The Handmaids Tale

I was sort of excited to read the Handmaids Tale, because pretty much everyone who graduated from Williamsville North read it. Based on the fact that I was in the advanced English class and had certain teachers, I somehow managed to graduate high-school without having read this one.

Basically, set at some indeterminable point in the future, the Constitution is suspended the the US becomes the Republic of Gilead which is taken over by the religious right. And of course, because it's the religious right, sex is dirty and there are women appointed to do the dirty work of bearing children of the old impotent white men... the Handmaids. The novel is the personal narrative of one handmaid, Offred ("Of Fred" - get it?) as she reminisces about when she used to have a husband, kid, and normal life and navigates her way through attempting to become pregnant and all of the other craziness that is Gilead.

As a woman this novel really offended my sense of how things in this world are. From a very simplistic point of view, the main message that Atwood is trying to convey is that "white men are the source of evil". I looked up a few discussion boards and forums (just to see what other people thought were the main discussion points for this novel) and none of them really came out and said "white men are the source of evil", but sort of danced around it by talking about oppression of women, sexual freedom, etc.

To date, I can't recall any significant times that I've been told "no" due to the fact that I am a female. In this day an age, a girl can get an education, go to graduate school, and work in a large professional services firm and never have the feeling that she is being held back or somehow disenfranchised due to the fact that she is a female. She also is free to enjoy all of the pleasures of this world.... including the company of men. Since I'm in the working phase of my life right now, I look around and see that my company has lots of programs and women's networking circles. I've been matched up with some very strong female mentors, and in some ways, I feel as if though the women in the office and are connected to each other better than the men are. During my education, I never really felt as if though the fact that I was a female was holding me back - I won scholarships, I was elected to student government, I majored in a challenging major that traditionally has been mostly male, etc.

But anyway, back to Atwood and my highschool. I don't think that this book is appropriate to be teaching to suburban primarily white high school students for several reasons. The first is that the educators refuse to explicitly address the main point of the novel, which is "white men are the source evil" (can you imagine the parent phone calls that this one would get?) which is insulting their students intelligence and ability to reason. It's also not appropriate to make children think that their fathers, the ones who bring home half of the family income are somehow going to cause a social plague.

The second is that the main point of the novel (white men are the source of evil) is somewhat irrelevant in this day and age. Now, before all of you out there reading this get your underwear all in a knot, realize that I am saying this as someone who is "pro-female". I believe that women should be treated as equals to men, meaning exactly that, equality. And I think that equality comes with a level playing field. I also have found it to be true that If you are smart and work hard, you can get ahead - no matter if you pee standing up or sitting down. Yes, historically women and other minorities have not been afforded the same opportunities as the white male and women have a whole mess of issues that they have to worry about such as balancing a family and a career, etc based upon historical gender roles that most people seem to fall into. But, in this day and age, a lot of that has changed as employers have put in programs for working mothers, schools have offered scholarships, you read newsweek articles about how "stay at home dads" are increasing in numbers, etc. To preach to American high school student that this archaic nonsense is way that the world still is or is at risk of becoming in the United States, where the novel is set, when they haven't even had a chance to see how things are for themselves, is indoctrinating them with a preconceived notion that is false.

I'm going to mark this as a "good book", not because I particularly enjoyed it, or think that the point of it is relevant, but because it enraged me so much. And at the end of the day, if a book makes you feel anything, it's good.

Moral of the story: "You go Girl. And you go Boy too".