Slaves of Patriarchy:
The Handmaid’s Tale and Human Dignity
By İrem Cansın Yalırgav and Bilge Yalçın
The Handmaid’s Tale is an American dystopian TV series created by Bruce Miller in 2017 based on Margaret Atwood’s novel. The dystopia that Handmaids live in is in the later Second American Civil War times. The whole Globe is facing environmental disasters that cause an epidemic of infertility. According to the show, the birth rate in 2015 is 4.5% and still declining. Hence, a region of America assembles, and they start a war; the totalitarian society, Gilead, kidnaps fertile women called Handmaids for childbearing just like slaves. In Gilead, each Commander owns a handmaid whose duty is giving birth by the rape of Commander. Miller indicates the dystopia through the violated human dignity of the individuals, especially women. The women are not allowed to use their real names such as our protagonist, June whose name is changed to Of-fred. This ‘of’ in their names symbolizes that Handmaids are like Commanders’ property and it is an insult to human dignity. Specifically, women are revealed as a financial gain by the trade of Handmaids. None of the women consent to this kind of treatment they are forced to do, which is an assault on people’s concerns about free and informed consent.
June finds the other Handmaids’ letters and reads them secretly since it is forbidden for women to read or write, including the Commanders’ wives. If Handmaids and wives are captured reading or writing, the punishment they get is the first time their fingers are being cut, the second time their hands. Another punishment scene appears when Commander Waterford thinks he spoiled her wife, Serena, and she needs to know her place; consequently, he punishes Serena by beating her with a belt. Also, he commands June to watch it. He tortures Serena along with destroying the human dignity of June by forcing her to watch it. Together with these inhuman punishments, the Handmaids’ human dignity is being violated by continuous rapes. The act of rape under the name of God happens on the ceremony night. The ceremony night aims to conceive children. It is not about anything sexual or sensual, just conceiving of the children as if Handmaids are birth machines; thereby, human dignity is ruined. Having any sort of affair except with the Commanders is completely forbidden for the Handmaids. The Handmaid, Emily, has an affair with a woman and breaks the law. Not only having an affair but also being homosexual makes her a sinner according to the Bible. Thus, Emily’s girlfriend is being hanged, as a punishment. As if this inhuman punishment is not enough, Gilead forces Emily to FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) surgery. The reason behind this barbaric punishment is Emily’s sexual orientation. Without respecting one’s physical and mental integrity, she and her girlfriend are faced with inhuman punishments. Besides, in Washington, DC the handmaids are silenced by the rings around their mouths which is another brutal punishment.
Bruce Miller demonstrates the stories of Handmaids whose human dignity is violated along with inhuman punishments. To Miller, The Handmaid’s Tale is not just fiction, it is what humanity might face if they keep ignoring the dignity of each other. It is our chance to respect and protect human dignity in order not to experience this kind of dystopia.
