Handmaid or Jezebel

Reading through the last chapters of The Handmaid’s Tale, something that Moira said really stood out to me. In chapter 38, the commander sneaks Offred out to a club where men are able to mingle with prostitutes. Offred spots Moira, and meets her in the restroom. Moira explains to Offred that after she escaped, she found a Quaker couple working for the resistance, and they tried to smuggle Moira through an ‘Underground Femaleroad.’ This reminded me of The Underground Railroad used in the south in 1810 and 1850 as an organized system to assist runaway slaves. These systems of escape are virtually IDENTICAL! Which proves women in Gilead essentially SLAVES. Totally sad connection.

Another point I want to make is the fact that women are either considered ‘dirty sluts’ or ‘pure virgins’ in The Handmaid’s Tale and in society today (or pre-Gilead days, if you will). Women have no choice, we are considered either-or. The Handmaids, Marthas, and commanders’ wives are all sexually constricted and controlled, seen as ‘virginal.’ On the other hand, there are prostitutes running around at the club, Jezebels, where Moira now works as a prostitute. There are no mentions of healthy sexual relationships throughout this book. There are two categories in which women are placed-‘whore’ or ‘handmaid.’ In society today, women who engage in sexual activity are seen as sluts or whores, even when they are in monogamous sexual relationships. Women are taught to be virginal, and of they are not, they are unclean and dirty. This category society places on women is totally effed. In the Handmaid’s Tale, men put women into these two categories, and use it as a form of control and a double-edged sword to oppress the shit out of women. There is no grey area between virgin and slut. Will this double bind ever cease to exist?