Angelica Babiera, Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood tells the story of Offred, a “handmaid.” She, alongside other young women, is required to conceive to populate the “new” America. These handmaids are each designated to an old couple, where they are required to have intercourse with the husbands, with no right to object under such circumstances.
This extremity is not unseen in developing countries. In fact, it is almost a norm for them. Families in poverty often sell their daughters to powerful men who are likely to force those daughters into having sex with them.
Since these girls are more likely to be young and naive, they have no idea that what they are doing is wrong. Being forced into something as unconventional as this with no proper access to education endangers their lives. Globally, we hear stories of young brides facing various forms of abuse and violence at the hands of their husbands, from acid being thrown in their faces to rape. Young girls in situations like these are like the handmaids in Atwood’s novel, where they are not allowed to speak their mind and act as they please. If they do such things, serious consequences are brought upon them and they are treated and classed as “nothing.”
Loss, rage, and suffering are the themes of Atwood’s novel, all of which tie into current women’s issues and their experiences. Although women in developed countries do not experience the same challenges as those in developing countries, we still face oppression, especially in workplaces, where a glass ceiling is present. Even though many corporations have “improved” their standards, it seems like not enough has been done.
Pregnant employees in big corporations cannot strive to be successful in their position due to their maternal responsibilities. This is our glass ceiling, just like how women in developing countries have a glass ceiling in education. They can see it, but they cannot attain it.
In order to survive, Offred had to make sacrifices that she carries with her in her sleep —a taunting way to get through days of rhetoric imprisonment. However, Offred is strong and capable. She does not like to break rules, even though it hurts her, and yet she still commits small rebellious acts. And these acts are what inspires her to keep going. Similarly, women all over the world perform small acts of rebellion that are so little, men cannot see them. However, it is these small acts that inspire our own small revolutions in our daily lives.
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