The Handmaid's Tale - What's Come True and What Hasn't (Yet)

[@nonameronin1]

Also keep in mind: Atwood has stated that she was initially inspired to write the Handmaid's Tale based on what happened in Iran (a once progressive-leaning nation that suddenly shifted and became a patriarchal nightmare state) and Romania (a nation which forced childbirth to counteract a perceived underpopulation) during the20th century. She wasn't predicting a future, she was telling the U.S it can happen here. And it seems it's already started.

[@mariaclaudiaquintanaestrad7053]

exctality whay seh was saying is that, the situation of women being forced to give birth is not something that is unique to this so call distopia and doesnt happen in real life, because if does around the world, it happends a lot and , sadly its been like that since forever

[@54032Zepol]

Agreed 1984 already started after 9/11

[@itsblitz4437]

There is also China with the One-Child Policy.

[@itsblitz4437]

@@robertssut9724 don't forget the Democrats of the Democratic Party. They also helped to make this happen by doing NOT anything to help as they only care about their money. They are just as complicit as the Republicans.

[@vit968]

Don't forget that pre-1979 Iran was also a dictatorship whose authoritarianism and corruptions and its origin as a US coup of a democratically elected govt ruined the image of western progressivism and gave rise to a patriarchal theocratic nightmare.

[@MR-wz9zw]

Actually, the main reason birth rates have declined so much is women's education, sex ed and increased access to contraception. Before, pregnancy was an inevitability. Now it's a deliberate choice, which is actually so much better because it means more children born today are actually wanted by their parents.

[@nd9814]

And the way to make up for declining birth rates is to make immigration policies that encourage people to come here. The problem is, the right wing is also in favor of a white, ethno-state. So they hate immigrants.

[@Hanzeeeee]

Yes

[@flynnwhimster5371]

actually, in the book's epilogue, it was described that the main causes of the decline were the pesticides, plastics, and nuclear fallout.

[@keirfarnum6811]

It doesn’t help that it costs $10k+ to have a child these days. Unfortunately, instead of making a country conducive to having children by keeping housing and healthcare affordable, wages increasing with inflation, and providing families with the resources they need to make raising children easier, the extreme right will take an extreme, utilitarian perspective and just decide to force women to have children. That’s how they think.

[@elan825]

@@keirfarnum6811 I couldn't have said it better myself! They don't want to pay for happy, healthy children. They'll just force the poorest to reproduce the labour force and deny them financial aid to force them to work, while rich politicians can still send their mistresses and daughters away for safe abortions. The poor must have babies under all circumstances and the rich can pick the healthy babies they want to adopt. Or use the bodies of poor women to grow their bio-kids for them.

[@kazza6078]

The part when they took away women's ability to have jobs and have bank accounts was one of the most scary moments in the book for me. It was spoken of in such a way in the book that I knew even reading it back then, that this would be all too easy to do. I have relatives who couldn't have gotten bank accounts without their husband's or father's permission. Who knew I'd relate to a lot more than just that one passage so closely.

[@melb6746]

That is why on my fidelity account I listed myself as not identifying as a gender. I hate that because I do not believe in non-binary or any of that other stuff, there are only two genders. But I had to put that I did not identify because I was reading this book at the time and I was afraid of what might happen

[@itsblitz4437]

Well I hope that doesn't come to the point where everyone's bank accounts gets frozen willy-nilly.

[@qida2937]

@@melb6746 I was actually thinking about that. Everyone should be first treated as a human being, gender is secondary. I have the option to not identifying myself

[@lex6819]

My aunt was always single, and when she was trying to buy her house, the first bank wouldn't give her a loan because she was a woman even though her finances were just fine.

[@mariedrudi4889]

The worst part of that, the part that really stood out to me, was all the men standing around letting it happen. Not a single one voiced any outrage or contempt for these new 'laws', they just let it happen. They didn't stand up for their co-workers and friends, and we do see that today. Absolutely vile.

[@sapphic.flower]

The part about children being taken from their parents is very real for First Nation kids as well. In Canada at least but idk why it’d be any different in the US. A lot of indigenous kids in foster care were forcibly taken away from their parents and any flaw with their parenting (which is also exacerbated due to racism) is mostly due to issues out of their control like poverty, racism, and government neglect. Of course these kids deserve a better life but a) who’s to say foster care would provide it? And b) why not help the parents to provide that life if they genuinely want to raise their kids.

[@thegirlabides6851]

Well its only gonna get worse in September if the SCOTUS abolishes the ICWA

[@maddyb7899]

I’m from Australia and the same thing happened where they took children from indigenous families it’s called the stolen generation. It’s fucking sickening and a lot of the kids never found their families again

[@karendaniel620]

They're trying to overturn protections from this here in US.

[@Cnichal]

Yep, they had Residential Schools here in the US too. There is nothing the US loves more, then striping Indigenous, Black and other POC of their rights. Well except guns, and saying, “This is not who we are!” When it is in fact who we are, and has always been.

[@brendazorn4592]

@@karendaniel620 There is the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 that establishes standards for the removal and placement of Native children. It clarifies that tribes have sovereignty and exclusive jurisdiction over their members who reside on Tribal land and establishes a process for transferring cases to Tribal court in other cases. The law is one of the key components in protecting the rights and culture of American Indian and Alaska Native children and families. Every case that is referred to social services is evaluated to determine if it falls under ICWA. There has been no one that has tried to change this law. In 2018, The Family First Prevention Services Act was passed. This law does more to keep families together and limits time that children can spend in group-type homes.

[@patriciaa4451]

Nothing makes me more angry than women who walk through doors opened for them by our foremothers and slam those doors behind them. If the world you're campaigning for actually came to be you wouldn't be allowed to speak either. It's why Mrs Waterford is such an interesting character. Conservative women stand to lose just as much as the rest of us. They are betting on their association with the conservative movement to save them from the same fate as the rest of us. You are not the exception. Mrs Waterford isn't spared the miserable existence of women in Gilead just because she's a collaborator.

[@Canev821]

Some women just don’t support feminism. Honestly I happy doing what my bf says

[@gangurogeisha]

@@Canev821 Good for you. Here’s a cookie. 🍪

[@razorwindrazor3981]

@What_the_rage The same women who wouldn’t even have the rights they do now if feminism never existed. It’s bad karma to bite the hand that feeds you. Feminism opened the door for you to choose the life you live now. And yet you want to stand by idly while that right to choose is taken away from others. You think that being obedient and submissive will shield you from the consequences? You don’t have a clue.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@Canev821 that’s still feminism because you CHOOSE to do that, no one is forcing you!! Feminism is about the woman’s choices being respected and equal pay!

[@alepolait8951]

@@Canev821 If you were free to choose who you are dating, or even the fact that you are dating at all, if you can have sex before marriage without being stigmatized for it. You are definitely benefiting from what feminism has accomplished. Congratulations.

[@Itsgay2read]

It can't be understated that the book, not the show, emphasized that Black and Brown women were relegated to Unwomen, which also has historical precedence. The show glossed over the racial aspects of feminism just a tiny bit.

[@PatriciaDeAnna]

A lot actually! It basically began appropriating Harriet Tubman’s story.

[@Itsgay2read]

@@PatriciaDeAnna say it louder for the folks in the back! That's very true

[@homosexualamphibian359]

I'm so glad someone said this.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

What happened to the unwomen in the book?

[@kkO_oki]

they did it bc they didn’t want a all yt cast, but yeah they could’ve featured the unwomen

[@magma4168]

Atwood went on record saying that she had made a point to only depict processes that had actually occurred in real life, so nobody'd say "yeah, you have evil imagination, but that's unrealistic". PS. We feel your pain, USA. Love, Poland.

[@magma4168]

@@osmosisjones4912 nice bait

[@shelby4771]

Yeah that’s what the lead actress Elisabeth moss says in all of her interviews for this show: everything depicted has already happened at some point in history. Thanks for the love from Poland! The US is looking more and more grim every month here 🥺

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@osmosisjones4912 the quality of life of the child matters. Forcing it to be born and then thrown into an orphanage to be abused is not the least bit moral. Choosing to birth it when everything is set up for it to not be deprived or emotional or monetary resources is the best thing to do in order to make a child who is productive to itself and society.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@osmosisjones4912 and the result of the Romania experiment which the US is emulation right now was a generation of overwhelming poverty and crime!! The QUALITY of a child’s life is what matters the most, not it being forced into existing.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@osmosisjones4912 it is not a baby until it can survive outside of the mother! Until it is fully formed it is not a baby. When quality is a choice and it can be ensured then that choice must be taken. This experiment has been done before in Iran and Romania and it FAILED.

[@vonricter222]

Another point in the show I remember that I think parallels with real life is when June was going to refill her birth control prescription but needed her husband’s signature (permission) for it. That parallels with the fact that when women want/need a hysterectomy or tubal ligation, they also require their husband’s permission. This is still happening today.

[@anthonyjames2021]

So you are implying that all women that want/need a hysterectomy or tubal ligation and are not married have to get married so they can get their husbands permission? Hmmm.

