AO3: Context 🥺 Flashcards
What can you say about 2nd Wave Feminism?
2nd wave feminism persisted during the mid twentieth century. It advocated for women’s rights in the workplace, in marriage and in society generally. At this point, rape was still legal in marriage.
Offred’s mother takes a young Offred to burn pornographic magazines in the local park. “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” another protestor said about the magazines, one of which was described as having “a pretty woman on it, with no clothes on, hanging from the ceiling by a chain wound around her hands”. Such magazines were burned during the height of the second wave because they used female sexuality to objectify women rather than empower them. Pornographic material was also destroyed in Gilead, but for different reasons; masturbation is forbidden by the Bible, and the purpose of Gilead’s regime was to control sexuality for reproductive purposes only, to which sexual pleasure is deemed irrelevant and undesirable. Abortion (legalised during the second wave) was also banned by the regime as it went against the pro-reproduction values of Gilead; doctors who had performed abortions “when such things were legal”
What do you know about televangelism?
Serena Joy’s background as a televangelist gives her a unique perspective on power and control. It also adds to her complex relationship with religion, as she is both a faithful believer in the regime’s ideology and a victim of its restrictions. Her past fame and influence also shape her desire for power and authority.
During the 1970’s and 80’s, televangelists became very popular. They usually appealed to right winged conservative Christians. These people usually preached fundamentalist Christianity, which valued a literal interpretation of the Bible. They viewed the modern lifestyle of the contemporary American society from the time as sinful and self indulgent.
