Raven Bulusan

Bshrm 2-A

The Handmaid's Tale Reflection Paper

The systematic exploitation of fertile women in the series it’s a degenerate example of bio-
politics, and it echoes the assumption according to which “a policy built directly on bios is
always likely to violently subject bios to politics”. Gilead’s world is an infertile one. The loss of
control over the domain of conception spreads panic amongst the ruling élite, and it led to the
imposition of the martial law. In the need not to succumb to the threat of human extinction, the
State take full control over the main “instrument” of conception: female body. As an immediate
consequence, women’s rights are withdrawn, leaving them suddenly powerless and exposed to
any kind of abuse.

Visually, the series provide several examples of the implications that the installment of a
militarized, Christian-driven regime can brings in people lives. The mechanical rituality of troops
permeates every aspect of daily life: in the public sphere it is visible in the choreographed
collective movements of the Handmaids, who march along the clean and pleasant residential
street of Gilead, constantly surveilled by the State police. In the private, the perfect order of the
furniture disposition in the Commanders’ houses, the glorification of sobriety and the strict
distribution of duties recalls military discipline. But the most evident sign of militarization of
society is the assignment of uniforms. Wearing the appropriate dress is mandatory for women
in Gilead, and each dress represent a specific position with a precise function in society. While
men wear indistinctly dark colors – black for the highest positions, navy blue for subordinate
figures as Nick, the driver of the Waterford family – a special attention is given to female
clothes, which are charged of a value that goes beyond the simple esthetic purpose. In the light
of what Lacey observes on the issue of law’s inner violence, by imposing women different
uniforms.