OPINION | Trans rights? Yes. Toxic, in-your-face activism? No | CBC News https://t.co/PBdkRizvEz— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) October 23, 2021
Now that I've watched both Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace, I'm noticing a theme in her work (assuming the shows are true to the book). The heroines in her stories all seem to explicitly reject class (not ambivalent about class, but outright denying class distinctions) in favor of solidarity with other women. Like, I might be a poor oppressed woman and you are a rich and privileged woman, but we're both women so really we should ally with each other to fight the patriarchy.
If you read the Handmaid's Tale it is even worse when it comes to race.
All the horrible shit shown in the show only happens to white people in the books. Black people are in concentration camps in the book, but they are only mentioned for two sentences as the "Children of Ham". Atwood loves writing about white women, but she has many tricks to make entire races of other women dissapear in her stories.
The Handmaid's Tale would be like writing a 311 page history of WWII from the perspective of a captured white woman in the French resistance while mentioning the Jews, Romanians, Slavs, Russians, Homosexuals, and disabled for not even a page.
Now that I've watched both Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace, I'm noticing a theme in her work (assuming the shows are true to the book). The heroines in her stories all seem to explicitly reject class (not ambivalent about class, but outright denying class distinctions) in favor of solidarity with other women. Like, I might be a poor oppressed woman and you are a rich and privileged woman, but we're both women so really we should ally with each other to fight the patriarchy.
So not surprised she has some TERFy tendencies.
If you read the Handmaid's Tale it is even worse when it comes to race.
All the horrible shit shown in the show only happens to white people in the books. Black people are in concentration camps in the book, but they are only mentioned for two sentences as the "Children of Ham". Atwood loves writing about white women, but she has many tricks to make entire races of other women dissapear in her stories.
Beyond parody to just off handedly put minorities in a concentration camp so you dont have to worry about making them real characters.
The Handmaid's Tale would be like writing a 311 page history of WWII from the perspective of a captured white woman in the French resistance while mentioning the Jews, Romanians, Slavs, Russians, Homosexuals, and disabled for not even a page.