The Woman Thing, Part 3: Is it Better in Gilead?

Well, at least you'd be "protected."

Here comes The Testaments, TV Hulu/Disney sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, launching April 8. I’ve had a sneak preview of the first season, and was rivited; I’m even in it, with a cameo — I can’t tell you what yet, but let’s just say I channel my inner mean, scowly crone. We shot that scene in the cellar of the old Toronto City Hall. You won’t believe what’s down there!

If you’ve read the book, you’ll know that it’s 15 years later, and

we’re following three women — two teenaged girls, one who’s grown up inside Gilead and another who has been recruited into it from that fearsome, weird country, Canada. (In the future, Canada is not the 51st State, but it’s quite nervous. So what else is new?)

Chase Infiniti. Lucy Halliday.

The third female person is the dreaded Aunt Lydia, who now has a girl’s school named after her with a great big statue of herself in it. The school is for the daughters of the elite Commanders, soon to be married off to other Commanders or their sons.

Ann Dowd.

Here’s the trailer video. As you can see, at first things look kind of normal, although sureally tidy. Agnes, the Gilead girl, even has a doll’s house. The school is sort of like a standard elite private girls’ school of, say, the 1950s, crossed with a finishing school of the 19th century in England, except that instead of reading there’s a lot of textile work going on and the girls are extra polite. Naturally, there are uniforms: Gilead is very big on uniforms. The other advantage of this girls’ school is that nobody is blowing it up with a missile.

To be fair, Gilead offers some advantages for young, fertile women. For one thing, babies are actually desired — unlike the present USA, where only some babies are desired —and women are rewarded for having them. In the case of the Handmaids, not rewarded much, but at least rewarded. They get three square, nutritious meals — RFK would be proud. They get a room, rent free. They get expert prenatal and natal care. For comparison purposes, look at some American states — for women without money and support, pregnancy is a nightmare: no health insurance, no good food, lucky if you’ve got a roof, and if you miscarry — even if you can afford insurance — you’re left to bleed out in a parking lot because doctors are too scared to treat you, lest they be accused of having performed an abortion. In Gilead, pregnant women are cherished and even envied. Their status goes way up. No-one sane would think of harming them. They are not dragged around and kneeled on by out-of-control federal officers. As I’ve said, only some babies are desired …

In the HM Tale TV series, Offred comforts Janine, who has a lot of support for her pregnancy and birthing (though she doesn’t get to keep the baby…)

Another advantage of Gilead is that you’re unlikely to get raped, as such. Girls are protected, very protected. They are kept away from males and told they are precious flowers. (Like everything in the Gilead world, this situation is based on history: it’s all happened, sometime, somewhere. ) The catch is that you will be married off at an early age to some man you may not even know: maybe even a pervy (how do you spell pervy?) rich old pedophile. But hey, at least you’ll be married! Unlike the under-aged girls in Epsteinland.

49-year-old Henry VIII and teenaged Catherine Howard. It didn’t end well, especially for her. (No head.)

The marriages are arranged by the Aunts and the families, with suitable wardrobes. (Arranged marriages, again, are hardly new in human history; more the rule than the exception, come to think of it.) Is nice clothing and a party ample recompense for not having any actual rights? You may not think so, but what if you don’t get either?

So, your choice: in Gilead, protection, sort of; security, sort of. Or else, in the “free” world, represented in the series by Canada and skateboarding, a lot of choice in theory, but no guarantees. Is freedom really just another word for nothing left to lose? Let’s find out.

Below the line for you, faithful paid subscribers, and I promise you some bird news next time: Belen, a true-story book that became a film; both are about a girl who didn’t know she was pregnant, started miscarrying, went to the hospital, and was then accused of having had an abortion and thrown in jail. You can find both book and film on the Internet.