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Vicki League
Farrah Cato
Independent Study
9 December 2014
Feminist Speculative Fiction: A Reflection of the Woman's Experience
Introduction
There appears to be a gap in research about the ways that feminist
speculative fiction serves as an exploration and reflection of gendered
rhetoric in society, highlighting the womans experience and the negative
effects of gender roles and the gender binary. Scholars have shown that
speculative fiction can reflect reality and that feminist literature, including
speculative fiction, can be used as a means to effect change, but few have
drawn connections between the conditions of women in our world and the
conditions of women in speculative fiction worlds. This paper will analyze
several speculative fiction novels through a feminist lens to investigate and
understand the critical commentary of the reality of our world and its
unequal nature in regards to gender. Before these texts can be analyzed, a
basic explanation of realism and feminism is necessary, as well as an
introduction to speculative fiction itself.
The relationship between fiction and truth is a debatable topic and
scholars from various fields have different understandings of it. It is not
difficult to find philosophical scholars arguing that fiction cannot possibly
contain truth as fiction, by definition, centers around make-believe stories.
However, many literature and fiction scholars argue that these false stories

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contain information about the truths of our world for various reasons and by
various methods. For the purposes of this paper, fiction contains certain
degrees of realism and real-world reflection that prompts connections and
understandings by and for the reader. Realism, even if it is only present in
small portions, is why fiction is important and can change how readers view
the world. Shaw says that the best way to read fictional texts is to see the
very real conditions for which they are metaphors (179).
Feminism, a popular and hotly contested idea of our time, is defined by
Merriam-Webster as the theory of the political, economic, and social
equality of the sexes. Felski uses Alison Jaggars definition of feminism,
which states that all those forms of theory and practice that seek, no matter
on what grounds and by what means, to end the subordination of women
are feminist (13). Looking at literature through a feminist lens focuses on the
representation of women and the conditions surrounding the womans
experience, intending to expose sexist patriarchal structures in our society
and the oppression that women face because of these structures
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/). Fiction gives feminist
writers a way to discuss and analyze the framework surrounding a womans
life without having to write directly about personal experiences and specific
events that have happened. Knowledge of general themes and experiences
faced by all women can be applied to a fictional world with the intention of
highlighting certain aspects that the writer wants to discuss with the reader
and with the larger discourse surrounding the single text.

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Writers trying to raise awareness about feminism and influence others
with a text would naturally gravitate toward formats that can reach a wider
audience. Genre fiction possesses a wide and varied readership, which
provides a larger audience for feminism than literary fiction would (CrannyFrancis 2). Women choose to write speculative fiction (SF) tales because SF
offers freedom: freedom to discuss, freedom to criticize, and freedom to
reimagine. SF as a genre offers women a language [that] enables the
expression of radical and feminist ideas that otherwise cannot be conveyed
(Makinen 145), a language that makes use of fantastical metaphors and
stories to tell truths.
Speculative Fiction
By nature, speculative fiction (SF) is a widely debated topic with no
clear consensus for a definition. Speculative fiction is an umbrella term that
can include a variety of other subgenres that are more commonly known, like
fantasy, science fiction, and magical realism. Perhaps the easiest, yet
potentially vaguest, definition of SF is that it is fiction that speculates and
causes speculation.
Speculation about what? Some may argue that SF speculates upon the
future and other worlds and is therefore unrealistic, but many argue that SF
actually speculates upon reality because it imagines the future and things
that could potentially happen. Ursula LeGuin, the author of The Left Hand of
Darkness, explains that SF sets out to describe reality, the present world
instead of trying to predict the future (xiv). SF writers are not trying to tell

