Gender Inequality In The Handmaid's Tale, By Margaret Atwood

An important issue in today’s society is the gender inequality of men and women in the labor force. There are many different aspects that add to this issue as a whole, two of the most important ones including the differences in wages of men and women, and the view that women should stay at home and raise their children. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, provides an interesting view on this subject, showing what would happen if this issue was left untouched through a world ruled by men. Although this issue has been addressed in some ways in the past, there are many unturned stones where improvements should be made to ensure an equilibrium in men 's respect for women, and vice versa. Women who are part of the workforce make up a good

That doesn’t include only the society in her novel, but today’s society as well. All women in the Republic have a gender role by which they are defined by with different colours of clothing. There are wives, handmaids, jezebels, etc, and all of them are expected to bear healthy children for the wives. These women are degraded with the threat of being classified as unwomen if they fail to comply with their only use, and are defined by their gender roles. Offred says "There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Marthas, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men” (Atwood 27). Here, Offred explains the different roles of women in the society, and how the women are grouped into different categories. But it shouldn’t be this way. This raises yet another point of view of gender inequality - that women should stay at home, and men should go to work. Yes, this view has decreased over the years, but it is still out there. Some people think that mothers should stay home and raise their own children, as by placing children in daycares, they are depriving quality time and nurture to their kids, and that the kids will grow up with a smaller capacity of love and empathy than they would if the mother stayed home. But the main point of The Handmaid’s Tale is to show how horrible a monarchical

Because of this societal issue, our views of the opposite gender are with bias. Instead of our views being based on equal respect, they are weaved on our expectations of the opposite gender that passed from generations to today. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Ofglen says “I almost gasp: he said a forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore…..There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law.” (Atwood, 79) This quote shows how although we know that men in some instances can be unable to have children, their republic only thinks that the women are the problem and no man can. This is an example of what can happen if we continue to have expectations for the opposite gender. This would lead to the ultimate inequality. I think that I can play a small role in this issue in today 's society, but to actually have an impact there will have to be a bigger voice. There are many possibilities to help solve this problem completely. For example, I could start a small campaign addressing the segregation of people by sex in the workforce and in society in places where it needs to be addressed, to spread the word that it really doesn’t matter what gender we are. If that does not have an effect, this can be lightly embedded in a middle school and high school curriculum, so that at least there would be a new generation that could grow up having equal respect for one another,