Patriarchy in The Handmaid's Tale

It is clear that patriarchy is present in Gilead. As males are promoted as the most privileged. Male privilege, male domination, male identified and male centered are all expressed and for taken in Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale. To better understand patriarchy in The Handmaids Tale, I will define each term. Male privilege is the way that males have advantages without trying. As Dr. J mentioned in class the example of a female and male walking alone at night is different between the two sexes. While males may not be approached by other males while walking alone at night, females have a disadvantage of being known to getting raped or approached by other males while walking alone at night. Male dominated refers to the positions and authorities that are generally held by men. As we see in the United States today the president and the governor are both held by male positions. Male identified refers to values that men possess that are seen as good. Such as the ability to earn money, hold public office, assertiveness, competition and logic. Male centered refers to men in lives are the center of attention and their stories are more important than women stories. For example, movies usually have a male protagonist. If a women is the main character in a movie, the male is usually the storyline.

The Handmaid's Tale illustrates male privilege, male domination, male identified, male centered- patriarchy- throughout the book in the city of Gilead. The obsession of control is another big issue that is portrayed in the book. We see the obsession of control when the men are announced to take all money from the women. As Ofred looks back when the new rule takes place, she is bothered that Luke does not seem startled at the new rule. This is a showing of how Gilead is becoming male dominated by letting the males of the family become in control of the money they possess.

Male centered is shown when the Commander expresses to Ofred that sexuality to men mattered. As he says "The problem wasn't only with women, he says. The main problem was men. There was nothing for them anymore..... It's not enough, he says. It's too abstract. I mean there was nothing for them to do with women." (Atwood, 210). Commander expresses that men were being turned off by marriages and sex because it was too easy to get sex. Therefore, the rules of Gilead switched so that men could participate in sex with arranged Handmaid's rather than their Wife's.

The first ceremonial prayer that is presented on page 90 to 91, illustrates men being in control and leading the service. As the Commander clears his throat indicates that it is time for the women to stop praying. Another example of male control in the ceremonial prayer is the sign-off, when the Commander stands up the women are then dismissed. The ceremonial prayer is an example of both male domination, how the Commander is in control of what happens in the service and his actions are praised and followed by the women. The prayer also indicates male privilege, without the Commander trying to be in control- he is because he was born male which leads to such advantages.

The stories are women are often seen as not as important when compared to stories of men. This example is shown in the Historical Notes when Professor Pieixoto tells Ofred's narration of her life story of Gilead. While reading the excerpt on page 310, he says that he wishes he had found different information rather than cassette tapes of female perspective of Gilead. As the story is a powerful one telling the future how Gilead was ran from Ofred's perspective, the chairmen simply dismiss her story- derogatory because she is female. Thus leads that the future has not changed and they have not learned anything from Gilead.

The examples that I have expressed from The Handmaid's Tale are all problems that we deal with in the twenty-first century rather we realize it or not. We see today that males are privileged simply because they can live on their family's name and can reproduce by giving sperm. As the Commander is in control of women, the President can be seen as the Commander. The president in the United States is male and controls the whole country. We have not yet had a female president but rather we pick males every election to control us and our country. Though many notice that male patriarchy is present in today's society, we have not made any changes to change this type of society. I believe that Margaret Atwood's purpose on writing this book was to show that the events presented in the novel are relatable to past events that have occurred. We close a blind eye around us- we, as women, need to pay attention to what is happening round us and not look away because it is simply not happening to us. Though we pretend to learn from the past, we overall do not because we keep doing things that have been practiced in the past such as women seen as sub-important when compared to men.