[@LordofFullmetal]

@@anthonyjames2021 Actually, often yes. In those cases, the operation is often refused with the doctor's exact logic being " But what if you find a partner, marry him, and then he wants kids". Like that is absolutely a thing doctors say. They will literally put an IMAGINARY future husband's possible desires over the life-saving needs of the woman right in front of them.

[@GenerationNextNextNext]

And they wonder why more women are LGBTQ+ than ever before.

[@magical_universe793]

​@@LordofFullmetal u have to understand that it is a very big decision to do cuz u never know the woman can always change her mind and then what? Women who sterilize themselves only to regret it and reverse it to have a baby later are an incredible drain of resources in the society to me and a woman who sterilizes herself only to want to reverse it should pay every cent from her own pocket for it not be given tax or government money

[@bethanyprader2272]

@anthonyjames2021: pretty dam close actually. I was unmarried and they wouldn't do one for me until I made up a medical excuse as to why it needed to be done. Yes, they gave the literal explanation that, "what if you get married and you guys want to have more kids then you have now?". I was 48, I wasn't about to have a child that late in life anyway! My friend in her 50's was denied in a different county and the same reasons were given, that at over 50 she may get married and want to have "more children". @Lordof, thank you for bringing the reality of women's circumstances into light. You are absolutely right!

[@negakirine]

Margret Atwood has stated that one of the countries that inspired Handmaid’s Tale is communist Romania. I was born in 1980 in Romania and experienced the last ten years of communism, with all its darkness, cold and poverty. Fortunately, it ended before I came to an age where all girls were lined up like cows and forcibly pushed into an ob/gyn‘s office who would then check if they were still virgins and fertile. 😒 My mother was not that lucky. She lived through the most part of the time where women were „encouraged“ to marry and have 2-3 children. But they also had to go to work work, which gave birth to „the generation with the key around their necks“ to which I belong. No one really took care of these kids, there were no proper systems in place. The daycares and kindergartens were awful and I’ve had my share of violent and kids hating caretakers. You couldn‘t find contraceptives, abortion was illegal and men were raised to think that pregnancy is a woman‘s issue so most didn’t even try to keep the woman from getting pregnant. The government wouldn’t care if you had health issues and were at risk of having disabled children… like my mom was. Make no mistake! Banning abortion does not mean that women will not get them, if they need them. They will, just in very dangerous and dirty conditions which will lead to tragedies: life-long issues, trauma and even death. The people who make these laws, do not have the best interest of women at heart, not even of children. In the words of the great George Carlin: „They are not pro-life! They are anti-woman!“. They are drunk with power and delusional and all they are interested in is control.

[@negakirine]

@A 7108 yes, good point! It was a huge scandal back then, once the world media found out about the conditions of these orphanages, where children were neglected, tied up, abused by staff and older peers and then basically thrown on the streets once they were of legal age, most of them doomed to end up as criminals and prostitutes. Very, very sad. And for a while, those were the images that defined Romania as a country.

[@amandaalves6936]

I just witnessed my friend's Romanian grandmother have PTSD episode when Roe was over turn . It break my heart . 😢 😭

[@winxclubstellamusa]

This hurt my heart so much to read. My heart breaks for you, and for the danger I am now it!

[@jojoyayathereal]

@@amandaalves6936 The handmaid's tale is less likely to happen in the US. Banning abortion is bad but; According to statistics only about 258 to 63 women deseased bf roe V wane bc miscarriages Wach the statistics on Freedom toons Shamus video Also the thing on the handmade tale is they are forced to give birth and cannot go out of the country State to abort. But if abortion is banned, you could not have regular random sex without protection or go to another state (or pull out). Only a small percentage of abortion are the results of rape/life harming. conditions. Even Donald trump/most pro lifer's don't support in these cases. For example just because free healthcare is banned doesn't mean that we live in the purge where poor people are homo(nope)cided. But in support of you, either side has radical beliefs that make people choose a total abortion ban or say things like "only women can talk about abortion. " This tricks ppl into not taking responsibility for the pregnancy because it's a woman's issue and they think they have no say. Not all women will be affected by an abortion ban. Because as I said. And that why Manny women are pro life because they're been lied to with stuff like "abortion is a basic right" Abortion is a healthcare Choice that's no denial. But also abortion are done by doctors. Also, Radical christians also banned All men and only from having homosexual activities. The truth is no matter if it affects you, people will still ban it. Like how Robespierre hated the rich. I think the 10 year old one was an accident since Conservative are way more against child asault than with Liberals. Also this is an accident like also in some countries that have banned guns the punishment of illegally owning a gun is higher than robbery homicide or r4p3 especially when Fox News and Manny republican said the law was bad and also shared their conservative view on child rape. Also the fact that mosr child rapes cases are 50% Girls, 50% boys. Also half of the cases are same sex. Meaning you aren't pro choice/meat bc you're beliefs doesn't mean you need to want to ban it. Manny things I morally hate think shouldn't be illegal. Most pro lifers don't have sex at all only in severe cases.

[@jojoyayathereal]

The handmaid's tale is less likely to happen in the US. Banning abortion is bad but; According to statistics only about 258 to 63 women deseased bf roe V wane bc miscarriages Wach the statistics on Freedom toons Shamus video Also the thing on the handmade tale is they are forced to give birth and cannot go out of the country State to abort. But if abortion is banned, you could not have regular random sex without protection or go to another state (or pull out). Only a small percentage of abortion are the results of rape/life harming. conditions. Even Donald trump/most pro lifer's don't support in these cases. For example just because free healthcare is banned doesn't mean that we live in the purge where poor people are homo(nope)cided. But in support of you, either side has radical beliefs that make people choose a total abortion ban or say things like "only women can talk about abortion. " This tricks ppl into not taking responsibility for the pregnancy because it's a woman's issue and they think they have no say. Not all women will be affected by an abortion ban. Because as I said. And that why Manny women are pro life because they're been lied to with stuff like "abortion is a basic right" Abortion is a healthcare Choice that's no denial. But also abortion are done by doctors. Also, Radical christians also banned All men and only from having homosexual activities. The truth is no matter if it affects you, people will still ban it. Like how Robespierre hated the rich. I think the 10 year old one was an accident since Conservative are way more against child asault than with Liberals. Also this is an accident like also in some countries that have banned guns the punishment of illegally owning a gun is higher than robbery homicide or r4p3 especially when Fox News and Manny republican said the law was bad and also shared their conservative view on child rape. Also the fact that mosr child rapes cases are 50% Girls, 50% boys. Also half of the cases are same sex. Meaning you aren't pro choice/meat bc you're beliefs doesn't mean you need to want to ban it. Manny things I morally hate think shouldn't be illegal. Most pro lifers don't have sex at all only in severe cases.

[@amberlikely420]

I’ve always said this isn’t too far-fetched. What happened in the book/show was implementing subtle changes and then next thing ya know, we have a whole new society truly doesn’t have our best interest (women) in mind

[@raincandy1653]

Just like what's happening now. It all started with Texas having manhunt laws on abortion then it escalated to Roe v Wade being overturned. Who knows what'll other rights would be overturned until we end up like we were 500 years ago

[@Sexxxyism]

Yes, imagine people being locked down, forced to wear face coverings and being told they must have vaccines and such.

[@raincandy1653]

@@Sexxxyism ತ_ತ

[@SomeGuyWhoPlaysGames333]

This is happening, but I don’t think it will fully come true. Most Americans are opposed to what’s going on and if it gets bad enough, civil war will break out. And though the idiots, who favor this crap, like to act tough, many of them aren’t tough at all.

[@santsi7306]

Frog in a pot of boiling water is a dead frog

[@kaitlnwhite6809]

I would actually like to point out that the Handmaid’s system and oppressions are very similar to what enslaved Black women went through. And while there isn’t an explicit mention of the group when described for unfit groups, minorities, particularly Black and Brown women, have frequently had the label of unfit or immoral placed upon them. A bit disappointed with the lack of discussion of race or intersectionality in this video, but good analysis otherwise.

[@EnitVal]

Agreed. Intersectionality is so important when discussing Handmaid’s Tale but it never seems to happen.

[@UrsulaTheeSeawitch]

I was just about to add this. Thank you.

[@grapesyrop]

no exactly

[@iusescotchtape]

I was surprised they didn't make a connection to slavery because I find The Take does a better job at acknowledging intersectionality. I thought they would finally make the connection when talking about women not being allowed to read in the Handmaid's Tale.

[@IfWeRanTheWorldXers]

Thank you for saying this! What's also forgotten is that in Atwood's book, all POCs and and white LGBTQIA+ people were sent to the radioactive camps near the beginning and never heard from again. That way, Atwood didn't have to deal with how race, racism, queerness, transness, transphobia, and queerphobia complicate fertility and notions of "womanhood." The show does a slightly better job due to the diversity in representation, but discussions about The Handmaid's Tale almost come off like retcons because people are vibing on the show and not dealing with how utterly white the book itself was.