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the reader what the future might be; instead, all they can tell the reader is
what they know and what they have seen by observing reality (LeGuin xv).
Makinen draws a connection between fiction and the readers understanding
about reality, paraphrasing Jean Pfaelzers explanation: fiction creates a
profound restructuring of readers assumptions about contemporary reality
(146), which allows us to see that this fiction has to contain information
about reality if it is changing the way readers see reality.
The next logical step is to wonder why SF writers try to describe the
world by writing about things that seem to belong on other worlds and in
other times far removed from our present reality, even contrary to our
reality (Card 17). LeGuin answers that all fiction is metaphor. Science fiction
is metaphor (xviii). What cannot be said clearly and accurately in words,
otherwise known as truth, is instead said through elaborate, fantastical
stories known as speculative fiction. SF speculates on reality, the here and
now, the things that are real in our world. Shaw explains that SF writers write
to express a truth, a concept, a conviction or a question whichfind their
most potent expression through the invention of imaginary worlds in which
the future has already happened (178), showing us that there are indeed
deeper rhetorical reasons behind the choice of SF as a medium of truthtelling.
Most importantly, SF serves a larger purpose beyond new worlds and
fantastical ideas. By telling stories very different from the reality we see
around us, SF allows the reader to step back from, and thus offer a critical

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perspective on, her present (Shaw 2). These texts are able to provide a
political critique of the readers own society by showing a different
society with different conventions and ideological discourses, which allows
the reader to step back from their reality and evaluate it critically instead of
accepting it as a natural state of being (Cranny-Francis 61). This critical
perspective can have a social or political purpose (Shaw 2), which becomes
even stronger and clearer when feminism is brought into the novel. SF has
revolutionary potential because of its structural premise to question thingsas-they-are (Makinen 139), and is the perfect vehicle for feminist discourse
to show the inequalities that women face as writers question the status quo
of patriarchal society and provide critical commentary on the ways that
women have to live. Readers must ask themselves what they can learn from
reading feminist SF novels in relation to our world, its truths, and its
possibilities.
Case Studies
To show how feminist speculative fiction contains aspects of realism
that reflect on our current world by discussing other worlds, I will look at two
different texts as case studies. These two novels prove that SF mirrors reality.
They examine current societal structures and norms surrounding gender
through speculating on the here and now by imagining the future
consequences and projecting future realities that could logically follow if our
world remains as is (Cranny-Francis 68), or presenting entirely different
worlds seemingly unconnected to ours to provide a commentary and critique

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on the patriarchal structures of our world and the inequalities that the
gender binary causes. We will first examine an author who has been
proclaimed as the single most important women writer of science fiction
(Makinen 152), and whose approach provides worlds parallel to ours that
show the potential outcomes of our societal norms.
Joanna Russs The Female Man
The Female Man is driven by Joanna Russs desire to engage the
reader in a consideration of patriarchy and the damage it does on women
more than a desire to tell a story for the sake of telling a story (Makinen
155). Many passages and events are paired with Russs textual aggression
towards patriarchy as a way to further the storyline, and Russ uses
caricature and invective to delineate the normal mid-Western relationships
between men and women in the 1970s, which are still common in the
current decade and easily recognizable (Makinen 154).
The novel follows four women: Jeannine and Joanna, who live in various
versions of 1975; Janet, who lives in a different world without men; and Jael,
who lives in a different world where the split between genders led to warfare
and has become geographical. Each character embodies different aspects of
womens existence and can draw the readers attention to Russs critiques.
Jeannine essentially symbolizes the ideal woman in the eyes of the
patriarchy. Shes focused on finding a man and settling down with him to
start a family and live as a dutiful wife. Jeannine ends up depressed from a
lack of fulfillment a lack of ability to fulfill the typical female role of falling

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in love, getting married, having kids, and taking care of her home, instead
pining away for men. Through Jeannines character, the reader can see the
epitome of the patriarchys expectations for women and how this affects
women. When Jeannine visits her family, the narrator tells her, You dont
want to be a dried-up old spinster at forty but thats what you will be if you
go on like this. Youre twenty-nine. Youre getting old. You ought to marry
someone who can take care of you, JeannineIts all right to do that; youre
a girl (Russ 114). Jeannine is supposed to end up married and be supported
by a man, because she is a girl and needs a man to take care of her. Further
showing the gender roles, the narrator describes Jeannines brother as a
firm, steady man who makes a good living for his wife and children, and his
wife as a woman who wants nothing more in the world than her husband
and her little boy and girl (Russ 113). This couple demonstrates exactly
what each gender is supposed to do and what Jeannines future should look
like. These two quotes are also a scolding for Jeannine, who knows she is not
fulfilling her role in society and becomes upset at her failure. She spends
much of her time laying around, bemoaning her fate, and altogether not
enjoying life.
Jeannines behavior also reflects how a woman should act: She
pauses, catching sight of herself in the wall mirror: flushed, eyes sparkling,
her hair swept back as if by some tumultuous storm, her whole face glowing.
The lines of her figure are perfect, but who is to use all this loveliness, who is
to recognize it? (Russ 109). Jeannine tries to achieve the ideal feminine

