Reply to Kylie threw a Handsmaid Tale theme party, why is this tone deaf?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Well, I guess that's one way to think about it.

What about all the protesters who dress up like those characters?

I actually read the book a million years ago and discussed it in multiple classes in high school and college. My takeaway was that the heroine was just that: the heroine. She survived, she persisted, she won. I didn't see her as a victim. [/quote]

Did you really read the book?  In the epilogue, I thought it was pretty clear she did not “win.”  That it appeared likely she was recaptured as there was no record of her getting to Canada and that her daughter probably was never freed.  I found the book super depressing.

I also think it’s different than dressing up as Sansa Stark.  Sansa is a strong female character who was raped,  Dressing up as unidentified handmaidens is different to me because the hand aids have been stripped of identify and their sole purpose is as vessels to be raped and owned as punishment for perceived transgressions.  I just don’t see a “let’s celebrate the handmaiden” vibe in the same way I’d see a “let’s celebrate the awesomeness of Sansa Stark” vibe.[/quote]

But the show has gone beyond the book. June the TV character has already become more than the book and all the other handmaid's will full fleshed out personalities.

The handmaid costume has been coopted by feminist protestors. This is true. Because it is a nice metaphor that comes with an even more powerful dramatic visual statement. But the US is not Gilead and this did not really happen to June. She is a fictional character. She is not Anne Frank she is Ophelia or Juliet. She is a tragic literary figure. [/quote]

But the women hold all the power: the power of life/reproduction, and the power of sex. Society and men specifically want/need both...which is why they go to extreme lengths to make women subservient. But a savvy reader understands this...and that's precisely why female protesters wear the costumes.

#TheMoreYouKnow[/quote]

I don't think I said anything that conflicts with this. I think the extremely powerful visual red costumes are a big part of why it has caught on with protesters though. What you're talking about is how we learn about it in school when we read the Handmaid's Tale. I think most protesters are wearing it as a striking symbol of oppressed women. [/quote]

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