[@IslandVibez_Virgo]

Yep this is totally fictional, never happened in the U.S. at all🙃 Wait! Wasn’t there this thing called “slavery” where Black women literally had to live like this for years?🤔

[@RisingUnderdog]

Slavery used to be everywhere, not just the US. USA was one of the first countries to abolish it. Black people aren't the only skin tone to ever be slaves either. Cry more!

[@Luciphell]

Actually no, there wasn't.

[@emem6935]

@@Luciphell More like Lucifer, huh?

[@Luciphell]

@@emem6935 If you want to campaign against injustices to women, Africa and the Middle Eastern countries are where you want to devote your energies. Women in America have it better than any women in world history. They are free to do what they want, be what they want, be with who they want, change into who they believe themselves to be, and get an abortion(not where they want, they may have to travel to a different state OH NO!)

[@witchplease9695]

@@Luciphell Keep deluding yourself.

[@raddish4256]

Does it have to go as extreme as Handmaid's tale to be terrifying? I am a gay black middle aged man..I worked with ACTUP and various Aids organizations in the 80s and I've always been uneasy with the lack of vigilance for the defense of all people's basic rights...gay men came dangerously close to being placed in "quarantine centers" with approval of reasonable people. No one remembers not even the ones who were there..because we've fooled ourselves into thinking we've made progress. The old ACTUP message was simple. Silence=Death. It applies to so much more now.

[@oliviastar3812]

the public are still being misled

[@spicycopper2436]

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me. -Martin Niemöller

[@kat65tutko99]

I haven't forgotten. It's fresh in my mind. I lost so many of my gay brothers including my best friend, Cliff. The ignorance and lack of care from the Reagan Administration was astounding, not to mention the far-right religious zealots spreading hate and lies about the virus. Yes, it's very fresh in my mind. The death of Larry Kramer was a gigantic loss to our community. Peace to you. 🏳️‍🌈

[@raddish4256]

@@kat65tutko99 peace and love to you brother. It's so strange that after so many months I only now recieved notification. I was however heartened by your response and your reference to brother Kramer. Be well. Be safe. Be kind.

[@chuckbarnett_tx]

​@@kat65tutko99 do you not see the irony of blaming Reagan and the "far-right" for the consequences people face from their own actions? A bit absurd, don't you think?

[@SpectrumPOV]

Clarence Thomas left out the Loving case, which legalized interracial marriage, in his list of cases to overturn. No question it was because he's in an interracial marriage.

[@LittleHobbit13]

Yeah, I think that should be the condition under which they get to reevaluate any of the previous rulings. They can't touch the others until they rule against Loving. Show us how far your beliefs go, Thomas.

[@edwinamendelssohn5129]

He's not said anything about overturning intermodal marriage. That's fear mongering by democrats

[@sbh2888]

Oh I believe he already said that he won’t be going after interracial marriage, 😂 It’s like the saying-“the only legal abortion is mine”

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@44ARISEandSHINE44 Abortion is in the Bible, too. He would be seen as a hypocrite if he came out against interracial marriage.

[@kaiyakershaw1028]

@@44ARISEandSHINE44 those who oppose all abortions and those who oppose interracial marriage often overlap. For many years (and still today) people who identified as conservative Christians used the Bible as support for opposing interracial marriage. The “unequally yoked” passage, for example, has been interpreted to mean that believers should not marry unbelievers and that people shouldn’t marry outside their “kind”. To be clear, these are not theologically sound interpretations and I do not agree with them, but to ignore the fact that the Bible has been used against people in interracial relationships is to invite its continued misinterpretation.

[@tharinwattanayakorn5295]

You know what I love about the Dystopia of the Handmaid’s Tale, the fact that it’s entirely possible, in other dystopias like 1984 or the Hunger Games, their dystopian societies are blown to extremes that aren’t possible in real life, but not Gilead, it feels entirely possible.

[@lazyboyz]

If we read what we read in the news in a book, we'd call it a dystopia. We are literally living in a dystopian society.

[@TamaraSL]

1984 is very much possible, and is very much happening.

[@tharinwattanayakorn5295]

@@TamaraSL Ok, in my personal opinion, I don’t think society is becoming 1984, sure it may be bad in many aspects, but it’s not 1984 bad.

[@TamaraSL]

@@tharinwattanayakorn5295 depends where you are looking, modern Russia and China have a lot of obvious signs of 1984 being relevant.

[@sunnysolaris23]

Also aspects of the Hunger Games are already very real. A bored elite bathing in luxury while the poor majority is exploited and played off against each other to keep the luxury of the few intact - very much already happening.

[@eithnedoyle6007]

I liked the video, but I do think it doesn't talk enough about how people of color, and specifically women of color, have similar experiences to the handmaids tale in us history, and how they will be most effected by these new laws in the present and future

[@DC-wk7yo]

And disabled women as well

[@honeybadgergrrl77]

And poor women.

[@pamelahernandez1050]

Yes they rarely give any in depth analysis about these issue in their other videos too.

[@zkme2734]

they only talk what they know about

[@flaviocluberlang2545]

Yeah Margaret sanger wanted to make less black people. 52 percent of african american pregnancies end in abortion. In 2017 more African Americans were aborted than born

[@sage9453]

You state that women not having the right to own property (or have a bank account or credit card) has not happened yet in the US. That is not correct. It has happened. It is US history. Women could not have a bank account until the 1960's or a credit card without a male co-signer until 1974. Women could not own property until only white women who were married were granted the right in the late 1800'a.

[@alternateuniversescollidde313]

And it still has consquences I know a woman whose husband died and she couldnt pay the credit card bill because they filed in the 60s when women couldnt have their own cc. They wouldn't let her pay because even though she had her own card and it was her money his name was the only one on the account. it hadnt been updated.

[@DC-wk7yo]

And it still happens to disabled women and women in conservatorships

[@ushalexa]

Thanks for bringing up these points. I was thinking the same thing about US history... but then wondered if I just remembered wrong. I was also dumbstruck by how much Desantos is the spitting image of Newsome and why hadn't I noticed that before? So thanks for confirming I'm not crazy 😂

[@evaphillips2102]

That might be a hard rule to pass. From what I know men today like the concept of dual income homes which would be impossible if women couldn’t independently build assets. It’s all speculation.

[@sunnysolaris23]

I think what they were referring to is a right that was given and then refused again. Abortion used to be illegal, being homosexual used to be illegal. But the point The Handmaids Tale and The Take are making is, that, just because you have fought for certain rights and achieved them it doesn't mean they are a given now and cannot be taken away again. Things can go back to worse.

[@chanmarr8118]

I love that Clarence Thomas keep making these comments. I wonder how he’d feel about backtracking on interracial marriages. He might as well follow through on all these beliefs.

[@pastlesandfish]

Anyone who thinks The Handmaid's Tale is too far-fetched or that it couldn't happen in real life have A) not been paying attention to history or what is happening literally right now and B) suffer from a severe lack of imagination. A 10 year old rape victim had to travel out of state for an abortion because she wasn't allowed one where she was resident. If that isn't something straight out of The Handmaid's Tale, I don't know what is.

[@mainlyfine]

And the Attorney General of Indiana, where the procedure was done, immediately doxxed and threatened to prosecute the doctor who did a lawful procedure in accordance with the law of Indiana. This is the top cop' The AG.

[@pastlesandfish]

@@mainlyfine I also heard some Texas lawyer is going after the drug Prep because it "encourages homosexual behaviour." The US is speed running towards fascism. This shows just how utterly inept the Democrats are since they are the ones in charge right now.

[@kiandraplummer2095]

Yep, I hope everyone is invested in doing something as much we as we are commenting and watching it all happen. In the series, the way they showed how people acted and didn't that struck me as the most realistic.

[@violax3735]

And there are still people who argue the 10 year old should have carried to term. The poor little girl's story makes me so mad.

[@trevtall1094]

No shit, but people who are equating modern western nations to the handmaids tale are smoking crack. I do think we are heading for societal collapse and it's not hard to see what the cause is

[@theorderofthebees7308]

The Take, you are mistaken the first time that children are separated from parents in the United States did not happen in 2016 but during chattel slavery in the US in which children born on plantations were often separated from parents . It happened a. Second time to Native American children who were removed from their parents and forced to go yo boarding schools to remove the “ Indian “ out of them . The United States has a history of removing children from parents for centuries

[@cbpd89]

Noticably all targeted at people of color. This country has an MO, and it's racist as hell.

[@bigsprucerabbitry6238]

And residental schools for native americans, during WWII for Japanese Americans, and with many new imigrant groups to small extents. Long histroy, not just the US though, Canada and Australia have a lot to answer for too.

[@dakotamabry1645]

The u.s also took children away from single ,unwed, mothers. They wouldn't even let them hold their baby.. they also take them away from female prisoners

[@phoenixtoash2396]

Yup. My great grandmother was one who was forced away from her family and put into a school to get the Indian out of her. Then when she was of legal age they sold her to a man from Austria.

