Discrimination Against Women in Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Description of the issue

The issue of discrimination among women continues to influence the experience of females in the modern world. Mainly, society continues to depend on prejudices that concern the role of women in society. Coffey demonstrates that this part of the population suffers from inequality in India because the accepted opinion regards women as being obliged to stay at home and obey men (47). Besides, Rembeza and Radlinska identify that females are still predominantly secondary workers in Canada and South Korea, allowing men to occupy higher positions in the companies (77).

Causes and Effect

Such social problems as gender stereotypes, job segregation, lack of legal protection, and a small number of women in politics determine the inequality of attitudes towards two genders. Coffey indicates that females in India depend on the generally accepted idea about the inferior position of women compared to men (47). Besides, they suffer from insufficient protection by the law and the inability of women to influence politics in various states. Consequently, such issues result in the persistence of discrimination. This social issue, in its turn, defines the problems with access to education, employment, financial reliance on men, and poor health care services (Coffey 47). Mainly, the discriminatory attitude to females’ roles in society influences their access to various social services, making them disadvantaged in some countries.

The examples of discrimination in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrates discrimination among women displaying how the new regime deprives them of the human rights to hold property and be financially independent. In the Republic of Gilead, females have no right to control their lives because they have to close their bank accounts and turn the finances to men (Atwood 184). As a result, they find themselves in a situation of having no opportunity to buy what they desire, have independent access to social securities, and use their time freely. Mainly, they are regarded as servants that have to obey their masters and depend on them in all aspects of life, which demonstrates the theme of economic dependency.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, women also experience discrimination in access to such social services as education and employment. The regime creates the regulations that define which class each woman might belong to. Accordingly, women cannot choose their professions or have any hobbies because they have to follow the strict rules that define their roles within their class. The relationship between different groups is strictly predetermined by their status, which defines the theme of social stratification. For instance, Handmaids “are supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Wives alone.” (Atwood 169). It also concerns education because the only form of studying the main character has is the form of brainwashing where women “learn to renounce their previous identities, to know their place and their duties” (Atwood 11).

Moreover, women in the novel have no civil rights because they cannot express their opinion, cannot resist the existing regime, and have to obey men in all aspects of their lives. Although women in the story experience such inequalities, they cannot change the situation because the government deprives them of any right to speak or protest, which signifies that the position of females is inferior to men. They have no chance to escape these conditions because their lack of freedom makes them rightless in this world where men govern all the aspects of human life, which defines the theme of inequality.

Resolutions to the issue

The problems with discrimination can be resolved if society introduces various strategies to develop equality and social protection for females. In particular, Petrie and Prahlow offer to expand the care services system to allow women to have equal access to employment (02:29). Next, the legislation should introduce laws guaranteeing equal pay for the job of equal value (Petrie and Prahlow 02:37). Additionally, women should expect the provision of social protection and security, which might help them avoid cases of discrimination at work and other institutions.

Moreover, the government should introduce policies aimed at overcoming violence and other forms of discrimination, which threaten women’s health and lives in different countries. Finally, governments should launch strategies for overcoming inequalities. All these measures might help to overcome bias in different aspects of the life of females.

Works Cited

1. Atwood, Margaret. Handmaid’s Tale. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021.
2. Berman, Judy. “‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Could Be So Much Better. But First It Has To Leave Its Star Behind“. Time, 2019. Web.
3. Coffey, Diane, et al. “Explicit prejudice.” Economic & Political Weekly, vol. 53, no. 1, 2018, p. 47.
4. Martin, Rachel, and Emma Shacklock. Womanandhome. 2021. Web.
5. Petrie, Mark, and Andrew Prahlow. The Future Of Gender Equality At Work. 2017. Web.
6. Rembeza, Jerzy, and Kamila Radlinska. “Labor Market Discrimination – Are Women Still More Secondary Workers?”. Journal Of Business Economics And Management, vol. 22, no. 1, 2020, pp. 77-97.