1.
IDEAS AND ISSUES
IN SOCIETY AND THE HANDMAID’S TALE

2.
THEOCRACY
• DICTIONARY DEFINITION
• YOUR DEFINITION
• IN SOCIETY
• IN THE BOOK
• RELIGIOUS RIGHT IN AMERICA

3.
HETERONORMATIVE
• WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
• HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT?
• WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN THE BOOK?
• WHERE DO THE NOTIONS OF “NORMAL” COME FROM?
• WHAT IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO THINK WITHIN THE HETERONORMATIVE
FRAMEWORK?

4.
FEMINISM
• YOUR DEFINITION
• IN SOCIETY
• IN THE HANDMAID’S TALE
• CAN BE A SPECIFIC POLITICAL MOVEMENT, BUT ALSO A WORD THAT DESCRIBES A
VARIETY OF CRITICAL THEORIES
• TO SOME DEGREE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THESE TWO MEANINGS, IT’S ALSO
IMPORTANT FOR CRITICAL THOUGHT TO SOMETIMES DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
FEMINISM AS A POLITICAL MOVEMENT, AND FEMINISM AS A SET OF VARIOUS
PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRIES.

5.
FIRST, FEMINISM AS A POLITICAL MOVEMENT
• WOMEN ACHIEVE THE VOTE IN 1920.
• ON NOV. 2 OF THAT YEAR, MORE THAN 8 MILLION WOMEN
VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
• IN THE YEARS TO COME, CULTURAL SHIFTS OCCUR, SUCH AS:
• THE ROARING 20S, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THEN
WORLD WAR II.

6.
WORK IT

7.
AND THEN CAME THE ‘50S
• MAJOR EMPHASIS ON FAMILY
• SOCIETAL PRESSURE ON WOMEN TO MARRY
• AND TO HAVE CHILDREN YOUNG AND KEEP ON HAVING THEM.

8.
WHICH THEN LED TO…
• THE 60S
• THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
• A MASSIVE SHIFT IN THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT, KNOWN AS THE
SECOND WAVE
• GOVERNMENT APPROVES THE PILL IN 1960
• BETTY FRIEDAN WROTE “THE FEMINIST MYSTIQUE.”
• FIRST FEMALE PROTEST: 1968, MISS AMERICA PAGEANT.

9.
SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM
• WHAT WERE THE TWO MAJOR ISSUES THAT SHIFTED WOMEN’S
PRIORITIES?
• WORK EQUALITY
• IN 1964, TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT PASSED BARRING
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION FOR RACE AND GENDER.
• REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM ISSUES.
• 1973, ROE V. WADE LEGALIZED ABORTION.

10.
AND NOW WE HAVE A THIRD WAVE
• ALTHOUGH IT IS SLIGHTLY AMBIGUOUS, IT INCLUDES:
• EMPHASIS ON DIVERSITY OF RACE, RELIGION, GENDER
IDENTITY
• STILL LACKS A LEGAL CONNECTION THAT THE FIRST AND
SECOND MOVEMENTS HAVE, SUCH AS THE RIGHT TO VOTE
AND THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE.

11.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
• ONE WAY OF APPROACHING FEMINIST
(AND OTHER GENDER-RELATED BELIEFS
IS AS FOLLOWS:
• ASSIGN THE ISSUE IN QUESTION INTO
EITHER NORMATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE
GROUPS IS A WAY OF CREATING A
FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSING A LOT OF
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONCERNS.
• NORMATIVE= HOW THINGS SHOULD BE
• DESCRIPTIVE= HOW THEY ARE
• CONSIDER THE SOURCE OF THE
BELIEF:
• BIOLOGICAL?
• SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED?
• ECONOMIC?

12.
GENDER
• HOW DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
• HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT IN SOCIETY?
• HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT IN THE BOOK?

13.
MICHEL FOUCAULT
• FRENCH PHILOSOPHER/HISTORIAN. DIED IN 1984 OF AIDS. ALTHOUGH NOT
TECHNICALLY A GENDER/QUEER THEORIST, HE IS CONSIDERED A GRANDFATHER OF
QUEER THEORY BECAUSE MANY OF HIS IDEAS FORM A BASIS FOR CONTEMPORARY
GENDER AND QUEER THEORY.
• MUCH OF HIS WORK IS CONSIDERED PHILOSOPHICAL BECAUSE IT CRITIQUES THE
USUAL UNDERSTANDING OF CERTAIN TOPICS.
• FOR EXAMPLE, HISTORY OF MADNESS IN THE CLASSICAL AGE, WHICH HE PUBLISHED
IN 1961, DEVELOPED FROM FOUCAULT’S STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY. IT EXAMINES
THE MODERN CONCEPT OF MENTAL ILLNESS