[@vickimerritt2832]

White women also had their children taken quite easily in days past also.

[@theotherotter]

Atwood was inspired by her time in east Germany under surveillance feelings and Romania under Ceausescu. Like the whole system where women where tested at work and checked if they had periods, investigate miscarriages. It's very insulted that twitter people think that it's just what happened to their ancestors in us and Canada and don't even bother to read the end of the book where in passages of lectures are described our tragedy

[@loewenmakrele]

I can only speak for east Germany, but while the surveilance was definitly extreme, abortions where legal since 1972. In comparison to West Germany (or the US) women had more rights in the GDR. In West Germany men could just forbid their wifes to work till 1977, in East Germany women they could work any job if their husband liked it or not since 1950. And while in West germany police officers were hiding behind two way mirrors in public bathrooms to catch gay men, it was legal to be gay in the GDR (Did not mean it was accepted to be kissing on the street, but they did not have to fear the law because of their sexuality) . The GDR sucked in it's own way without torturing women about their reproductive choices or sexual preferences. People were denied higher education if they did not join the only Party, people were forced to work for the surveilance by blackmail. There was psychological torture in the prisons especially for people who tried to flee the country. People got shot fleeing the country. The suicide rate and the alcohol addiction rate were high. Some books and some music were baned and only awailable on the Black market. You had waiting lists for a lot of stuff (cars, Television, Telephone, sometimes for decades).

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

Actually, that's Horse sh!t. She was inspired by the whole Islamic Stuff especially from Iran. Not Eastern Germany in which that, what you stated, NEVER happened. That's just "Oh, they were Communists, so everything evil happened there!"-Stuff and quite telling tbh. Please, educate yourself.

[@violax3735]

@@DaroriDerEinzige I'll echo this. It's not that life in the Eastern block was great, but in some aspects, it was surprisingly less discriminatory than in some of the democratic world. Part of the reason is that religion was frequently suppressed by the communist regimes - not outright banned, but not given any real power in politics. One stark example is communist Poland. Since 1956, Poland allowed abortions to women with "difficult living conditions", up to the point where abortions were essentially allowed on demand, and women from "democratic countries" would come there to get an abortion. In 1993 a few years after the regime fell, most abortions were banned and it's only gotten worse since. It's not that the regimes were "nice", but women in communist countries were expected to work, not be stay-at-home moms. That meant there had to be a relative freedom when it came to abortion access, that there were decent maternity leaves, some sort of accessible kindergarten system, and generally, women were treated equally to men by law. (Which is to say, their lives were still shitty, but it was not the same sort of shitty as you see in many strongly patriarchal societies).

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

@@violax3735 Thank you.

[@theotherotter]

@@DaroriDerEinzige ohh the dumb people from twitter found this comment., read the book to the end and it's in book written about it. or look at her interview where she is showing the receipts and talk about inspiration. you don't need to educate yourself you are already lost. the islamic part also is with removing the eye as punishment, but her main Inspo how the system worked is Ceausescu's Romania.

[@rabiatuallie5466]

I keep seeing everyone compare what’s going on in the U.S. right now to the Handmaids Tale. But personally I think Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler is a more accurate prediction. I would love to see you guys make an in depth video about that book and Octavia Butler’s work as an author.

[@rabiatuallie5466]

I would also like to point out that BIPOC women have been dealing with in adequate care when it comes to abortion rights for YEARS!!! And have been advocating for themselves and all women this entire time. It’s time white women catch up.

[@io7625]

Yes! Honestly it feels like things are converging to be a combination of several dystopic novels and movies and it's horrifying

[@kaitlnwhite6809]

VERY much agreed!

[@chrissiem3958]

YES! THANK YOU! Those books freakin' rocked me in a horrible way, and as a matter of fact, there is a review of Parable of the Sower by Gloria Steinem in which she says (something to the effect of), '.... the only thing more terrifying than dystopian fiction is when you can see the beginnings of it already taking place....' Ms Butler is SOOOO underappreciated, in my opinion. Well done, bringing her up 👏👏👏

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

Personally, I just think its crazy and we should burn it down before it spreads even more. But I'm European and got free education :/

[@cronchyskull]

It's paralysingly scary to think about. I'm not in the US, but civil liberties are slowly being eroded here in the UK; a law to quash the right to protest being rushed past the House of Lords, an ALREADY tenuous position on abortion rights, the exportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, and a growing attack on gender expression, lgbtq+ rights, and access to transitioning in post-Johnson leadership race policies rather than, like, the more immediate cost of living crisis and the crispification of our famously rainy country. (Damn, feels kinda good to write all of this out). To say that I'm seeing red right now has more than one meaning.

[@MrEvldreamr]

Thats bc everything you mentioned is a measurable deteiment to UK lifestyle. For example, the lgtb rights, the higher the level of acceptance of alphabet rights the higher the level of depressiona nd suicide amongst young girls who identify. Asylum seekers are really just illegal immigrants. I hear ppl conflate the 2 all the time. You cant enter a country illegally for economic gain, you CAN enter a country if your own country is in turmoil, genocide war etc. Thats why syrians and afghans get the privilege of refugee status while rwandans dont.

[@Snuzzled]

@@MrEvldreamr Your correlation and causation are all messed up. You seem to be implying that "identifying as" lgbt causes high rates of depression and suicidality, and that giving them more rights will just encourage more people to become lgbt and thus be more miserable. But the reality is that these people "identify as" lgbt because.... they're lgbt. The reason the depression and suicidality is high is because of the discrimination and lack of rights. And I'm not sure why you're only highlighting lgbt girls, when lgbt men also suffer.

[@loveyourself1803]

@@Snuzzled wrong

[@shesalilsapphicokay]

I'm so scared that we're going to be the next Gilead, that its only a matter of time. I try to be grateful for what we have, and to remind myself of what we have, as UK women, but I'm fighting off the panic at the same time.

[@Snuzzled]

@@loveyourself1803 Nope. Feel free to refute anything I said with actual proof, though. :)

[@marcor7044]

Atwood was right, more people should have seen this coming

[@Alexa-uk8lj]

Society tells you to not have children until you can financially afford it and have the time to commit, but now "they" are shocked there are fewer births. I'm confused. 11:09 I don't think that's Tomi Lahren

[@Dr.Beetlejuice110]

We are all confused your not alone. The hipocracy and double talk in people that believe this extremist crap is unbelievable. So you want me to have kids when I'm not economically not ready so you can basically have people to serve their future kids. That's what I'm seeing.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Nope, that's McEnany.

[@mainlyfine]

Please make this a regular series. You are bringing important political information that directly affects our lives to people who otherwise would not be aware. We now have our very own Aunt Amy guarding the nations wombs.

[@nyna59]

Another of misinformation, b careful who what you think is true, physiological warfare

[@StrikerVaskin]

The Take, I love what you guys are doing. Could you please do a video on this topic? The Pregnant Woman trope in the horror genre, such as: Women getting impregnated by aliens. Women turning into bloated hives for alien reproduction. A woman giving birth to a demonic child. A woman carrying a baby for an evil cult. Even men getting impregnated by an otherworldly seductress. Misogynist, sexist, rape culture, shock horror or just pushing a fear of aliens and demons? Alien vs Predator: Requiem and Slither are all levels of wrong. Don't forget about Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The X-Files. There are some horror stories that show a betrayed woman turning into an alien mother, only to kill those who wronged her as a form of women empowerment. Is this problematic?

[@kaitlnwhite6809]

I recommend Wisecrack's analysis on women and mothers in the horror genre.

[@pixelpulse0755]

In a sense it also mirrors real life because fetus are technically parasites. The relationship only benefits one party as that party takes away the host's nutritious and a woman's immune system lowers its functioning so the body's antibodies don't attack it.

[@StrikerVaskin]

@@kaitlnwhite6809 Okay then, thanks for the insight!

[@mina_en_suiza]

I would love this

[@c.c.l.9139]

It makes sense that horror and sci-fi would take something that a lot of people fear and heighten it for fiction. They do that with basically every human fear, like fear of death, illness, failure, loss of identity, or abduction. Why should pregnancy be excluded?

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

Wow, what a great and totally fictional show. So glad that nothing like this could ever happen in real life

[@iamV10010]

Ha. Ha ha ha.. ha ha..ha...haaaaa Please hug me I'm scared

[@catofthecastle1681]

Wow, go back to middle school and get some better critical thinking skills!

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

@@catofthecastle1681 ?

[@whataqtify]

Are you saying that we currently have a society that are forcing women to have children? Wealthly couples are rounding up women, raping them, forcing them to give birth, and talking the babies? Sorry but that's just not happening. Abortion isn't a human right, it doesn't matter if you are religious or not, FYI I'm not. Not getting pregnant isn't that complicated, women can take birth control, men can wear a condom, or women can take Plan B which is available over the counter. If you want to see something sickening just watch how an abortion is actually preformed once the fetus is past the first trimester. That's sickening, how anyone supports this, saying women's rights is a joke. They say, My Body My Choice but there's actually 2 bodies there and 1 of them should have some rights. Also My Body My Choice wasn't what they were screaming last year, it was Your Body My Choice. What's the difference?

