The slogan which Ofred must live by “from each according to her ability; to each according to his needs” (p. 135) is an example of how Gilead uses language in an oppressive manner. The slogan not only excludes individuality and freedom of “choice” but also emphasizes that the handmaid’s are to serve men’s needs but there is no reciprocation of this. Likewise, men in this society cannot be infertile and the use of the word sterile is forbidden. Offred is appalled by the fact that the Commander’s wife suggests that maybe Offred isn’t pregnant because the Commander is sterile – Offred thinks that “it’s heresy” and that it is “only women… can’t, who remain stubbornly closed, damaged, defective” (p. 236).
Women are not only given the burden of fertility and infertility but are also made responsible of any sexual indiscretion, which is ironic given that they have little or no say in when or where they have sex. To make matters worse, men “can’t help it” and are exempt from culpability because “God made them that way.”
Offred is given the choice to participate in her arrangement as a handmaid rather than face death. Unlike in Juno, Offred does not have the option to keep her child as society does not allow for this and surrogacy is her way to survive. She says in the first chapter that she has already had a baby taken from her. Latimer points out that the separation of Offred’s rights from those of “her potential child… satirizes the idea that women are not only adversely related to the foetus, or the future child, but are actually much less politically important.” This is reflective of “pro-life” stances on the right of the fetus to live, while ignoring and putting this ahead of a mother’s right to choose a decision that is right for her circumstances.
The emphasis on patriarchy throughout the novel and the fact that women who are or should be fertile’s only use their fertility to reproduce is illustrated in the fact that women who are unable to reproduce are named “unwomen.” Latimer writes that such naming takes place in pro-life discourse, which takes the stance that “women who advocate or have abortions… are not properly female.” This discourse places enormous emphasis on women’s purpose for reproduction and represents the “feminine ideal” that all women should want to be mothers, as discussed in the previous lecture.
I liked how you added the Latimer quote about how if women support or have abortions they are not properly female, and how this translated in The Handmaids’s Tale. I feel extremely opposed to that statement by pro-life extremist because some women do not have a choice. Looking back to the article of “26 Abortion Stories” there was a women who had one due to the fact the child was incredibly ill and would have caused extreme medical issues for itself and it’s mother if it were to be taken to term. Another story was how a women was pressured into it by financial circumstances. Sometimes there are no choices and to say that a women is less of a women because she had no other option is completely narrow minded. This argument can easily open up the topic of what defines a women then if not her ability to reproduce. For a long time this had been the association with females. I even predict that in further years to come, when someone rights down what the characters of a women are, one of the points will have something to do with reproduction. It’s something humans have been conditioned to think.