14.
THOUGHT VERSUS REALITY
• FROM THERE, FOUCAULT EXAMINED A VARIETY OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT,
MAKING DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THOUGHT AND OBJECT.
• SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE PHILOSOPHER DESCARTES IS THE SOURCE OF THE
FAMOUS “I THINK THEREFORE I AM.” IN A VERY BROAD NUTSHELL, FOUCAULT
MIGHT SAY, AREN’T YOU MORE THAN YOUR THOUGHTS. MOREOVER, DOES AN
IDEA OR CONCEPT EQUAL THE REALITY OF SOMETHING?

15.
CONTROL
• IN THE MID 70S, FOUCAULT MOVED ON TO EXAMINE FORMS OF CONTROL AND
CRIMINALIZATION (DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH)
• LOOKS AT THE WAY THAT SOCIETY STARTED TRYING TO REFORM RATHER THAN
PUNISH PEOPLE WHO BROKE LAWS, AND THE WAY THAT MODE ALSO SEEPED
INTO OTHER PLACES BESIDES PRISONS.
• HIS MAIN POINT IS THAT DISCIPLINE BECOMES ABOUT CREATING NORMS.
THERE’S NORMAL BEHAVIOR AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR.
• HOW DO WE SET ABOUT CREATING/ENFORCING SOCIETAL NORMS?

16.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH
GENDER THEORY?
• FOUCAULT’S WORK SET ABOUT SHOWING THAT THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT
SEXUALITY (AND OTHER TOPICS) ISN’T “ESSENTIAL” OR “INEVITABLE.” THAT,
RATHER, ALL OF THE THINGS WE BELIEVE ABOUT SEXUAL IDENTITY ARE
ATTACHED TO OTHER TYPES OF DISCOURSE (RELIGION, POLITICS, SCIENCE).
• IN OTHER WORDS, OUR BELIEFS ARE CONSTRUCTED.
• THIS IDEA, OF A CONSTRUCTED IDENTITY, IS AT THE HEART OF THE LEADING
GENDER AND QUEER THEORISTS.

17.
CATEGORIES
• FOUCAULT ARGUES THAT MANY OF THE “CATEGORIES” USED FOR SEXUAL
AND/OR GENDER IDENTITY ARE JUST INVENTED, NOT INHERENT, BUT THAT
THEY HAVE BEEN SO WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT REVEALING ONE’S CATEGORY IS
LINKED WITH TRUTH AND IDENTITY.
• THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS HIS WORK HAS BEEN OF INTEREST TO FEMINISTS
AND OTHERS IS THE IDEA OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS
VERSUS BIOLOGICAL ONES
• HE ALSO WAS INTERESTED IN THE IDEA THAT BECAUSE OF HOW THESE
CATEGORIES HAVE EVOLVED, WE DON’T NEED ANYONE ELSE TO MONITOR US
BECAUSE WE MONITOR OURSELVES AND CATEGORIZE AND LABEL OURSELVES,
WILLINGLY. WE SEE BEING HONEST ABOUT “WHO WE ARE” AS A PART OF BEING
HONEST.

18.
SEXUALITY
• WHAT IS IT?
• HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT IN OUR SOCIETY?
• HOW DOES IT PLAY OUT, SO FAR, IN THE HANDMAID’S TALE?
• PROCREATIVE
• SUBVERSIVE
• POWER/POLITICAL

19.
GENEOLOGY
• FOUCAULT THEN WROTE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, USING THE SAME APPROACH HE’D
TAKEN TO STUDY THE HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT.
• THIS APPROACH IS KNOWN AS “GENEOLOGICAL,” WHICH MEANS LOOKING AT THE
PAST TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO THE PRESENT.
• SO WHEN HE EXAMINES THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, IT’S TO SHOW THE WAYS IN
WHICH OUR CONTEMPORARY IDEAS OF SEXUALITY ARE INTRINSICALLY TIED TO
POWER STRUCTURES
• SEXUALITY, HE ARGUES, IS LIKE CRIMINALITY IN THE WAY IT WORKS. IT’S A SUBJECT
OF SCIENCE, STUDIED, REQUIRING KNOWLEDGE. IN OTHER WORDS, PEOPLE SELF-
IDENTIFY AND CONTROL THEMSELVES BASED ON THE SOCIETAL NORMS.