[@ryanedwards7487]

@@catofthecastle1681 I guess someone never read Johnathan Swift in school…

[@rainey1987]

I read this book in 1999 when I was 13. Since then I’ve always quoted it as being my favorite book, because I said it’s what could happen so easily to the United States if religious people got the upper hand. I’m so scared to say I think I am seeing the transformation of the US into Gilead during my lifetime

[@BD091959]

All religious people are not over zealous. But I will remember when us "religious" people have the upper hand.@cocogomez1987

[@TheOfficialTarynTots]

I remember my wake up call as a teenager. It was a combo between history classes and government class.Also, because of what I was reading and some good teachers. I couldn't have imagined losing rights or our country that I was always taught was the land of the free limiting other people because of their faith. My teachers emphasized the importance of voting and I took it to heart. I wish all teenagers would become aware so they understand what is at stake if they don't vote. I know when I was in school, most kids didn't care about voting or what happened. They didn't see a change in their day to day lives as their representatives changed. So what did they care. I know some people who are voting age that didn't open their eyes till Roe v Wade was overturned last month.

[@DakotaCoughlin]

Voting dont help Hillary Clinton showed votes are rigged

[@m.g.m.6408]

This situation has also happened in my country, Spain. From 1931 to 1936 we had a republic that advanced greatly in women’s rights, but there came our civil war and the nacionalists (conservatives) won. That was a HUGE set back in a lot of aspects that weren’t fully recovered until the end of the 70s and 80s. I am afraid I will have to live like my grandmothers who I can see they don’t like the life they’ve had

[@lilytranchida6356]

It’s sadly true everything shown in The Handmaids Tale has happened somewhere before. Indigenous children were stolen for their parents in Australia (sometime in the 20th century I’m going off my history class) to try and erase their culture and assimilate them into white Australia. That trauma still effects the survivors and their descendants who have lost ties to their heritage.

[@emmaking8596]

That’s bc Atwood deliberately stated she didn’t include any things that never occurred Ik history

[@lilytranchida6356]

@@emmaking8596 yes, I know, The Take mentioned that.

[@kevinrussell1144]

Platoons of white women hanged by religious fanatics and displayed on walls? Where the hell did that happen? In the US? Our history has many bad episodes, but let's keep a little perspective.

[@lilytranchida6356]

@@kevinrussell1144 1. there’s countries other than the US my guy 2. Why u gotta make it a white thing? U clearly haven’t seen the show 3. I clicked on ur profile and saw a very long comment u posted under someone else comment If u haven’t watched the show maybe don’t jump to so many conclusions. It’s not an attack on religion, it’s an attack on the people who use religion to push women and other minority groups down

[@kevinrussell1144]

@@lilytranchida6356 Thanks for the civil response. We'll just have to politely disagree. (Here comes the long response you can just ignore.) You’re right: I have not seen the show. It strikes me as pro-abortion propaganda and suggests/implies that anyone who disagrees is a religious fanatic and wants to keep women down. I didn’t make it a “white thing”. The imagery of the show has young white women being hanged and displayed by the patriarchy (this was supposed to be Iran, according to Atwood, but why is the state called Gilead--a good Moslem name?--and the actresses are mostly white)? Some one is not being truthful. I view the book as distorting (for political reasons) what has happened in North America over the last 50+ years. There is no religious patriarchy that I can see, but +60 million babies have been aborted. You can reply that I’m just a man and have no opinion worth hearing, but that’s not the message I’ve concluded. Margaret Sanger (the High priestess of Planned parenthood) was an admitted racist (and socialist “Progressive”) who promoted abortion to “thin out” brown and black populations. Since RVWade passed, the Welfare state has been created, the family unit is demonized, and all those babies (many of them black and brown) have vanished. The population rate in North America is cratering not because of religious fanaticism, but because of environmental doom-saying and post-modern nihilism promoted by the likes of Atwood. Some Gilead. Since I’m also told now that men can get pregnant, I guess I am allowed an opinion on this issue, but only if I first watch Atwood’s anti-religious-anti-male screed? How can you reply to that?

[@nicholeayt509]

Thanks for this video. The only positive thing about the US overturning Roe v Wade is how it's made complacent people (including me) wake up and look around. I think people in many parts of the world are looking at their own laws and historical precedent and deciding what they need to do to NOT let this happen to them!

[@karencowrie]

I live in 3rd world Caribbean country. Our politicians are inept and corrupted. They however are in all their awfulness better than the zealots you all have.

[@sole.gutierrez4870]

It's funny how people only put attention to abortion rights once the US is affected while Mexico or other third world countries have been this way for years yet no one gave 2 shits about us

[@nicholeayt509]

@@sole.gutierrez4870 fair point.

[@Okiedokie595]

Isn't abortion the ultimate separation from your children?

[@sole.gutierrez4870]

@@Okiedokie595 a fetus or clump of cells that can potentially but in danger my health is not a child

[@tessarae9127]

UGH I have accidentally gone to one of those fake abortion clinics before. I was PI$$ED. Told them to 🤬 off for being misleading. To actually schedule at a real clinic took a month… 😓

[@MoneyGist]

"There are infinitely possible futures" How can a statement be both hopeful and terrifying at the same time?

[@robertamcguffin3446]

Because it's only hopeful if it's what you want.

[@juliopeinado2660]

Because of Project 2025, The Handmaid's Tale is not a work of fiction. It is a suggestion. Eventually, The Handmaid's Tale would be considered a non fiction book. Looking back knowing that some people wanted this makes me disgusted.

[@giovannipiazza1626]

finally a good comment about this

[@sarahlott9418]

This is what I'm afraid of

[@BennyHarveyBigMan]

project 2025 is just as much a work of fiction

[@Tacom4ster]

I hope for a V for Vendetta revolution

[@54032Zepol]

This aint britian, over there they have no rights, here in america we can vote the right people into power

[@Tacom4ster]

@@54032Zepol break out the Guy Fawkes masks still

[@Ariel_is_a_dreamer]

Yes. Yes. Yes.

[@emilymatthews2990]

I’ll start a resistance against our increasingly fascist government.

[@noneofurbusiness5223]

@@Tacom4ster former Catholic here Uhm . . .NO!

[@harave7916]

While the USA is removing rights, their neighbor Mexico is giving rights: same sex marriage, same sex adoptions, depenalized abortion, rights to mistreses/ lovers after leaving relationship if they lived with the person: monetary support and property rights.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Mexico also has affordable dental care.

[@BD091959]

I call Mexico is this is what's happening immoral

[@Jyn.Andors]

Whilst I absolutely adore The Handmaid's Tale TV series and think it's an excellent show, it is important to acknowledge that the story is told mostly through a white woman's perspective, acting as though June's experiences of oppression as a white woman in Gilead is representative of *all* women, when that isn't the case. Many of the atrocities committed against the women in The Handmaid's Tale have already happened in real life in some capacity to women of colour at other points in history and the show doesn't do much to discuss that, even though it would be beneficial to do so and it would shed light on the history of the discrimination and injustices carried out against women of colour. Sure, the show has a diverse cast but the colour blind casting means that there's no room for intersectionality and conversations about race and I think the show needs that.

[@ozzibear]

The reason it's told by a white woman is because if she were brown or black she wouldn't last long. A painful truth of 🇺🇸. A women, JUNE, would have a better chance at surviving this but also getting back at the regime that took over. That IS the truth. And it makes me sick.

[@loopylynda1974]

I do not disagree with you about the fact that women of color have suffered similar atrocities and far worse through slavery & in other countries but living in a predominantly white ruled society which I don't agree with but trust me I work for a nonprofit & know of how bad the deck is stacked & has always been against my black & Hispanic friends but that being the case I think the book being written by a white women with the main character being white has a better chance at penetrating white women as relatable. Unfortunately white women probably won't be as affected if the main character was black & as sad as that is anyone looking at the world honestly knows that is the reality. Again agree with you in the need to get the message out about what slavery really was but this has to resonate first with white women before they will be able to expand their compassion to the brutality suffered by all women of color. Hope I made sense! You know don't know you but maybe this could be something you might yourself take on as a book to convey these things. Especially in today's world where the GOP is hellbent on rewriting history esp about topics on slavery. All good authors have to be passionate about what they write & you have that. Just a thought!! Good luck!

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@loopylynda1974 I completely agree with you. Much like how conservatives are realizing that an abortion ban is already starting to affect Southern College Football, they otherwise wouldn't have given it a second thought until it started affecting them through something they love.

[@loopylynda1974]

@@-._.-KRiS-._.- Absolutely! Just wondering do you also watch Beau of the 5th Column & if you don't I'm positive you would like listening to his wisdom. I know I do! I truly wish you a great day!

[@alim.9801]

1000% yes

[@corneliahanimann2173]

Another day to be thankful, that I don't live in the US.

