Natalia via Flickr, licensed cc.
If you don’t know, The Handmaid’s Tale is an original series available on Hulu TV. It’s based on the 1985 book of the same name by Margaret Atwood. This dystopian fantasy is set in the near future after a coup d’etat and overthrow of the United States government that included a massacre of the Congress and an attack on the White House. The victorious traitors are made up of religious zealots who have forcibly inflicted their twisted religious beliefs on all of the citizens of the new state of Gilead – particularly the ones that had the misfortune of not making it out of the country in time. Women are color-coded according to their fertility and rank in the new system. Enemies of the state including apostates, gays, and clergy are executed with regularity. Because of an alarming drop in worldwide fertility rates, fertile women are handmaids to upper-class ruling women. They are expected to conceive, birth, and then give up children to the couples they serve and then move on to the next upper-class family.
Liberals keep absurdly pointing to The Handmaid’s Tale as if that is the next step in the Trump Administration’s plan for America. See a sample here and here and this Youtube clip.
Liberals keep absurdly pointing to The Handmaid’s Tale as if that is the next step in the Trump Administration’s plan for America. See a sample here and here and this Youtube clip.
They completely ignore those obvious ways that Gilead is more like what other socialist regimes have done, and what progressives have pushed through in this country. Here are 7 examples of how they are off base.
- In season 1 episode 2, the powers that be in Gilead are taking down and demolishing Catholic Churches. Reference is made to St. Patrick’s in New York City suffering such a fate. The only religion allowed in Gilead is the strange state religion. One candidate in the 2016 campaign said that “deep-seated culture codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed.” But that candidate was NOT Donald Trump. That would have been Hillary’s America.
- In season 2 episode 6, Serena Joy, one of the architects of Gilead and the rule of women in it, tells the mostly white college students that they are privileged. Who uses that type of rhetoric the most? Yep, the left. See here and here
- Women are such second-class citizens in Gilead that they are not allowed to read or write or hold any power. In the current administration, women hold many key roles, and several are even on the supreme court short list.
- The big news this summer was the comparison between children being removed from parents in Gilead and at the border. The huge difference is that parents and children are separated permanently in Gilead for trying to leave the country. Children are reunited with their children and children are given care and education in America.
- Some on the left were comparing forced reproduction in Gilead to the present-day United States. Huff Po Senior Reporter Laura Bassett says that having employers decide not to cover contraception on their health insurance plan is going to lead to “forced breeding and mutilation.” She never mentions that in the United States contraception is available and if you want it, you can pay for it. She also never mentions the gazillion other things that are no longer covered or the high deductibles that make seeking medical care out of the reach of middle-class Americans thanks to the Affordable Care Act – the legacy of the previous administration. Her premise is ridiculous.
- Many of those dressing up as Handmaid’s and coming to the Kavanaugh Hearing say that they are fearful that Judge Kavanaugh’s presence on the bench will eliminate abortion rights in this country. I’m wondering if any of them have ever watched the show! In Gilead harming a child, especially an infant, is punishable by death. Judge Kavanaugh has said Roe is settled law. It would also take more than just one judge’s presence on the court to change the law and even if it were overturned, abortion would still be legal in 19 states.
- The protesters from Demand Justice have stated, “Brett Kavanaugh is an extremist ideologue who, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, will take away women’s basic rights.” Basic rights under the constitution are covered in the Bill of Rights. Being able to have sex without consequence has never been a realistic or a basic right. Overstating their case further alienates them from the rest of America, most of whom have never seen this show in the first place.
In the t.v. show, Gilead is created by a group of zealots that take over the country to mold it to fit their skewed ideas of what the nation’s morals and lifestyle should be. The Handmaid’s Tale is cautionary. But if we look at our fellow citizens (who voted for Trump) or at the current administration with distrust as leading us into Gilead, we could miss the ideas, and values that could truly send us there. These women in red are obstructing and interrupting our American process of confirming a candidate (nominated by a duly elected president) in the United States Senate by duly elected senators. This should make us extremely cautious.
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