Date of Award

Fall 2021

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

English; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

JoAnn Weiner

Second Advisor

Marc Brasof

Abstract

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has long been studied for its cautionary warnings about sexist ideologies that exist between men and women; seldom has it been so closely analyzed for instances of inner gender oppression. Inner-gender oppression, which this thesis seeks to define and highlight through the novel’s context, offers artificial forms of power to those in oppressed classes, enough to attract women themselves to participate in the indoctrination and policing of their own sex. This essay highlights the ways in which Atwood’s dystopian society parallels sexist beliefs held by societies past and present.

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The Manifestation of Inner-Gender Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as Results From Intentional Patriarchal Power Structures

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has long been studied for its cautionary warnings about sexist ideologies that exist between men and women; seldom has it been so closely analyzed for instances of inner gender oppression. Inner-gender oppression, which this thesis seeks to define and highlight through the novel’s context, offers artificial forms of power to those in oppressed classes, enough to attract women themselves to participate in the indoctrination and policing of their own sex. This essay highlights the ways in which Atwood’s dystopian society parallels sexist beliefs held by societies past and present.