[@susannaharnhart4910]

As an American emigree, me too.

[@solidshake12]

A senile Prez and a Dubya type moron as VP... What could possibly go wrong?!

[@rachel-gi6ul]

On God bruh, I'm trapped here, help

[@michalinarochna9552]

I feel for you but as someone living in Eastern Europe I can tell you that we have it even worse 😅

[@corneliahanimann2173]

@@rachel-gi6ul yep, my condolences to you, it's not something I earned, I was simply lucky to have been born outside of the US, but I am extremly thankful for that. I would not knowvhow to cope with the fact that some people are cheering and tearful of joy when going backwards, and I also wouldn't want to look into the future 18 years from now when a bunch of children, that have been born with resentment, get the right to vote. I hope I'm unnecessarily pessimistic and that things will take a turn for the better for you. Stay strong over there😊

[@DMMA0726]

I also can't help but thinking about the way things play out with all women losing access to their money in the beginning, as right now we're rapidly stepping away from cash following the pandemic.

[@magma4168]

Yep, this is scary AF.

[@DMMA0726]

@@magma4168 people laughed at me years ago when I talked about moving from the US. I now have friends asking me to save up for a down payment on an apartment if they find one in Montreal. This shit is indeed scary. Not factoring in whatever the fuck Vladimir is doing over there and that impending doom.

[@babyruthless9670]

And the majority of people who lost their jobs because of the pandemic are women. So, more women depending on their spouses with all that implicates

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@kshamwhizzle "Trump will never become President." I heard that one a lot, too.

[@dakotamabry1645]

What I believe was happening anti discrimination laws may exist but it never stopped it , all the government had to do was make hiring woman to expensive.. our insurance is more expensive then men's, the u.s fires woman for being pregnant already without access to abortion or birth control we would immediately be on the chopping block even if we didn't have kids , it's already happens it would just increase after I saw it in the show I wanted to deny it ever happened but I thought of little girls in Iran in one day they just pulled them out of school .. the u.s says woman have their education.. how many girls had to drop out due to problems with their period being dismissed or becoming pregnant.. in some form it happens it's just not as in your face .. I said an abortion ban is dangerous and people say will it's just the states , we'll guess what now it's going to a federal level and birth control is already being attacked and gay marriage is next .

[@liambrannelly45]

I could listen to Margaret Atwood's voice until the end of time, so beautiful and full of wisdom :)

[@Kova-ow2en]

Not at all. Just a conspiracy theorist Schizophrenic

[@jayl0v3ly]

I felt the mental EXHAUSTION in that sigh from Ketanji Jackson Brown before she addressed Ted Cruz’s pointless question. Who keeps electing him? 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@noneofurbusiness5223]

Idiots. Just had a client walk in w/ a cane & say during conversation that Biden is senile, because he's wobbly on his feet. Felt like saying, oh so ur senile?

[@februaryschild0216]

In an early version of the US constitution, there was a hierarchical list in terms of rights it went: 1. White, land owning man 2. His son 3. His dog 4. His guns 5. His cattle 6. His wife 7. His slaves Just watching how trafficked Africans and the "Indian savages" (more words from a draft of the good ole constitution) were treated from forced sterilizations to scalping to hangings to rapes and birthing farms, these more recent events are not a far leap. The US has lived under a document that Thomas Jefferson said should not last more than 5 years, for centuries. America is stuck in an 18th century paradigm where women are one step below and above chattel.

[@conscientiousobserver8772]

Source?

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

This is interesting in that, in some States, cattle have better access to abortion rights than women and girls do. Induction of abortion in cattle is a common procedure and is done for a variety of reasons. "Originalists" are really taking things literally here. I like (in an amused way) that a dog should have more rights before guns do.

[@Kova-ow2en]

@@conscientiousobserver8772 The source is I made it the fuck up

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

Here is the thing that I hate. Books are morals and lessons. Yet the powerful people who read them ignore the message and just create the bad thing. So handmaids: they create Giliad instead of preventing it. Jurassic Park: ignore Ian’s famous quite and just clone animals (and maybe) make the park anyway. Gattica: oh let’s make the perfect race and wipe out any diversity. Jeez. It makes me so mad.

[@Kereru]

"prolife" has become a term used by sociopaths as a righteous façade to justify them inflicting cruelty, control, narrowmindedness, hatred, judgement and suffering on others.

[@hawahardy]

Like most people said, this video doesn't do enough justice to the women of colour who regularly go through the horrific activities that are shown in the handmaid's tale

[@kanikagaral7637]

Some people in US took handmade tale as a manifesto. It was supposed to be a scary fantasy. For all the battles women in earlier centuries had to.fight for basic right, we have failed them by not keeping up the fight. They did so much for us to be free.

[@eisa_98]

It's truly terrifying. Also considering the position the U.S. has globally. The influence it has on other countries.

[@homebrewGT2]

2 years later, project 2025 its looking like a reality.

[@mh518]

project 2025 is actually what america needs, its portrayed much worse in the media than it actually is. the world needs project 2025.

[@raistlinmajere7149]

I still have hope we won't go down this road. But this is terrifying to think about

[@54032Zepol]

Better watch out for the rise of mordor, you know if it happened once already itll happen again

[@cjmhall]

Of course it will happen. The fundamentalist evangelicals and white nationalists have had enough of individual freedoms and liberal values and are ready to impose their beliefs by force if necessary.

[@dolphmanity]

You have been brainwashed.

[@marymiller6188]

Considering the atrocities committed in the past its definitely possible…the only difference is this book made white women the victims…during slavery, Jim Crow and now these horrible things happened to women of color and black women in particular

[@jamiestringfield8599]

Watching this today of all days is scarier

[@DevDev-zy8sb]

😂😂🎉

[@EmmiLiaHoward]

@@DevDev-zy8sbyou are a silly and naive girl, won’t be long until you aren’t.

[@mjtubeme]

All I'm thinking is "we did all this during SLAVERY"

[@Lh-pq4np]

YESSS EXACTLY when June was leading the children out of Gilead. I just had to laugh. Like really? It was giving Harriet Tubman and no originality. A for effort I guess 😖

[@chasetonga]

@@Lh-pq4np Atwood did say everything in the book is something that has already happened or is happening.

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

All I have to say is people are asking this now? Right when the show came out (still have to read the book), my mom and I worried about this coming to play. While it seems backwards, right when some women have sexual freedom (bear with me for a second), there are people willing to exploit it whether through prostitution or the conservative fanatics like the ones in Giliad taking advantage of their fertility and masking it as surrogacy. I just repeated myself, didn’t I? Sorry. Each year, we see that we keep moving backwards. The civil rights movement is still going on. Women are still fighting for any rights. The LGBT community is still being outcasted and their books being banned for no other reason than just being LGBT. My god! Straight erotica books are worse. And those are not being threatened to be banned. I work at a library and my supervisor is making sure they don’t ban books or outcast anyone. She makes sure we provide a safe and inclusive environment. The library is a refuge for anyone so it is scary if we might have to refuse to hold books because the government tells us to. Maybe it is the volume of everything that is making everyone wake up to how awful the government is making this country.

[@curiousworld7912]

Brava! Well-said. :)

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

@@curiousworld7912 thanks.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Ugh. Idaho is trying to pass a law that will fine _and jail_ Librarians for allowing underage children to check out "questionable" material. Yet, they can't state or list a single book that they deem as questionable. They're just running with the whole, "These scary LGBT books are in the pre-school section. I don't need to check it out for myself, my friend told me it was true," line of reasoning. There has been at least one school library in the state that tried banning books so the community rallied together to hold a book party that featured all of the books that were banned.

[@JH-tz5hy]

The Handmaid's Tale has all already happened--Atwood always says that she didn't include anything in the book that humans haven't already done somewhere (and since she consults for the TV series, I assume the same applies there)

[@thatrobloxplayerwhothinksm7936]

When I went to a drag show during the summer, one of the last acts in the show was a number dedicated to the Handmaid's Tail and the similarities to the destruction of Roe. V. Wade. It was very empowering and it brought tears to my eyes as the dystopian society in the book/tv show is a probable era that may happen.

[@natty4316]

Hahahahahah you went to a drag show 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@kinkyxkitten666]

@@natty4316 yeah they're amazing and wholesome. Unlike you, repubtard.

[@jefferybrown6473]

Another book that I would compare is "When she Woke". Especially with the Conservative push to criminalize traveling to another state for abortion services.

[@skynet4496]

Both sides are AUTHORITARIAN And the left pushing jab mandates, a shot which is not very effective and has side effects and unknown long term effects. Sadly, bodily choice is violated by both sides these days

[@Stinger522]

I think we're on a one way road to civil war or a large scale domestic insurgency.

[@yourtypicalfeminist1621]

watching this November 6 2024 (not from the US though) when we know who got elected as a "next" president of the United States and this is even more horrifying to me as a woman.

[@DevDev-zy8sb]

Good you cannot run unprotected trains without dealing with the little consequence of it. It's the babies body not yours.