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beauty and look the way men want her to look. Her goal is to attract a man,
thus centering everything in her life around men and eventual marriage.
Joanna, previously ensnared in the same patriarchal trap as Jeannine, notes
that before Janet arrived on this planet...I spent my whole day combing my
hair and putting on make-up...all I did was dress for The Man, smile for The
Man, talk wittily to The Man, sympathize with The Man, flatter The Man,
understand The Man, defer to The Man, entertain The Man, keep The Man,
live for The Man (Russ 29). Jeannine, for the majority of the novel, spends
her time doing exactly those things.
When Jeannine is with her boyfriend, she feels unable to discuss things
because hell say shes nattering again; worse still, it would sound pretty
silly; you cant expect a man to listen to everything (as everybodys Mother
said) (Russ 108), degrading her own voice and elevating a mans attention
above the topics and ideas that she wishes to share. An important facet of
that quote is that she attributes this knowledge to her mother, showing that
women are raised to think of men as superior. Another character, Laura,
discusses the construction of gender roles from childhood, venting her
frustration about being denied her goals and dreams because they werent
feminine enough. She sarcastically explains: Everyone knows that much as
women want to be scientists and engineers, they want foremost to be
womanly companions to men (what?) and caretakers of childhood (Russ 60).
This is, supposedly, an inherent truth, a role that women are supposed to
embrace. As her therapist says, Men make the decisions and women make

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the dinners (Russ 67), delegating each person to their specific role that
theyve been taught since childhood . No deviation is allowed; yet still, Laura
wants to be more than just a woman.
Joanna tries to achieve the transcendence of woman, becoming what
she calls the female man. She aims to do exactly what Laura was always
taught not to do: to inherit male roles and achieve the successes that only
men are allowed to achieve. She summarizes her education of prominent
figures in the world: You told me ghouls were male. / Rodan is maleand
asinine. / King Kong is male. / I could have been a witch, but the Devil is
male. / Faust is male. / The man who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima was
male. / I was never on the moon (Russ 133), enforcing Lauras descriptions
of her childhood and the discrimination she faces from her parents,
educators, therapist, and peers when it comes to her career and goals. Both
Laura and Joanna, representing millions of women in our world, have few
female role models and rarely see stories of feminine power and success.
Makinens analysis notes that Joannas choice of identifying as a
female man allows her to assum[e] the nominal title of man [and]
inhabit all the positive binary constructions within the culture (155). In her
description, Joanna explains that she became a man by first becoming
completely female, learning what it means to be female. One of her sections
shows the mans idea of female: You really are sweet and responsive after
all. Youve kept your femininity. Youre not one of those hysterical feminist
bitches who wants to be a man and have a penis. Youre a woman (Russ

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94), placing female as completely opposed to male. To merge the two,
Joanna then embraces traditionally non-female roles to become a female
man and inhabit the world of men as a woman.
Existing as a woman in the workplace meant that Joanna had been
neuter, not a woman at all but One Of The Boys, yet still objectified by her
body. If you get good at being One Of The Boys [the objectification] goes
awayI suppose they decided that my tits were not of the best kind, or not
real, or that they were someone elses, so they split me from the neck up
(Russ 133). It was impossible for her to exist as a woman in a professional
space; either she did not fit in, or had to dissociate parts of herself to be
accepted. Makinen agrees, saying that women are trying to ignore their sex
in order to be treated equally, butthey are turned into a negative
construction of femininity by male denigration (155). Once women fit in the
workplace, they have lost their femininity and are therefore not true women,
which is undesirable. Once Joanna reworked herself to remain female yet
occupy male roles, she had a different view of men and the world: For years
I have been saying Let me in, Love me, Approve me, Define me, Regulate
me, Validate me, Support me. Now I say Move over (Russ 140). Instead of
tailoring her needs and decisions around the opinions of men, she creates
her own space to be successful by her own definitions. Using the label the
female man puts her in a unique place that is neither traditionally male nor
female and allows her to move among the ranks of men.

