Where Dystopia Meets Reality
It’s funny how books and television seem more real than real life at times. An escape from reality, an alternate universe, a sanctuary. Recently I finished watching The Handmaid’s Tale and Mrs. America. In my opinion, they’re certainly two of the most amazing TV shows ever made. They’re also very feminist in nature. Ever since I looked up the definition of ‘feminist’ in the dictionary as a twelve-year-old, I wondered how anyone could choose to be otherwise. But I didn’t realize how little I knew about the history of the women’s movement, where the long and drawn-out struggle began and the pioneers who helped define our position in the world today. An unexpected connection between the two TV shows lit a spark and provoked such deep introspection that I am now on a path to self-discovery.
I had always wanted to read the Handmaid’s Tale, but also heard rave reviews about the show. The idiot box won the battle I hate to admit- but there’s only so many wins my better nature can claim, I thought as I settled to watch contentedly.
‘Deeply disturbed’ does not even begin to describe my frame of mind as I watched the events unfold on screen. Surely this was a bit much? For here was a world far into the future where a woman’s place is only in the home or- for the particularly debauched- in the ‘colonies’ cleaning up radioactive waste. They are slaves to men in a very literal sense, their identities a derivative of their owner’s name. Their only value is in child-bearing or child-rearing. Reading (even religious scriptures) and writing is heresy and subject to gruesome punishments. They have no freedom over their bodies. They wear uniforms regulated by society. They cannot vote, nor are there any women representatives in government. They have no financial autonomy, no jobs, no money, no right to property. Their testimony has no weight.
The problem with this is that the writer went too far and conjured up a dystopia that was honestly improbable, I told anyone who’d listen through mouthfuls of popcorn. How could a supposed ‘terror attack’ have such far-reaching consequences on society, particularly women’s place in it? You know what, they should have toned it down- made it a bit more realistic, I concluded expertly.
Until, I had the chilling realization that a few of these depraved events rang a bell. This was not dystopia, it dawned on me. This was a way of life not too long ago, and at least some of it continues to be in many places in the world we live in right now. In fact, women have had to fight for every right that was granted unquestioned to men by virtue of their gender. Amazingly enough it’s not that there was a footnote, ‘P.S. Let’s keep the women out on this one’, but that the law simply didn’t recognize women as people. For instance, it was only in 1929 that women were included in the legal definition of ‘persons’ in Canada! It is ludicrous to imagine that women had to campaign for rights as basic as- ownership of property, control of property (in some cases only when their spouse was incapacitated), control of one’s own earnings, filing a patent, receiving a trade license, serving on a jury, receiving equal protection under law, and the list goes on. Here’s a little taste of history to put things into perspective-
- In the United States, women were finally recognized as citizens only in 1922- less than a hundred years ago
- Women campaigned tirelessly to earn the right to vote in the suffragette movement for a hundred years, and succeeded only 92 years ago
- A woman’s place was considered to be in domestic duty- until 100 years ago during WWI and WWII when they were called upon to fill in for the men who had been drafted in war. This was only a temporary measure and they were paid significantly lower wages than their male counterparts
- Many Ivy League universities became coed only 50 years ago
- In many parts of the world, it is against the law for women to be educated even today. Men can still dictate the sort of clothing ‘appropriate’ for women in many cultures. A woman’s primary duty is considered to be in the home, raising children and looking after their husbands. Women do not have control over their own bodies and reproductive rights. Women are paid far less for the same work as men worldwide
In fact, as I learned later, Margaret Atwood based her novel on actual news reports that she collected over time and kept as proof in case anyone ever questioned how she made all this up.
It was certainly sobering to be reminded of this connection between her dystopia and the real world. Yet, I wondered whether the eventuality she had written about was wholly possible- could all the painfully slow progress women’s rights had made over the years be eroded? As it turns out, this is exactly what happened in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Under the rule of the last Persian monarch Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, there were large strides in the women’s movement in Iran. Women could dress freely, attend university, vote, run for parliament, divorce their husbands and get child custody. After the revolution (which many women actively participated in), all these rights were rescinded and an Islamic state was established. Women were completely at the mercy of men and their barbaric laws that violated basic human rights and decency. It was a tremendous blow to Iranian women who had participated in the revolution, believing it would lead to a better world for them too. So it appears that achieving equal rights for women is a laborious and uphill task. It has taken hundreds of years, perseverance and courage to reach where we are today, but it could be lost all too easily if we let our guard down.
