THE MARTHAS

Margaret Atwood’s novel so far has introduced an imagined world, a world in where women are always watched, alienated and oppressed. In where their every move maybe even detrimental to their safety. As I was reading the book I immediately became concerned with the term “Marthas”. These women are labeled by their assigned duties and apparently given the same title. I felt perplexed by the term and it’s usage. Labeling women and men into categories, It is a deliberate form of ranking; some have some power, others have all the power and most have none at all. To me these “titles” represent another form of taking a person’s identity and sense of power. It is stripping them of their own self. As I read the book when I thought about the titles it is as if you are just like the other one’s, like you do not exist as if you are unimportant or maybe even just replaceable. Like there is not value to your life. Another term that is presented is the term “Wives” which is another form of categorization. It is certainly a better and more prestigious one that has some advantages over the other women. These rankings between women and even in men, I think provoke feelings of superiority and inferiority accordingly and work to maintain everyone in their place. They are today’s gender roles but on steroids. I can only but associate these terms by the ones we use today. Name placements and such reminds me of the usage of words such as mother/father/sister/brother, which in itself remarks a certain gender; and with gender come the assigned roles. It is a scary though but I guess we are not too distant from the Republic of Gilead.