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While Joanna is able to do this and be successful, the gender binary
does not allow two-way movement. Jeannine describes her boyfriend as
such a baby and finds it pathetic that when he does it [sex], you know,
sometimes he cries. I never heard of a man doing that (Russ 83). When he
crosses the gender line and has a characteristic of women, crying, Jeannine
is disgusted and concerned. If he doesnt behave like a man, then there must
be something wrong with him. She even notes that sometimes he likes to
get dressed upIs that what they call transvestism? (Russ 83). Behaving
like a woman and wanting to look like a woman is completely wrong for men
in our society; a man trying to move across the gender binary is
unacceptable. This double standard of gender fluidity is a side effect of the
patriarchy because it paints women as weak and pathetic, and when a
supposedly strong man demonstrates those qualities, he is ridiculed,
especially by other men. A woman like Joanna moving into a more man-like
state is at least acceptable in the sense that she can still function in the
workplace and achieve recognition and success, while Jeannines boyfriend
would never receive respect for his womanly behavior.
Jael, the fourth major character to be introduced, exists among men
and sometimes as man, but in an entirely different way than Joanna. In her
world, men and women occupy separate sides of the planet, the culmination
of unequal gender roles and expectations turned into warfare. The
Manlanders and Womanlanders, as they are called, hardly see each other
due to their separation. The Manlanders, without women, cannot have

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children. Instead, they buy infants from the Womanlanders and bring them
up in batches, save for the rich few who can order children made from their
very own semen (Russ 167). All of the infants are male, and if they grow up
deciding that they dont want to be a man, they can become changed, or
half-changed if they decide too late for body modifications to be made.
These changed and half-changed function as women in the society, used for
sex and domestic activities. The narrator notes sarcastically that the halfchanged are weak and cant protect themselves; what do you think
femininity is all about? (Russ 172), reminding the reader and the characters
that the patriarchy places women and non-men in a very specific role and
that being like a woman is bad. Without women around them, the men have
fallen even further into degrading women. Jael speculates that one day
theyll fall so far that theyll invade Womanland, rape everyone in sight (if
they still remember how) and then kill them, and after that commit suicide
upon a pyramid of their victims panties (Russ 171).
Jael is an assassin who targets high-rank enemy men, but she also
specializes in portraying men and occupying their roles as a spy or infiltrator.
She has a high status within the women and is thus granted fairly free
movement among enemy troops and higher-ups, none of whom know that
she is usually among them as an assassin. Jael describes her situation: I
come and go as I please. I do only what I want. I have wrestled myself
through to an independence of mind that has ended by bring all of you here
today. In short, I am a grown woman (Russ 187). The freedom she has is the

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freedom that men are afforded in our world; a grown woman here would
rarely describe herself in such a manner. Jael is able to inhabit a traditionally
male role, which shows the gap between what women can achieve and what
men can achieve.
In addition to being able to move around with the freedom of a man,
she revels in her ability to destroy men and maintain her power over them,
almost reversing patriarchal standards by placing herself as the oppressor in
her extreme hatred of men. After one of the other characters asks her if it
was necessary to kill the male leader in her signature violent manner, she
says, I dont give a damn whether it was necessary or notI liked it (Russ
184), and as a narrator explains that theres no doing business with them;
you have to kill them anyway, might as well have fun (Russ 182). Her
attitude toward the life of men seems to almost exaggeratedly mirror the
disdain and disrespect men have for women. Russ presents this as a poor
alternative to the patriarchy its still dangerous and unequal, and Jaels allconsuming rage and justifications for her actions are neither healthy nor
productive. Instead, her situation and planet prove the need for equality
rather than a reversal of the patriarchy that would place women at the top.
Makinen addresses this in her analysis: The narrative [of Jael's role reversal
of the male world leader], aided by [Jeannine, Janet, and Joannas] horror,
problematizes the issues of role reversal as an effective feminist strategy,
whilst bitterly explaining the attraction of such a course (153).