[@DevDev-zy8sb]

Feminism is dying and it's about time. Too out of control.

[@lalywindland5764]

@@DevDev-zy8sb Move to Afghanistan or other country with no Feminism. There, you will see how you feel without it.

[@JM-lw3nx]

Just yesterday, the state of Idaho passed a law restricting the right to travel for women seeking abortion. They also banned speaking or helping to any woman who may be considering an abortion. Apparently, the Constitution is no longer valid.

[@nikitakumi3697]

OMG No way, tf gives them the right to do that!?

[@phoenixtoash2396]

They legally don't have that right to do this.

[@ritikabhattacharjee]

A very detailed analysis, great quality as usual. I loved the research behind each topic, like the Equal Rights Amendment’s strongest opponent being female and also “immoral” women being incarcerated in the past. I think the scariest thing about America today is that the government doesn’t reflect the values of the majority and gets closer to eroding the line of church and state, and novels like this one are critical and necessary to remind us of how easily oppression occurs when we get complacent.

[@shellbellheart_tv]

@@osmosisjones4912 so no teacher should ever mention that they are married, right? If you can't talk about your love life, that includes all straight relationships. Teachers having pictures of their spouses on their desk also displays an aspect of their love life, so no family photos. In fact, we should ban the phrases "my husband" and "my wife" entirely, since teachers saying those are conveying an aspect of their love life. And what do married couples wear? Wedding rings. So no rings on your ring finger, because that conveys an aspect of your love life.

[@RisingUnderdog]

@@shellbellheart_tv the bill simply meant don't talk about sexual things with kids. Especially behind a parents back. Why is that so hard to understand? People that call it the "don't say gay" bill live in an echo chamber where they think the majority think just like them.

[@tylerhackner9731]

The US is going down a scary road

[@54032Zepol]

You can literally vote people into power

[@pessimisticprofessorfarnsw3241]

All overturning roe v wade did was put the decision back with the states. The fact that’s frightening to some people is laughable.

[@razorwindrazor3981]

@Tyler Hackner Indeed. It’s unsettling to think back and realize that trump being elected was a major catalyst agent to bring about the twisted designs of the ultra religious and ultra conservatives in this country. We are edging towards theocracy every day and we all should be worried. The people responsible for setting this country backwards are just getting started.

[@Grayz11]

It feels as if we’re about to enter a second dark age. The future will not look kindly on these times and the progress that will be lost for all of humanity. Only six months ago I would have said it wasn’t possible and now it feels so terrifying real.

[@54032Zepol]

Nah your wrong buddy, the second dark ages was the times before the internet, everything now is being brought to light even the ugliness and your scared because you have to face it.

[@DasZuckerhaus]

@@54032Zepol its not just brought to the surface its being created bc we pretend like the internet is neutral when its really not. We treat it like a town square when its closed saloons and bubbles

[@54032Zepol]

@@DasZuckerhaus that's right the internet at it's worst is a echo chamber and that's where we get all these lone wolf shooters and crazy folk, wich is why in America our differences makes us stronger!

[@nikitakumi3697]

​@@54032Zepoldark times can happen during the Internet too, I mean look at what's happening in Palestine

[@heronimousbrapson863]

As someone said, for the GOP, the "Handmaids Tale" is not a story; it's a blueprint.

[@thomasbicket5183]

such a simple addition to such a short scene, but for those who know the intrinsic and disturbing history of pink triangles, this adds an even further level of realism and downright horror to this scene 3:25

[@cristinacho7881]

I think you mixed up Tomi Lahren with Kayleigh McEnany and I’m loving it! 🤣 As an LGBTQIA person, a woman of color, and a woman, I’m scared for this nation. 😢 But I will continue to rally and protest to fight for our rights 🪧 if I must.

[@54032Zepol]

You can leave anytime if your too scared to vote

[@solidshake12]

Which rights have you lost? Apart from using abortion as a form of birth control... Which you can still do. If you really feel like you have to.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@solidshake12 The right to bodily autonomy and medical privacy. When an OB/GYN has to contact a Judge in order to ask the State if it's OK if they perform an abortion for an ectopic pregnancy, the woman will bleed out before the State can get back to her. There's no bodily autonomy or medical privacy in that. Before you say, "They can perform one if the mother's life is in danger," you haven't been paying attention. There is no exception for the life of the mother included in Idaho GOP’s abortion platform language. The GOP is already starting to push this and won't stop until they succeed. Women don't use abortion as a form of birth control. A woman doesn't want an abortion like she wants a new car or an ice cream cone. A woman wants an abortion the same way a trapped animal wants to chew off its own leg.

[@solidshake12]

@@-._.-KRiS-._.- some women do use it as such. Please don't say foolish things like that.

[@srijasingh6533]

Well, Atwood did us a huge favor of basically predicting everything that's happening today, it's our stupidity to always just turn a blind eye and do the stupid thing anyway.

[@sandrawood6398]

I wish more people read science fiction. Todays sci-fi is tomorrows truth. I'm an avid sci-fi fan and I'm also 80 years old. Much of the things I read or watched in the movies andxlater on tv are a reality today. Watch stat trek. P.C.s, communicators (cell phones) the lidt goes on if you just look. It's also true of social realities.

[@alabaster2163]

Hey kids. In the second book she explains these stories are just newspaper clippings from around the world. They have all been happening. Just not all in 1 place. Read, it really helps your knowledge and understanding.

[@JimmyJojoshabadoo]

You guys missed the part compared to the book that the last bastion of women's rights was in the Pacific Northwest. Recently the Pacific Northwest has been making their own pacts to govern protecting abortion rights and COVID protocols. It feels like more and more the country is revealing itself has a place of Territories than working as a nation: New England, The South, The Midwest, The Northwest Territory, and The Pacific Northwest

[@madimiss]

I think it would be best for it to break apart if I’m being honest. The economy will collapse though.

[@JimmyJojoshabadoo]

@@madimiss if the South went back to Jim Crow era I bet a mass exodus of younger generations would leave, and that territory would face embargoes left and right with also a crush to tourism.

[@BlasianBobbi215]

@@JimmyJojoshabadoo they already are leaving. Mississippi is a good example, they’re expediting what they’re calling a “brain drain”, young people up and leave, and they never return.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Well, sadly, this isn't coming true. Idaho is in the Pacific Northwest and is trying to push for no abortion exceptions even to save the mother's life. Child Brides under the age of 16 were only outlawed in 2018.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

@@madimiss The high GDP states would likely still be fine. All the states that rely on federal funding most certainly wouldn't.

[@weronikalinda4917]

Yeah, something similar has been happening in my country as well, since autumn of 2020. There was even a crazy motion by an extremist catholic organization to make abortion equal to murder and penalize miscarriages. Thankfully, the motion was denied but the fact that it even got presented to the Parliament in 2021... It is truly terrifying.

[@SomeGuyWhoPlaysGames333]

What country do you live in?

[@weronikalinda4917]

@@SomeGuyWhoPlaysGames333 Poland

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Considering miscarriages are incredibly common this is fantastically scary.

[@8bennaboo]

I hear things are very difficult in Poland at the moment, I am sorry.

[@KateeAngel]

The things which are happening in the world are worrying for childfree people like me and for all women. How Afghan talibs treat women nowadays since coming into power; the recent laws in Turkmenistan; Roe v Wade overturned in the USA; polish conservaturds banning almost all abortion; here in Russia they banned childfree and lgbt "propaganda" (actually even mentioning such things would be considered propaganda by those ppl)

[@donnapug]

I find this so interesting because I’m actually working on Season 5 of this show! Fasten your seatbelts ladies, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!!

[@lazyboyz]

ok first off, aren't you breaking like 50 confidentiality clauses? Secondly, girl tell me more? Who is June gonna chop this season? Does her daughter come back?

[@donnapug]

@@lazyboyz lol! I’m allowed to say I’m working on the show, but can’t reveal any script details! All I will say is we’re nearly done shooting S5 (would’ve been done sooner, but for a principal getting COVID), and there’s so many plot twists you’ll need to take notes while watching 😂

[@dianaa3336]

donna dixon I just finished s4 and i’m excited for s5!!

[@donnapug]

@@dianaa3336 September 14th here in Canada. Not sure where you are?

[@AngelDRose]

You need to do an update to this after the supreme courts latest ruling.

[@PaigeSinclaire]

I can’t believe this is happening in my lifetime. I was in pre law for years a year from my MBA and never did I think this could happen, I’ve been so sickened by our world I wake up fearing the future.

[@stellarkat4657]

And blaming women for being assaulted still...

[@RisingUnderdog]

Never underestimate a woman's ability to rationalize bad behavior and avoid all accountability.

[@melb6746]

@@RisingUnderdog there is never an excuse for sexual assault. Ever. No means no and I am so sick of having to explain this

[@kathleenjohnston3582]

@@melb6746 these men think they are untouchable when it comes to criticism

[@Chris-rg6nm]

@@osmosisjones4912 I hate that people like you see this as some sort of win for men in a Gender war. This is a loss for both of us. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

[@razorwindrazor3981]

@RisingUnderdog Never underestimate a man’s ability to gaslight a woman into thinking everything that happens to her is her own fault. Just admit you are intimidated by women who have a choice.

