Women & Religion

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, follows the story of a woman in a heavily religious, patriarchal society. All people are required to follow extremely strict Christian standards of modesty, and may only discuss certain acceptable topics. Truly, no one in this society has free will, but women are dehumanized the most. Women are not involved in decision-making of any kind, whether in the government, their communities, or in their own homes. Upper class women with powerful husbands are allowed to do as they please within the home, but nothing more. Many more women are kept in some kind of servitude, where they are stripped of even the dignity of their own names. Some, called Margarets, are responsible for working in the kitchen, as well as cleaning the house. Others, like the narrator of this novel, are kept by families solely for the purpose of breeding. This is incredibly traumatic and dehumanizing. 

This society models an extremified version of a stereotypical heavily religious society today. Often in fiction and media portrayals, religion is shown as a tool of oppression over women. The government in “The Handmaid’s Tale” uses religion to justify their oppressive rules. Women must cover themselves, so they do not have autonomy over their clothes, because their bodies may be tempting to men. Women should praise the Lord for the blessings of food, shelter, and health, and ungratefulness is a sin. Men make decisions and women may not have input, because men are made in God’s image, while women are made as a companion for men. While this portrayal is obviously exaggerated, it does represent stereotypical restrictions that religious women endure in many forms of media. 

In many news stories and works of fiction, restrictions against women are exaggerated and falsely attributed to religion. In some cases, like this novel, women are shown commonly being forced into certain religions. However, many real women choose to participate in religion, and have an overall positive experience. Portrayals like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and others are harmful to these women, as they breed misconceptions about women in religion. Women who choose to participate in religion when it is viewed as oppressive are looked down upon, and considered foolish for choosing to participate in their oppression, even if they truly are respected and not oppressed.