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Unlike everyone elses worlds, Janets world, Whileaway, has no men at
all. Their technology is advanced enough that women dont need men to
reproduce, and society has been moving smoothly for the centuries without
men: there have been no men on Whileaway for at least eight centuries I
don't mean no human beings, of course, but no men (Russ 9). The reason is
that a disease killed all of the men on the planet, and that words like men
are no longer in use. Her world brings up an entirely new view of patriarchy
and other problems with gender and sexuality. Janet is allowed to do all of
the things that men traditionally do because there are no men there to
occupy those roles or tell her that she cant do them. Women have choices
and freedom, which brings the reader to realize that there arent as many
choices and freedoms in our world. Janet can be both masculine and
feminine and both are expected and acceptable; in our world, the genders
are divided and crossing that boundary brings ridicule.
Upon her entry into our world, Janet cannot become acquainted with
the rules and regulations that women face. Interacting with men and
assuming the role of woman do not come naturally to her, and she cant fit
in. The voice and agency she has on her planet do not belong to her here.
When a man grabs her and she says, Let me go, Joanna as narrator tells
her to say it loud. Somebody will come rescue you. Janet replies, Cant I
rescue myself? Joanna says, No. Janet argues, Why not? (Russ 45). On
our planet, as a woman, Janet does not have the authority and power to save
herself. She has to rely on another man to come save her. This is completely

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different from her planet, where she is able to do what she wants and stand
up for herself. Her freedoms are stripped away in our world, and by seeing
her shoved into our box of woman, the reader identifies with the limitations
and sees the inequality.
Back on Whileaway, even without men, love still exists. Women love
women and form relationships and families based off this love. This brings up
the question of lesbianism and its implications. When Janet meets with a
reporter on our planet, he asks her how women on Whileaway cope with the
lack of sexual love, even though he has no doubts that mothers of
Whileaway love their children and are still capable of love (Russ 11).
Confused, Janet asks, you say we dont have that?...How foolish of you. Of
course we do (Russ 11). In our heteronormative world, where males and
females are supposed to be in love with each other, not the same sex, it
seems impossible and wrong to have women love women. Laura, discussing
her upbringing again and the discrimination she faces for not loving men,
says, Ive never slept with a girl. I couldnt. I wouldnt want to. Thats
abnormal and Im not, although you cant be normal unless you do what you
want and you cant be normal unless you love men (68). Same-sex love on
Whileaway is quite obviously the standard and can show the reader how
normal and acceptable same-sex love is and how the heteronormative,
patriarchal state of our society harms those who are not deemed normal
for their love of the same sex.

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Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale
The Handmaids Tale describes the life of a woman named Offred who
lives as a Handmaid, valued for her reproductive capabilities in a world
where pollution has contaminated peoples bodies and caused a shortage of
healthy babies and mothers. Each Handmaid is assigned to a high-status
man whose wife cannot reproduce. She acts as a sort of surrogate mother,
and the wife owns the child. This world, called Gilead, is a projected future of
our world; Offreds generation saw the switch from the world as we know it to
a world where people are categorized based on their status and reproductive
capabilities. Women have no freedom; everyone performs a specific role to
keep the functioning of the country in check; and every deviance from the
desired order of things is punishable. Offreds situation reflects and amplifies
inequalities and problems that exist in our world.
One main theme is that a womans only value comes from her body
and reproductive capabilities. Men and even other women only view Offred
as useful and worthwhile because shes able to produce a healthy child for
her assigned man. They dont see her personality and mind as the most
important parts of her existence; her body is the most valued thing she can
offer. Offred explains that the Handmaids are containers, its only the
insides of our bodies that are important (Atwood 124). When she was
trained for being a Handmaid, punishments for deviance resulted in bodily
harm to hands and feet, which the trainers explained was fine because for
our purposes your feet and hands are not essential (Atwood 118). The

