uncontrollable. Women are striped of their title and name only to make them seem more vulnerable to men. I believe that this is not true