Context Flashcards
what are several trends in THT that are still with us today?
the rise of right wing fundamentalism as a political force
the decline of birth rate in North America
rise of infertility and birth defect rates, which some argue is due to increased chemical pollutant and radiation levels
what did Atwood say about the context of THT?
there is nothing in THT that has not already been done by somebody — it can be seen as a social critique of the 1980s
the book was influenced by real life events (Atwood kept clippings from newspapers and magazines which contributed directly to her writing)
how is THT still as relevant today as it was in the 1980s?
there are still issues relating to….
- feminism
- ethics around methods of reproduction
- abortion
- pornography
- violence against women
- environmental issues
- militant nationalism
- racism
- extreme right wing political movements
- religious fanaticism
- threat to women’s rights — Trump proposing to repeal Roe v Wade
why is Gilead so frightening?
it presents a mirror image of what is happening in the world around us — aspects of the regime are very familiar
events are only distorted slightly to invent a more nightmarish future, but the book still takes events from both the past and the present and uses them
the novel first appears to be describing an extreme and unthinkable totalitarian state but if we look back in history, similar oppressive regimes have taken place and we realise Gilead is not so farfetched
“fiction is one of the few forms left through which we may examine our society” — Atwood
significance of the setting
Atwood stated that it is no coincidence that the book is set in Massachusetts, home of the Salem Witch Trials and Harvard University
the wall in the novel where corpses hang recalls the wall around Harvard Yard as well as the Berlin Wall, which was still standing when Atwood began writing THT
who does Pieixoto, in the Historical Notes, liken Offred to?
likens her to Eurydice, who was the wife of Orpheus in Greek mythology
Orpheus rescued her from Hades but when he looked back to see if she was following, she vanished forever
the professor is therefore consigning her, like Eurydice, to the world of the dead and the world of mythology
where does Pieixoto’s name come from?
his name comes from a novel where one of the character’s names was Pieixoto
this character kept being reincarnated in the same form century after century, exemplifying how the attitudes and ideologies of Gilead keep resurfacing
just like how Gilead is nothing new or original, it is simply a resurfacing of attitudes that have been displayed numerous times throughout the course of history
in the Historical Notes, Pieixoto displays misogyny and makes sexist jokes about “tail” and the “Underground Frailroads” — the sexist attitudes underlying Gilead have not changed much in 200 years, despite the regime falling
shows that Gilead is not truly gone, it will inevitably resurface unless action is taken now
the book therefore functions as a warning against letting a regime like Gilead exist again in the future and shows the danger of slipping back into such a mindset and not learning from history
the fragility and anxieties over women’s rights in 1980s America
the novel reflects the anxieties over the fragility of women’s rights, which had been threatened by the rise of the American New Right which attained its maximum political force under Ronald Reagan’s presidency after 1980
the feminist movement had rapidly gained strength in the US before this — it win Congressional endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972 and the Supreme Court made abortion legal in Roe v Wade (1973)
however, lobbying by the New Right meant that the ERA failed to be ratified in 1982, which represented a bitter defeat as well as a threat to feminism and all that it had worked so hard to achieve for women
what is Serena Joy a satirical portrait of?
she is a satirical portrait, based on the Christian Right wives who were media personalities in the 1980s and advocated for women to return to the home like Serena did
Tammy Faye Bakker, who with her husband ran a gospel television show; Phyllis Schlafly, a lawyer who campaigned for women’s return to the home; and Beverly LaHaye, who organised demonstrations against abortions and the Equal Rights Amendment
such women played a major role in Congress’s withdrawal of support for the proposed ERA, which aimed to achieve equal rights for all women but failed to become American law
what fears does THT reflect?