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Handmaids can be used and abused so long as they remain capable of
reproduction; other aspects of their existence are negligible.
Because of this, Offred is constantly talking about how she wants to be
more than just a body; she wants to exist for herself and be seen for more
than just the use of her reproductive organs. Her value of her soul struggles
against societys value of the body her soul inhabits. In our world, there
seems to be a slightly larger importance on the soul, although women are
clearly still objectified and seen as bodies instead of people. In Gilead,
however, there is no focus at all on her soul; the new world only wants her
body, its capabilities, and biological destiny. Everyone in her world has been
reduced to their bodys essence, and their purpose comes from the body
they inhabit instead of coming from the person that they are. Offred is
constantly talking about becoming empty and feeling empty: what we
prayed for was emptiness, so we would be worthy to be filled: with grace,
with love, with self-denial, semen and babies (251). In a literal way, their
bodies will become filled with a child, but their personalities, values, goals,
and dreams have to be eradicated as well to make room for their purpose as
a Handmaid.
One could argue that Gilead is very woman-centered because it places
so much value and importance on women. Wouldnt this be an improvement
from the way that women are devalued in our society and placed below men
in their level of importance, since without the Handmaids, humanitys
potential to reproduce is significantly reduced? Isnt feminism looking to

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increase the worth of women? Yet Gileads idea of woman-centered means
that everything revolves around the worth of a woman's body, not a
womans potential as a person and as an equal to men. Feminism wants to
level the playing field and see men and women as equals; Gilead does quite
the opposite, placing men in positions of power and giving them the sole
decision-making capabilities while women simply conceive, bear children,
and eventually die. Each world, ours (in terms of feminism) and Gilead, looks
at the worth of women in completely different ways. Gileads argument for
valuing women is completely destroyed when the reader realizes that only
healthy and child-bearing women are important; women unfit for birthing
children or for being trophy wives to prominent men are cast aside into
designated places called the Colonies, where they are forced to do hard
manual labor, sometimes cleaning up dead bodies or radioactive spills, with
an increased chance of death. The Colonies are the dumpster for useless
women. A Handmaids reward for bearing a healthy child is that Shell never
be sent to the Colonies, shell never be declared Unwoman (Atwood 163).
The Handmaids are further objectified and devalued when their
assigned men, known as Commanders, take them to an underground, secret
club called Jezebel. Here, the men parade their women around as trophies to
prove their masculinity and power. One of the workers at Jezebel, not a
Handmaid but more of a sort of prostitute, explains that the men like to see
[the Handmaids] all painted up. Just another crummy power trip (Atwood
316). Offred, upon being taken to Jezebel and walking around in a

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promiscuous, ridiculous pin-up outfit under the guiding hand of her
Commander, realizes that he is showing me off, to them, and they
understand that, they are decorous enough, they keep their hands to
themselves, but they review my breasts, my legs, as if theres no reason why
they shouldnt (Atwood 307). His ownership of her is even more evident
when the reader realizes that her Commanders name is Fred, leading to her
being named Offred while she works for him. The other men at the club
approve of each Commander bringing his Handmaid to prove that he is still a
man, that he has control of women, and that he has possession of his
Handmaid. There are no reasons why they should not continue to objectify
and evaluate the women based on their bodies when that is their entire role
in society. Women readers will recognize and understand Offreds unease at
the mens prying eyes as it is something we experience in our world as well.
In Gilead, the women are taught that they deserve these injustices
from men around them. During Handmaid training, the trainers and the
Handmaids themselves had to convince victims of rape that they deserved it
and had led on their rapist. At first, the women insisted that they were
innocent and as the victim did not deserve blame, but when one of the
trainers asks the crowd, But whose fault was it? the other Handmaids-intraining chant, Her fault, her fault, her fault (Atwood 92). This could sound
like an event far removed from our reality, but victim blaming occurs very
often in our own society. Some individuals believe that the victim was
asking for it due to her (or his) clothing or behavior, even though no one

