Equal Power

In the handmaid’s tale chapter 13-16 we watch as Janie confesses how she was gang raped. To my surprise the women told her it was her fault and proceed to call her a cry baby. This is not what I expected out of these women at all.

For some reason I thought the women might pity her or at least identify with being raped, as the society has institutionalized rape as a whole. The women should identify with her as their society has subjected them to only the cruelty of sex rather than making it an object of love and affection. At a point in chapter 16th making love is referred very mechanically as "fucking."

Contrary to what I thought these women had no sense of community and readily turned against each other. Instead these women saw the men as faultless, clearly demonstrating the power of men in the society. Janie herself returns to admit the rape is her fault rather than the men. It baffles me as to why these women are so cruel to each other and have the survival of the fittest mentality. It is evident that these women would throw each other under the buss due to the mentality of "better you than me."

As appalled as I was by the treatment of women against other women I could not help but begin to see the similarities between their society and my own. In high school so often i see young girls loose friends and treat each other poorly, and sometimes it is due to the influence of a boy. Women are ready to turn on each other in present day society just as they would in a dystopia. Often this betrayal is simply to get ahead or to not be patronized. I see this same interact amongst grown women, as the "petty high school gossip" is never left in high school. But what causes this?

In the Handmaid’s tale this lack of regard for each other is obviously created by the men who run the society. Everything is centered on pleasing the man and bearing children for them, the women themselves have no identity other than "handmaid" or "wife." It is possible that this lack of identity debilitates the women from ever forming a true community. Also due to all the power being in the hands of men the women could feel pressured and obligated to form an alliance to the men rather than the other women.

Although less extreme often I observe that men hold the power in society as well. Often men are CEOs, principles, and president, obvious sources of power and I began to wonder what power men have over my life. In advertisement I see what a woman is supposed to appear to be. The materialistic choices I make daily such as what I wear and how I present myself have all been shaped by what I’ve been told men want. So much of my life has been shaped around what advertisers show as desirable, because every woman wants to be desired. So how can I change this?

The truth is I can’t do anything other than place my priorities elsewhere. Rather than focusing on materialistic values of being desirable I focus on relationships. This includes my relationship with not only men but women as well. An equal value should be placed on what women and men think. When it comes down to it I’m running in the circle of equality that women have been dealing with for years and the only change I can make is one in myself.