THT reflects fears about women’s rights, religious fundamentalism and the state of the planet
these were all cultural concerns of the time of writing and are still key concerns today — e.g. the position of women under extreme theocratic regimes like the Taliban, the widespread dissemination of violent hardcore pornography detailing violence against women, the use of surveillance spyware by major governments to spy on their own citizens and the impact of pollution and global warming
THT offers not so much a glimpse of a possible terrible future, but more so a reflection of a far more frightening present
women’s surnames and marriage
in today’s society, many women do not take their husband’s surname upon marriage, suggesting a wish to resist having their identity subsumed into that of another person
it is also a recognition that names are symbolic markers of one’s personal and social identity
during the slave trade, slaves were forced to take their masters’ names and were thus dehumanised and denied an individual identity of their own — Offred’s patronymic name suggests possession by her Commander, she is essentially a slave to the regime
Angel in the House by Coventry Patmore
the lives of the Commanders’ Wives parody those of the stereotypical submissive ‘Angel in the House’ immortalised in Coventry Patmore’s famous Victorian poem of the same name
“Man must be pleased; but him to please / Is woman’s pleasure”
this encapsulates the idealised wifely role of women like Serena and the submissiveness and subservience expected of women in Gilead in general
Roe v Wade (1973)
in the landmark Roe v Wade case (1973), the US Supreme Court ruled to legalise abortion and therefore enforce a woman’s right to have an abortion up to the point when a foetus might be viable outside the womb
it overturned many existing legal restrictions on abortion and is an iconic example of the hard-won reproductive rights achieved by first wave feminists
this would have been one of first pieces of legislation thrown out by Gilead for being anathema to its moral values
pornographic book burning
Offred has a childhood memory of seeing a public bonfire of pornographic magazines which reminds us of the dangers of censorship
the irony of both radical feminists and extreme religious conservatives wanting to ban pornography suggests that any attempts to manage, control and supervise female sexuality should be viewed with caution
censorship should be avoided, no matter who it comes from and no matter what their intentions
immense restrictions placed on women in Saudi Arabia
there are still immense restrictions placed on women today — in Saudi Arabia, women were banned from driving up until the ban was lifted in 2018
prominent Saudi religious leader, Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan, warned that women who drives cars risk damaged themselves and may give birth to deformed children
these remarks suggest that the sole purpose of women is to reproduce and the need to protect this purpose has been used as a justification for the oppression of women — similar to how in THT, Offred recognises that she has become nothing more than a “two legged womb”
even though the ban has been lifted, women in Saudi Arabia still have to adhere to strict dress codes, must not associate with unrelated men and if they wish to travel, work or access healthcare they must be accompanied by a male guardian or have their written permission
dividing women because when they are together, they are a powerful force of resistance
Gilead seems to recognise that women are powerful when they come together, and they do tend to come together in acts of resistance
this has been demonstrated throughout history by organisations such as the Suffragettes and the achievement of landmark cases such as Roe v Wade by female activists
this has led Gilead to create and perpetuate a ‘woman beware woman’ culture in which women despise, envy and cannot trust eachother
keeping them divided means they cannot form loyalties and band together to resist their oppression — destruction of female solidarity
the oppressed coming together
the oppressed have a tendency to come together to resist, which has been seen throughout history….
- the civil rights movement
- the Black Panthers
- the women’s liberation movement
- the Suffragettes
1986 New York Times interview
in a 1986 New York Times interview, Atwood made it plain which of these two endings is the true one, stating that the book “isn’t totally bleak and pessimistic” and that Offred “gets out… the possibility of escape exists”
purges throughout history: the Reign of Terror
like all totalitarian regimes, Gilead undertakes periodic purges to remove undesirables and sentence them to exile or death
Maximilien Robespierre, a key figure in the French Revolution, had many of his political opponents executed during the Reign of Terror
a law was passed that a citizen could be executed for just the “suspicion” of being anti-revolutionary
during the Reign of Terror, at least 300,000 suspects were arrested; 17,000 were officially executed, and perhaps 10,000 died in prison or without trial
purges throughout history: Stalin
Joseph Stalin, former leader of the Soviet Union, also committed similar acts but on a much larger scale
the Great Purge was a campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union in which anywhere between 600,000 and 1.2 million people were killed
these people were mainly political opponents, especially Trotskyists
these cases show the historic silencing of opposition and gives a chilling insight into how a political regime that begins with high ideals can rapidly descend into a reign of terror and death in order to maintain itself
Atwood: her problem as a writer
“My problem as a writer was, given that my society has stuffed all women back into their homes, how did they go about it?…. You just close your eyes and take several giant steps back, into the not so very distant past…. deprive them of the right to vote, own property or hold jobs… and there they are, back in the home”
Atwood contesting widely held liberal assumptions and challenging the reader
most would say that humans are instinctively against censorship or restrictions on freedom of speech, but these very freedoms can permit the publication and dissemination of violent hardcore pornography that show women being abused, degraded, tortured and even killed
burning this kind of misogynistic material, as Offred’s mother does during a feminist rally, is clearly meant as an act of female empowerment
yet burning books is the classic act of censorship enacted by oppressive regimes, from the Renaissance monk Savonarola’s Florentine Bonfire of the Vanities to the Nazis of the 1930s
Bonfire of the Vanities
the Bonfire of the Vanities was a public destruction of a huge range of allegedly sinful artefacts by the hard-line Catholic priest Girolamo Savonarola in Florence in 1497