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wants to be sexually violated against their will. This passage reminds readers
that their reality is not so different from the world that the Handmaids
experience; cruelty and injustice toward women exist in both Gilead and our
world.
Women may continue to be objectified in Gilead, but sex is not a
choice or a freedom for the Handmaids. In their role as surrogate mothers,
they perform a Ceremony with the Commander and his Wife in which the
Commander has sex with the Handmaid, who is laying on the Wife. These
positions are strict and required, and no physical contact besides what is
necessary is permitted. As Offred explains, It has nothing to do with passion
or love or romance or any of those other notions we used to titillate
ourselves with. It has nothing to do with sexual desire (Atwood 122). It is
simply a ritual to have the Commander impregnate the Handmaid. If the
Handmaids try to make their own sexual choices, they are taken away by law
enforcement. Offred, in her desperation to have some choices in her life and
do things for herself instead of for others, visits the Commanders chauffeur,
Nick, for sex. She explains herself: I went back to Nick. Time after time, on
my own, without [the Wife] knowing. It wasnt called for, there was no
excuse. I did not do it for him, but for myself entirely (Atwood 344). She
makes these choices in order to have control and agency, but that she also
feels shame for behaving in this way. This is not a Gilead-only trait; women in
our society often feel shameful for having sexual freedom, or others around
them shame them. Its ingrained in everyone, in both Gilead and our world,

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that if a woman wants to do anything sexual or have sex for her own
reasons, then shes a slut, horrible, and deserving of shame. Men do not face
this stigma; they are encouraged to be sexually promiscuous because that
increases their masculinity. These double standards enforce the gender
binary and inequality between the sexes.
Gilead adheres strictly to gender roles, which is already evident
through the existence of Handmaids as baby carriers. There are women in
charge of the house as well, a wife for each Commander, and the
Commander himself, who runs the house and contributes directly to society.
Atwood is reestablishing the traditional roles of women as another facet of
their oppression in this society: home-makers, mothers, and trophies. Instead
of allowing them to do things outside of their gender role, enforcing the
traditional gender roles sticks them more firmly in their boxes. They must
play the part of a true woman and that means acting like a woman. There is
no room for deviance and its accepted that everyone does what they are
expected to do; no one can risk acting outside of their gender roles. The men
are constrained too, and its important to remember that they are affected
by the oppression of women as well. Commanders are supposed to be
respectful, follow the rules, and run the household perfectly, but Fred breaks
rules by changing some scripted roles, like the Ceremony where he is not
supposed to have any emotional or sexual connection with the Handmaid, in
an attempt to have control of his situation instead of being controlled by
society. He also brings her to Jezebel and allows her to visit him privately to

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engage in discussions, games, and illicit activities like reading and writing.
Jezebel is another example of the performance of gender roles; although
everyone feels like theyve gained agency by breaking rules by visiting and
being promiscuous, theyre essentially moving into different assigned roles.
The women who work there are performing their role of prostitutes. The men,
the Commanders, are performing their role as a powerful, masculine, incontrol figure. The Handmaids are performing their role as objects to be
paraded around the club. The societys emphasis on performance and roles
continues to separate genders and encourage the oppression of women.
Atwood also makes use of language to show the oppression of women.
Women in Gilead arent allowed to read or write, and certain words and
phrases are banned while others are required in situations. Language is used
to control thought and shape perceptions about the world. Makinen observes
that feminist SF has tried to challenge patriarchal language structures
(147), and Atwood is no exception. Offred spends a lot of time considering
words and implications. When Offred is in her bedroom, she explains that
The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As
long as I dont move. As long as I lie still. The difference between lie and lay.
Lay is always passive.I lie, then, inside the room (Atwood 49). Choosing
the active verb gives her agency over her actions instead of continuing to be
controlled by society. Her obsession with language is the one thing she holds
onto because she has control over it: control over her knowledge, thoughts,

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meaning, and uses of language, even though it is so entirely controlled by
the society.
When she visits town, she sees that In front of us, to the right, is the
store where we order dresses. Some people call them habits, a good word for
them (Atwood 33). Habits reflects the structured nature of the society and
how the Handmaids function in habitual ways. When she remembers the
past, she says, They [the people before Gilead] wore blouses with buttons
down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone. These
women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose (Atwood
33), considering how clothing reflects choice and how women in Gilead are
no longer able to make choices. When she says goodbye to her shopping
partner Handmaid, the Handmaid replies, Under His Eye, which Offred
notes is The right farewell (Atwood 59). Their conversations are rigid and
only certain phrases and responses are acceptable, showing how the
language has cut off any real communication between women and forces
them to adhere to their roles. Controlling the language controls what people
can say and communicate to each other. The expected responses that the
Handmaids have to say to each other are completely limited by what society
deems appropriate and correct. Complete control of the language is
complete control of the people. Felski notes the the constraining, legislative,
and socializing aspects of language (34) as well, lending credibility to
Atwoods manipulation of language and its effects on the inhabitants of
Gilead. The Handmaids end up creating a code within the closed system of

