Women In The Republic Of Gilead

Although the Republic of Gilead and the state of Iran are located in disparate parts of the world, the similar attributes they share are portrayed through the way women are dealt with in relation to their clothing, education, and physical relationships. To begin with, in both of the theocratic societies, women are oppressed and are forced to wear certain types of clothing without any complains. The women in the Republic of Gilead are assigned very conservative clothing styles chosen by the rulers of their society, “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us” (Atwood 9). The dress codes play an important role in highlighting the social control of women as they have only made it easier to decipher which service a specific woman facilitates – the colour red symbolizing the blood of the menstrual cycle and childbirth of the handmaids. …show more content…
For instance, the Burqa – which covers the entire body, including the face, in loose clothing – represents the type of repression similar to the novel. After the Iranian Revolution, the status of women regressed as they were stripped of many rights and the hijab was enforced once again after nearly fifty years. The assigned black colour of these attires reflects the emotions of the women being dehumanized during that dark period of time in history, "The joy of life is gone from my generation. We no longer laugh; laughter is considered ugly and vulgar" (Esfandiari