Current Events > In Handmaids Tale, why are birth giving women treated poorly?

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just watched the first episode and tbh i dont understand why women who can get pregnant are treated poorly, like some sort of sex slave, 2nd rate citizen.

It makes no sense. Wouldnt women who can get pregnant be the most revered and sought after woman in the world? Because its literally the thing that is rare and no one else can do where they would most likely be the wives of the most rich and elite in society? If anything it would be women who cant get pregnant who would be treated like sex slaves or concubines lol

shoudl i keep watching this or will this plot hole just annoy me

Because why would the women of the upper class willingly give away their status and power instead of just co-opting it for themselves?

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That would be true if it was some sorta ancient aztec society or matriarchal society like some places around the world. But this is meant to be modern day the west, where the people who actually produce and contribute are treated the worst, and the ones at the top who simply profit from it make sure they're treated the worse so the tables are never turned. A reference to what's happening nowadays
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Keep watching. Good show.

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nexigrams posted...

why would the women of the upper class willingly give away their status and power

Wouldnt their elite/high-ranking rich husbands demote them to concubine and replace them with a fertile wife to keep their bloodline going? Especially if their infertile wives start acting up?

saspa posted...

But this is meant to be modern day the west, where the people who actually produce and contribute are treated the worst, and the ones at the top who simply profit from it make sure they're treated the worse so the tables are never turned.

I feel this would still be the case in this day and age. This isnt just building random goods in a factory. These women are literally the only people in the entire world who can continue the population. Without them the human race would be doomed. This would instantly exalt them to such a high status in society by default that only the rich and most powerful would most likely be able to obtain. Why would a rich powerful elite settle for an infertile woman if he can get a rare fertile woman who can give him children. Why would a fertile woman settle for a the mailman if she can get a high status male who could provide her with a much better lifestyle?

Treating fertile women as a product or treat them like baby factory and abusing them makes no sense. All it will take is for these women to be pushed to suicide them BOOM, the human race is gone.

toyota posted...

Treating fertile women as a product or treat them like baby factory and abusing them makes no sense. All it will take is for these women to be pushed to suicide them BOOM, the human race is gone.

So exactly how the powerful treat others now, then?

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toyota posted...

Treating fertile women as a product or treat them like baby factory and abusing them makes no sense. All it will take is for these women to be pushed to suicide them BOOM, the human race is gone.

I haven't seen the show, but I'm guessing people have gotten so desperate that not only is that not much of a solution anymore, but people are probably at the point where they want to continue the population so bad, they don't care anymore and are willing to use any means necessary.

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You have to remember, the upper class doesn't use the Handmaids to stop the human race from going extinct, they use them to maintain their position and carry on their own families. They are treated as property.

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Xavier_On_High posted...

You have to remember, the upper class doesn't use the Handmaids to stop the human race from going extinct, They use them to maintain their position and carry on their own families. They are treated as property.

Exactly so wouldnt they be basically treated like royalty? Why have some infertile woman as a wife when you can flex on the world that you have a fertile one that is continuing your genetic bloodline.

The real question is why are you taking the show seriously?

It's just a torture porn, fanfic.

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Im gonna spoiler mark my post but:

Not all fertile women are Handmaids. It is sinful women who are deemed unworthy of marriage according to Gileads version of Christianity who become Handmaids.

This post is much more spoilery than the first paragraph: Scientific evidence in the show, revealed by the American Government in Exile indicate that infertility is actually far more common amongst men. So several women labeled infertile by Gilead are actually fertile but with an infertile man.

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toyota posted...

Exactly so wouldnt they be basically treated like royalty? Why have some infertile woman as a wife when you can flex on the world that you have a fertile one that is continuing your genetic bloodline.

Because then people get jealous and it causes problems that lead to a societal breakdown. Everyone would then try to marry one of these woman and either keep them to themselves cause a civil war, or literally just share their wife with whoever whenever. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in the story that does happen though.

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toyota posted...

Exactly so wouldnt they be basically treated like royalty? Why have some infertile woman as a wife when you can flex on the world that you have a fertile one that is continuing your genetic bloodline.

That's one way of doing it. The story does it another way. Gotta remember, societies have mistreated women for millennia, against all logic and reason.

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BalanceLost hit the nail on the head.

Gilead sought to seek power whatever means necessary. In any war, the quickest way to seek power is to seize the means of production. It was evident during the takeover that fertile women would become the most valued commodity, so they took control of it before everyone realized that. Had that not happened, we likely would have seen what you stated, TC. But Gilead explicitly kept that from happening by seizing control so they could take over America.

They justified all of this by calling it a holy war. Thus, as BalanceLost said, only the women labeled as sinful were reduced to being handmade. But their definition of "sinful" was vague and left to wide interpretation. Basically it was yet another excuse to seek power.

I like to think of it as slavery in the US Civil War. The war wasn't all about slavery, there were multiple issues on the line. But slavery was one of the most visible and surely an easy target to rally supporters for or against.

Same with Gilead. The Handmaids were just one issue relating to Gilead. Women, in general, were treated as property (as seen by the existence of Martha's and what the wives go through). Even men weren't immune from their sadistic rules, as you will see later on. It's all part of their twisted sense of morality.

As to your final point on why a commander just doesn't leave his wife for a fertile handmaid, why would he? With the current arrangement, he gets both. Why settle for one when you get three (a wife for emotional needs, a handmaid for sexual needs, and a martha for household needs). From Gilead's perspective, this is a major win.

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