The Handmaid’s Tale in Context Feminism

Overview Definitions of feminism History of feminism First wave feminism Second wave feminism Atwood’s interpretation of feminism

Key Terms Patriarchy Power Socialism Feminism Social organisation wherein power is centred around men, where there is a social or legal dependence on the father, and where descent and inheritance are reckoned through the male line. Power The ability to exert influence. For Foucault, power, is not held, but exists around a person or group who control knowledge and have the authority to make claims of truth. Socialism A belief system that holds that power is maintained through strict class structures. Feminism A belief system that holds that power is maintained through gender based assumptions that privilege men. Be careful – boys are notorious for adhering to definitions that create binaries when they discuss feminism. There are many forms of feminism: socialist feminism, radical feminism, black feminism, ecofeminism.

POWER

What is feminism? I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves.  Mary Wollstonecraft Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.  I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is:  I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute.  Rebecca West, "Mr Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in ejudice," The Clarion, 14 Nov 1913

What is feminism? Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That's their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood. Gloria Steinem This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.

What is feminism? Men weren't really the enemy - they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.  Betty Friedan Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness.  Erica Jong

What is feminism? Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who'll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it's the latter, so I sign up. Margaret Atwood Feminism has led the way in demystifying personal relations, forcefully insisting they are political to the core. Elizabeth Fox Genovese Feminism Without Illusions

The Backlash

I listen to feminists and all these radical gals - most of them are failures.  They've blown it.  Some of them have been married, but they married some Casper Milquetoast who asked permission to go to the bathroom.  These women just need a man in the house.  That's all they need.  Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home.  And they blew it and they're mad at all men.  Feminists hate men.  They're sexist.  They hate men - that's their problem.  Jerry Falwell

The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. Pat Robertson I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period. The 700 Club, Jan. 8, 1992

Turning points in the role of women

First Wave Second Wave Third Wave Mid 1800s to 1920 Suffragette movement Focus on political rights First Wave 1960s-70s Moved beyond political rights to equality at home, at work and in education Second Wave Current time Critical of second for its lack of attention to the differences among women Third Wave

Married Love Marie Stopes Scandalous sex manual published in 1928 Stopes pioneered family planning Controversially an advocate of eugenics An impersonal and scientific knowledge of the structure of our bodies is the surest safeguard against prurient curiosity and lascivious gloating.

World War II Women required to leave the home and enter the factories to aid America’s war effort. Following WWII women were forced back into the home as the men returned from war. Despite this, female participation in work has increased.

The Pill Women’s contraception had been a controversial issue with Margaret Sanger a vocal advocate. The first oral contraceptive became popular throughout the 60s. Reinforced the ability of women to make choices about their own sexuality. Women could adopt attitudes to sex not unlike those of men.

Roe vs Wade Supreme Court made abortion legal under the 14th Amendment, which established a right to privacy. This case still polarises the left and right of US politics. For good or ill, the case legally empowered women over their own bodies.

Sandra Day O’Connor First woman on the Supreme Court Appointed by Reagan in 1991 Retired in 2006