Historically, the fight for women’s rights has occurred in spurts of concentrated agitation followed by years of lassitude, rather than as a consistent unyielding force. There have been three waves of feminism. The first wave was between the 1850s and 1920s with the pivotal issue being the right to vote. The second wave was in the 1970s, characterized by issues such as gender pay gap, reproductive rights, ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s role in politics and culture. The third wave in the 1990s was an outcry against sexual harassment in the workplace. Some say we are experiencing a fourth wave with the #MeToo movement and a cultural awakening.
Sadly each time, not only have women had to fight against the patriarchy upheld by men, but also traitors from within their own gender. One of the main characters on The Handmaid’s Tale is Serena Joy Waterford, the wife of a key commander in the ‘revolution’. She is a woman of many contradictions. Educated, articulate, a part of the workforce herself- yet she campaigned for a world where women stay home to raise dutiful daughters and strong sons, rather than go out into the world to take their place among men. She published books and toured the country to remind women of this responsibility. Ultimately, she was instrumental in bringing about this nightmarish reality for women, probably thinking that this significant contribution would make her an indispensable part of the upper echelons of the new government. However, once this is accomplished her status is reduced, same as every other woman. Her hopes of leading the strategy in this new country are shattered, she is not welcome among any echelons of policy makers, and her husband assumes the role of her master all too quickly and easily.
I honestly couldn’t understand how a woman could be so delusional as to imagine that denouncing womankind would enable her to gain any real political power in a male dominated environment. But I think this was a reflection of the real world, where the feminist movement has had to deal with such misguided souls since the first wave.
In the 1900s, anti-suffrage leagues were organized by women who did not believe that women should have the right to vote. For example, the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage league was established in London in 1908, which later joined hands with the Men’s League for Opposing Women’s Suffrage. Rather, it was swallowed whole by the men’s league and an all-male leadership was appointed in the new organization. But I suppose the women against suffrage probably did not mind being shunned to the sidelines in their own organization by men.
As I learned through another stellar TV show, Mrs. America, the second wave faced opposition in the form of a Phyllis Schlafly while they campaigned to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)- a proposed amendment to the United States constitution that was designed to provide equal rights to all American citizens regardless of sex. Phyllis Schlafly was an author, activist and aspiring politician. She was exactly everything she spoke out against, much like the fictional Serena Joy. Claiming to be a homemaker and proud mother of six, she had actually run for Congress twice but failed. Originally she was interested in designing defense strategy for her country, but saw an opportunity in opposing the ERA. She ran a newsletter, organized protests and appeared on talk shows to spread suspicion and fear about the proposed amendment that had no real basis in fact. The perfidious effects of ‘Fake News’ disseminated in the form of newsletters and propaganda could be observed even in an age before social media. Catchy slogans and sensationalism swayed public opinion faster than the logic and legal language employed by feminists. Ultimately, she was successful in mobilizing thousands of women to prevent the ratification of the ERA. Her motivation for doing so appears to have been dubious, possibly for serving her own political ambitions.
Since the third wave, there have been many published works by women about the ‘dangers’ of feminism. It appears that the dirtiest word you can a call a woman is ‘feminist’. For men, it seems to bring up some kind of hell where hairy-legged women hold them under the heels of their stilettos, steal their jobs and take over the world (I believe the horror is akin to that of Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Many women believe that being a ‘feminist’ would alienate men and take away the ‘privileges’ bestowed upon them. Perhaps they also believe that pandering to the male idea of womanhood would earn them their place amongst men and a comfortable life, although history has demonstrated that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Seeing Margaret Atwood’s ‘dystopian’ world through the lens of the second wave feminism shown in Mrs. America’s ‘real world’ really blurred the lines for me. It appears that we have been living in a dystopia for a very long time without realizing it. If there’s anything I have learned from this whole exercise, it is that TV can teach you everything you need to know (why do we bother with school at all if the curriculum fails to address such important matters?). And that as women, we cannot take our freedom and rights for granted. Giving the slightest bit of leeway could be the beginning of an avalanche that would bring us back down to right where we started.
Discovering all this was just a primer for me in developing awareness about the women’s movement. It’s important to develop a deeper understanding and feminist literature would be a good place to start. Feminism in the non-English speaking world does not seem to have as much documentation, but it cannot be ignored and is crucial to develop an appreciation of the struggle women have endured everywhere. After all, true equality between genders remains a distant dream, and it’s a tough battle ahead.
An expert on Women’s Studies could probably have been more articulate and nuanced in this analysis, and I am exactly what it looks like- another person on the internet with an opinion, a WiFi connection and a keyboard. But as I learned from history, the right to have an opinion is a hard-fought one so I shall not make light of it and treat it with the reverence it deserves. I stand on the shoulders of giants, I am a ‘person’ because of their sacrifice.
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