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language in Gilead to create a kind of womens language, using phrases
like Mayday, already acceptable to indicate the first day of spring, to signal
distress. Maneuvering within the patriarchal and oppressive language
structure is difficult for the Handmaids and can lead to imprisonment or
death if they are caught.
Writing is powerful too; women aren't allowed to write, and when
Offred offers to spell a word for the Commander and write it, he hesitates at
this novel idea. Possibly he doesnt remember I can (Atwood 240). Writing,
as an indicator of power and knowledge, is no longer associated with women,
thus demoting them to a lower and less respectable position. When she
holds then pen, she says, The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive
almost, I can feel its power, the power of the words it contains (Atwood
241). She realizes the power and control that the pen gives her over
language, communication, and meaning. Reading is a luxury not afforded to
women, either; the entirety of literacy is not theirs to claim. Women are
incapable of learning through words at all due to the barriers on spoken
language, writing, and reading. When Offred reads with the Commander, she
says, I read quickly, voraciously, almost skimming, trying to get as much
into my head as possible before the next long starvation (Atwood 239). The
chance to read comes to rarely to her that she has to take advantage of it
and binge read when she can.
The Commander also lets her play Scrabble with him, which Offred
enjoys because it gives her power over language. She can use Scrabble to

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retain her hold over her language and demonstrate her proficiency in it even
though everything she says otherwise has to follow strict, controlled
guidelines. As she plays, she says, I hold the glossy counters with their
smooth edges, finger the letters. The feeling is voluptuous. This is freedom,
an eyeblink of it. Limp, I spell. Gorge. What a luxury. The counters are like
candies, made of peppermint, cool like that. Humbugs, those were called. I
would like to put them into my mouth (Atwood 180). Theres an almost
erotic pleasure in regaining control of language and embracing the power
that comes with it. Being able to use and mold language is normally so
beyond the role of women in Gilead, so when she is able to regain that
aspect of her previous life and achieve some semblance of power and
agency, she must savor it.
Conclusion
These two texts demonstrate how feminist SF critiques and raises
awareness about the condition of women in our world. Even though SF, on
the surface, primarily concerns itself with worlds and situations far removed
from our present reality, theres an underlying connection and commentary
about our own world and the conditions in which we live. Feminist SF brings
this connection to another level as it highlights aspects of a womans
existence that seem normal but, once exaggerated and shown through SF,
are revealed to be unfair, oppressive, and unequal to the benefits that males
receive from the patriarchy. Through the experiences of the women in these

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SF worlds, readers can see how feminism is important and necessary to end
the subordination of women.
But feminist SF is more than just a commentary. As we might expect,
these texts have another purpose: to inspire real-world change (Barr 8).
Feminist SF writers are not writing into vacuum; readers can take what they
learn from these texts and apply it to the real world, instigating change.
MacKay explains that these texts act upon us all and potentially change
the world in the act of describing it (14). By changing our perspective of our
world, feminist SF can change the way we act in our world: when we feel
right, we act rightly (MacKay 14). Once readers understand the underlying
messages in feminist SF, they can work to change the world around them
and do what is right for the inhabitants of our planet. Social change can be
inspired by SF simply because SF really does contain information about the
conditions around us and critique aspects that need improvement. With this
information, readers can start to fix what is wrong with the world around
them. Action and change are the ultimate goals of these feminist SF texts. As
Russ says while addressing her own novel, Do not complain when at last
you become quaint and old-fashionedDo not get glum when you are no
longer understood, little book. Do not curse your fateRejoice, little book!
For on that day, we will be free (214).