20.
LET’S PLAY THE FOUCAULT GAME
• TAKE OUT A PIECE OF PAPER AND A PEN
• WRITE DOWN A CATEGORY YOU THINK OTHERS MIGHT PUT YOU IN BASED ON
OBSERVING YOU IN LIFE, CLASS, SOCIAL MEDIA ETC.
• NOW WRITE DOWN A CATEGORY YOU MIGHT PUT YOURSELF IN WILLINGLY
BASED ON YOUR OWN SENSE OF IDENTITY
• LET’S READ THESE OUT LOUD AND DISCUSS THE DISCREPANCIES (IF THERE ARE
ANY) AND/OR WHAT THESE CATEGORIES TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN REALITY

21.
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
• LET’S LOOK AT THE EPIGRAPHS:
• REFERENCING ANCIENT HEBREW TIMES IN WHICH PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY WOULD
LEGITIMIZE A MAN TO HAVE SEX WITH/HAVE CHILDREN BY SERVANTS,
PARTICULARLY IF HIS WIFE WAS INFERTILE.
• JONATHAN SWIFT EPIGRAPH
• THOUGHTS ON THE SUFI EPIGRAPH?

22.
WHAT IF…?
• “IN CANADA THEY SAID, ‘COULD IT HAPPEN HERE?’ IN ENGLAND, THEY SAID, ‘JOLLY
GOOD YARN.’ IN THE UNITED STATES, THEY SAID, ‘HOW LONG HAVE WE GOT?”
(ATWOOD, NY TIMES)
• WORTH NOTING THAT ALDOUS HUXLEY (BRAVE NEW WORLD) ONCE SAID THAT “A
BOOK ABOUT THE FUTURE CAN INTEREST US ONLY IF ITS PROPHECIES LOOK AS
THOUGH THEY MIGHT CONCEIVABLY COME TRUE.”
• DOES THE HANDMAID’S TALE RESONATE NOW AS A PARTICULARLY AMERICAN
WARNING? HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR ITS RISE SINCE PUBLICATION TO BECOME A
CANONICAL TEXT?

23.
QUESTIONS FROM OUR READINGS
• WHAT DO WE LEARN JUST FROM THE FIRST SENTENCE?
• WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE LEARN ABOUT THIS NEW SOCIETY’S RULES?
• WHY ARE THE IMMEDIATE SUPERVISORS OF THE NEW HANDMAIDS WOMEN?
WHAT MIGHT BE ATWOOD’S THINKING BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE AUNTS?

24.
MORE QUESTIONS
• MARTHAS AGAIN ARE A RELIGIOUS REFERENCE; IN THE GOSPELS, MARTHA AND
MARY WERE SISTERS. MARTHA DID HOUSEWORK, MARY LISTENED TO JESUS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ATWOOD IS SAYING BY CREATING THESE ROLES OF
MARTHAS?
• WHAT ARE THE COLONIES AND WHO ARE THE UNWOMEN?
• WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE RATIONALE USED BY THE FOUNDERS OF GILEAD
FOR THIS SOCIETY? WE HEAR THAT BEFORE WOMEN WERE NOT PROTECTED,
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

25.
RACHEL AND LEAH
• THE NEW HANDMAIDS ARE KEPT IN THE RACHEL AND LEAH CENTER. BOTH ARE
CHARACTERS FROM THE BIBLE, TWO SISTERS WHO MARRIED JACOB AND GAVE
THEIR HANDMAIDS TO HIM TO PRODUCE CHILDREN.
• WHAT ARE SOME CONTEMPORARY IDEAS THAT RELATE TO THE NOTION OF
HANDMAIDS IN ATWOOD’S NOVEL?
• WHAT IS THE BASIC ASSUMPTION ABOUT CHILDREN?

26.
OTHER HISTORICAL REFERENCES
• PUBLIC EXECUTION
• RELIGIOUS WARS
• THE HANDMAID’S UNIFORM
• PROPAGANDA/CENSORSHIP
• RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS
• UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
• REWRITING THE PAST

27.
MORE QUESTIONS
• HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE NARRATOR, OFFRED?
• WHAT ABOUT IN CONTRAST TO MOIRA?
• WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE COMMANDER’S DESIRE TO PLAY SCRABBLE WITH
HER?
• ONE FACET OF ALL DYSTOPIAS IS THE RESISTANCE TO THE CONTROLS OF THE
IMAGINED SOCIETY. WHAT FORMS DOES THE RESISTANCE TAKE?