It's not Women vs. Men

Because of the nature of material we have been reading in our Woman's Literature class, many of the topics that have come up in my blogs have had this 'Us vs Them' mentality.

Even though I have recently been talking about sisterhoods and brotherhoods we must not forget that there are many gender neutral groups which exist for the same reasons that sisterhoods and brotherhoods do.

Offred's relationships with the Commander and with Nick in The Handmaid's Tale are examples of this. Offred gave her body and a sense of companionship to both and was duly rewarded. The Commander rewarded her by giving her contraband goods, letting her read and by salving her crave for explanation. Meanwhile Nick provided Offred with the true sense of companionship that she yearned for.

However Nick's relationship with Offred is one which we could more easily call a 'gender neutral' sisterhood since they are both alike, being subservient and disposable. Their relationship is more equal, contrary to the Commander's relationship with her since he took advantage of Offred and there was little risk for himself. Meanwhile, Nick took huge risks by having a relationship with Offred and proved beyond doubt his devotion to her when he risked his own life in order to save hers in chapter 46, the last chapter of the book.

We must also remember that like in today's society, there is no clear cut gender divide in The Handmaid's Tale. If this had been the case, every woman would have been at the bottom of the social ladder while all the men would have been at the top. But it isn't. The lowest ranked man was not above the highest ranked female. Think of the Guardians' measly power in comparison to that of the Wives or Aunts for example.

Surprised? Yes, so am I. But there are a myriad of reasons for this that I will enlighten you upon in one of my future posts called 'Bad Women'.