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The Handmaid's Tale: A Feminist Analysis

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Since its publication in 1985, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has been used as political inspiration for the feminist movement. After the 2016 election, which ushered in Republican majorities in the House and Senate as well as the election of Republican Donald Trump to the presidency, The Handmaid’s Tale has seen an increase in sales and the character of the Handmaid has resurfaced as an image of feminist resistance to anti-choice legislation. Despite the fact that this image is highly recognizable and jarring, it falls short as a form of feminist protest, as it presents a cold and merely pragmatic feminist vision that fails to be intersectional, persuasive, or emancipatory.
In her landmark article, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color,” Kimberlé Crenshaw …show more content…
Currently, many marginalized women are unable to obtain abortions, because the procedure is too expensive, they live in an area without a healthcare provider who can perform the procedure, or because of cultural stigma surrounding abortion. The Handmaids would make note of this experience if the protests were truly intersectional. However, the loudest voices are advocating for women who will likely still be able to obtain abortions, contraceptives, and other reproductive healthcare services no matter what happens legislatively.
One way to make the character of the Handmaid more intersectional would be to employ a technique that Krista Ratcliffe calls rhetorical listening. Rhetorical listening is defined as “… a trope for interpretive invention, that is, as a stance of openness that a person may choose to assume in relation to any person, text, or culture; its purpose is to cultivate conscious identifications in ways that promote productive communication, especially but not solely cross-culturally (Ratcliffe

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