[@apoorvajindal5641]

I think the story is similar to what has happened not just in USA but also in many other countries.

[@sophiekrichardson]

I feel this is worth a revisit. For obvious reasons.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

For the algorithm

[@kellyhere2031]

I remember hearing my English teacher in 12th grade tell us that it would be our future. Then, I thought he was crazy. Now, I think me thinking he was crazy is crazy.

[@pdzombie1906]

They say it can't happen here, but not only it has happened, it can happen again...

[@esmerelda6003]

I truly believe we are well on our way to Gilead - women viewed as property with no choices - but unlike Gilead, we do not have a large waiting group of people to adopt these unwanted children and we do not have adequate institutions that can handle children who do not get adopted - this will be a nightmare for a future generation.

[@cirrusism]

All of the handmaids tale has happened before already in history...

[@chasetonga]

Yes, Margaret Atwood has already stated this.

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

Hello...... didn't most of this happen to Black Women during slavery?

[@junglesuperstar9270]

Fun fact : the rest of the world exists too

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

@@junglesuperstar9270 Americans are acting like none of this happened on their home turf.

[@Fey_Fatale]

9:10 Women historically not being allowed to own property HAS happened. Women weren't allowed to get credit cards on their own until 1974. For context, my mother was a legal adult by then - not that long ago. Women also would have had difficulty purchasing a home until that time. We have the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to thank for that. How long do you think until that's done away with too?

[@Henry3NYC]

This needs an update. Scary how much closer we will get to this if Project 2025 takes hold.

[@bia8610]

I think we are walking towards a mix of Handmaid's Tale meets the Parable of the Sower. While we, as woman, never got to achieve the right to be seen as individuals outside the scope of biologic destiny, it is getting increasingly scary.

[@SonaliGurpur]

If you don't think it can happen, it's happening already ☹️

[@Royaltyhasaname]

Exactly! and the dark side of the internet where BANNED BDSM Comics can be found and artists with EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT in their BANNED BDSM COMICS (The Female Gender being Enslaved, Bought, Sold, Raped and Whored) have been warning about this for years now.

[@staceyparkes6764]

Everything in this video is why I'm moving out of the US and going to Australia (I'm a citizen) in a few weeks. That said, I DO want to point out that schools and daycares have fever policies for a reason so IMO June was the a-hole in that scenario - she DID medicate her to get around the fever policy and given how dangerous fevers can be for children, and how illnesses spread through children, it's really crappy thing to do.

[@AisteOsinskyte]

I think that was on purpose - she likely had to choose between two evils. Her job may have fired her for not coming, saying that being a mother is interfering with her job. Also early Gilead may have already removed option for sick leave for your child.

[@giovannipiazza1626]

Why isn't anyone comparing this to JD vance stuff?

[@PaulPaul0]

He’s exactly what came to mind every single day more interviews and audio comes out of him obsessing over women giving birth….The whole agenda Heritage foundation wants to do

[@mediocreclownery6333]

Also this affects all people with uteruses, not just woman. Trans people exist as well.

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

IVF, as well. If it gets legally claimed that life starts at conception (ignoring everything else that is needed for a pregnancy to be successful) then even wealthy Republicans are going to find themselves unable to utilize IVF treatments. There's a reason an embryo can be frozen for decades while a fetus could not. The latter is more alive than the former.

[@kazza6078]

When I saw the insurrection on Jan 6, handmaids tale was the first thing I thought of. I thought "this is their seizure of power; they're going to kill everyone just like in that book and then were really screwed" And they're still trying.

[@nd9814]

1/6 never ended. They just moved to the Supreme Court

[@102wolfking]

If you think that was an insurrection that was one pitiful excuse for an insurrection

[@kazza6078]

@@102wolfking it was both an insurrection and a poor excuse for an insurrection.

[@koko992-e8d]

…..andddddd now we are here 2024

[@MattHall1]

These videos are great and the point is great so I hate to be that pedantic guy - BUT: Editing explicitly cap’d Gavin Newsom (with a DeSantis chyron) as Ron DeSantis, and Kaleigh MacKnnienneiebfbs(sp?) for Tomi Lauren. Not huge, but explicit. The bad people deserve to have their bad faces shown. That’s all. Great work!

[@JesusChristDenton_7]

"The World doesn't care about right or wrong. It's all about power. And right now, none of us have it." - Adam Jensen, Deus Ex: Human Revolution

[@DeLaSoul246]

In the U.S.A., women didn't have the right to open a bank account without male representation until 1974. Yes, you read that right: NINETEEN-SEVENTY-FOUR was the year U.S. women were given the right to open a bank account without a man representing them. Roe V Wade happened in 1973. Women were literally allowed to have an abortion BEFORE they had the right to open a bank account in this country. I do not feel the explicit loss of financial independence for women is so far-fetched either.

[@noneofurbusiness5223]

@DeLaSoul NO. Married women were allowed to have *OWN* banking accounts in 1960's. Then the 1974 Act

[@phoenixtoash2396]

If this happens again .. I'll most likely die.

[@JoelTeague-w9p]

You're not to bright are you!​@@phoenixtoash2396

[@LesbianCinemaCircuit]

Watching this in 2024 feels so present, it's not a warning now, it's a reality

[@RoninRen]

you know just something to think about for a future video essay, what animal protagonist narratives teach us (considering some narratives can be about environmental concerns, or allegorical for classism, enough of them are essentially centered for family/kids entertainment, when there's also enough adult sitcoms about/with anamorphic animals), let alone the long history of animal actors(at most before cgi was perfected, it clearly took hours to train animals, just to get the right scenes)

[@tayyibhassnat5332]

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I think that the Handmaid's tale is a white feminist tale because it's primarily about white women and their struggle with patriarchy. Within the book, all Jewish people are sent to Israel (without grappling with the fact that Israel is a settler-colonialist state) and black people (Children of the Ham) are sent to the Midwest, essentially doing away with the discussion of the intersections of race and gender. Further to this, I think her usage of Iran as an example of a Gilead-like country does away with a lot of the nuance about the Islamic Revolution. For example, the reason why Iran is so bad for women now is because of imperialism; the CIA overthrew Mossadegh's progressive Democratic Socialist regime and placed the Shah instead. He then led a Top-down faux progressive white revolution that forcibly modernised the country without the popular support of the people. Due to this, Khomeini was able to be seen as the spearhead of the Revolution and seize and it led to the popular belief that women's rights was a Western Kaffir (Disbeliever) idea. The short and long of this (admittedly very long) rant is that the book falls short in many ways in terms of considering patriarchy as a system of oppression that oppresses not only white women but black women, SWANA women, South Asian women, Indigenous women, and East and Central Asian women.

[@midnightgod123]

What does any of that have to do with abortion

[@samanthaangelovich8507]

@@midnightgod123 When white men are in power racism and sexism go hand in hand, and women of color suffer the most. They will certainly suffer the most from the overturning of Roe V Wade. As a white women I didn’t see this for so long either.

[@54032Zepol]

@@midnightgod123 because people compare it handsmaid tale wich is wrong , duh?

[@doccanigetsomecandy7809]

YES

[@MrBazBake]

A white supremacist patriarchy putting minorities on trains isn't really dodging the question. It's highlighting that the suffering that white Christian women are going to experience isn't comparable to the ethnic cleansing and genocide these other groups are going to experience under the political right. Edit: In a way, the show is actually more white feminist in its ignoring that Gilead wants to eradicate minorities when it puts people of color in positions of power and the fears of white genocide are assuaged by the desire to steal the main character's black baby.

[@calicoblue6373]

If I'm being honest, I'm terrified of what the future holds

[@tflenderson9636]

Dying at the shade cause that wasn't tommy lahren I think that was kayleigh mcenany 🤣 interesting the breeding practices, rape forced pregnancy and forced birth that took place during slavery was left out of this analysis

[@Bartcmh]

The decline of birth rates is a good thing. I will never understand why people think we need to add more people to an already overpopulated world.

[@arnowisp6244]

It ain't overpopulated. Not when you see how the population in many western nations is collapsing. Even Europe is fearing a Population Bomb.

[@cattan4696]

In 30 years or so, we will have a serious lack of young folk to do the shit jobs that power the big multi national companies. This will force wages and their costs up. This will not be acceptable. I may be a scared conspiracy theorist, but more unwanted, unplanned pregnancies will help capitalism in this respect

[@-._.-KRiS-._.-]

Well, specifically in the US, we are in trouble economically because there aren't enough people to replace the aging population. Plus, we lead the world in COVID deaths. So there's that.

[@skanderbegvictor6487]

well I thought this was fictional ....... until I heard J.D Vance

[@kokuhakuqiun4215]

Margaret Atwood might’ve just predicted a Real-Life Gilead.