We can always count on random guys on X/Twitter to display their misogyny with a self-confidence that defies belief. The latest to make a fool of himself, someone called @FacesOutOfContext, certainly wins the medal for mansplaining of the week.
On November 1, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale (The Scarlet Handmaidin French) Margaret Atwood shared a press drawing by the artist Mike Luckovich on the social network. We can see the famous “maids”, dressed in their long red cape and their white headdress which forces them to lower their eyes, queue up to vote and come out of the voting booth as free women, leaving the symbol of their oppression on the ground.
Because since his last presidency from 2017 to 2021, Donald Trump's mark on women's rights is still felt. And his recent re-election is seen as a new blow to their autonomy and freedoms. Published in 1985 and then described as a dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale was above all a warning. This drawing shared by Margaret Atwood therefore encouraged American women to free themselves through the vote.
But, Donald Trump supporter, @FacesOutOfContext, wanted to correct the author – the one who imagined this America where women were enslaved by a masculinist theocracy, put into castes based on their fertility and some of whom are intended to be ritually raped — about what his own book describes, and manages to be Islamophobic in the same breath. The courageous man quickly deleted his tweet, but the screenshots exist:
“The author of this book used Islam, not Christianity, as a model for her fantasy world. This is obviously true since it resembles Islamic culture and law, not Christian.”
Swollen. Margaret Atwood has in fact always affirmed that her book was nourished by all forms of oppression suffered by women throughout the world. There is no shortage of examples. On the other hand, if our little masculinist had read The Handmaid’s Taleor even seen the series, he would know that the totalitarian and patriarchal regime of Gilead is held with an iron fist by men of Christian faith, and that their model of society is inspired by rigorous interpretations of the Old Testament.
Moreover, and this is one of the many repercussions of Trump's last term, The Handmaid’s Tale is part of the list of books banned from libraries in some Republican states. A very sad irony.
In France, The Handmaid’s Tale is available in all good bookstores, and the Bruce Miller series can be seen on Canal+ and Prime Video.