Savonarola and his followers rounded up and burned items such as mirrors, make up, clothes, artworks, playing cards and musical instruments, which were seen as frivolous trivialities that could tempt the unwary into evil
Reclaim The Night / Take Back The Night
feminist campaigners like Offred’s mother argued fiercely that women should feel safe on the streets, many ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches took place during the 1970s and 1980s, when there was widespread fear of rape
in Gilead, these streets have been made perfectly safe for women, who no longer have to fear sexual assault or rape, but at the price of personal freedom and control
as Aunt Lydia says, in the “days on anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it” and the reader is encouraged to think about which freedom is more important
feminist ideas about sisterhood and female solidarity
many feminists claim that women support each other in a kind of global sisterhood and such solidarity is natural to them, but Atwood strongly critiques this notion and instead shows that women can be hateful and cruel to one another
the women of Gilead are generally bitter, resentful and envious, constantly bickering, betraying, jealously watching one another or completely mistrusting each other
they are deeply divided and the Commander’s household is a perfect microcosm of this
Gilead has purposefully created a ‘woman beware woman’ culture of hate and envy to prevent them from banding together
Andrea Dworkin
radical feminist writer Andrea Dworkin gained national fame for favouring the anti-pornography movement
in Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981), she argued that porn leads to violence against women by encouraging men to consume media that presents the abuse of women as erotic entertainment
like Offred’s mother, she was prominent in the Reclaim the Night protest marches of the late 1970s and 80s, which highlighted the increased violence against women that made many frightened to go out after dark
symbolic clothing of the Handmaids linking to the debate about the veiling of Muslim women
by wearing the hijab or niqab, women can prevent themselves from being sexually objectified by complete strangers, while retaining the right to unveil at home in private and at a time of their own choosing
but what happens when women have no choice but to wear the veil and when they are forced to do so by men, as in The Handmaid’s Tale
the veil may, therefore, become a symbol of oppression
single-sex communities
in the 1970s, some feminists advocated living in single-sex communities, in which the diverse roles and responsibilities of women were chunked up to spread the load and share the pressure
the fragmentation and division of women in Gilead in their colour-coded uniforms is an extreme extension of this concept
the Handmaid’s robes were partly inspired by the faceless woman on the Old Dutch Cleanser box, but also partly from the chador Atwood acquired in Afghanistan and its conflicting associations
“Would I have written the book if I’d never visited Afghanistan? Possibly. Would it have been the same? Unlikely”
development of technology
Atwood explains that “every modern scientific innovation was ‘progress’ or ‘development’, and progress and development were always desirable… to question that belief was to question goodness, beauty and truth”
she may be pointing out the dangers of readily accepting such developments without questioning what they could be used for or the consequences of such progress on the human species
for example, computer developments that allowed for money to be held on cards was eagerly accepted as making life much easier, but what was not considered was how having everything on one card would make it extremely easy to a totalitarian government to strip people of their material possessions
as was the case in Gilead, when women were denied access to their cards, almost overnight
Atwood being influenced by her own society
“There is, as I have said, nothing in the book without a precedent”
religious fundamentalism and the extermination of heretics / silencing of opposition: THE SPANISH INQUISITION
the Spanish Inquisition was established to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and is often cited as an example of religious intolerance and repression
around 150,000 were prosecuted for various offences during the Spanish Inquisition and between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed
the Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism
royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave Castile
religious fundamentalism and the extermination of heretics / silencing of opposition: BLOODY MARY
during her five-year reign, Mary I of England had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions
religious fundamentalism and the extermination of heretics / silencing of opposition: FORCED CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM
there is a history of forced conversion to Islam, as seen in the Ottoman Empire, in which Christian boys were seized and collected from their families, enslaved, converted to Islam
in the 1998 Prankote massacre in India, 26 Hindus were beheaded by Islamist militants after their refusal to convert to Islam
a 2014 report by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP) says about 1,000 women in Pakistan are forcibly converted to Islam every year (700 Christian and 300 Hindu)
in 2012, over 1000 Catholic children in East Timor, removed from their families, were reported to being held in Indonesia without consent of their parents, forcibly converted to Islam, educated in Islamic schools and naturalized
religious fundamentalism and the extermination of heretics / silencing of opposition: PURITANS
the first white settlers in America, the group of English Puritans known as the Pilgrim Fathers sought to escape oppression and persecution back in England but actually came to oppress and persecute those who did not share their extreme version of Christianity
the Salem witch trials (1692-93)
the Salem witch trials are a notable example of a religiously fundamentalist society persecuting and exterminating dissidents or anyone who defies the norm
it demonstrates how mass hysteria, extreme religious fervour and cruel scapegoating led an enclosed and inward-looking society to virtually destroy itself, which foreshadows the eventual downfall of Gilead
perhaps Atwood is suggesting that any society that encourages such hideous violence will end in destruction
McCarthyism
an anti-communist period that saw the US government blacklist those suspected of being sympathetic to the Russians or possessing political beliefs that did not fit with the norm
illustrates the punishment of those who defy those in power as well as the silencing of opposition and scapegoating, giving the people a common enemy and creating a culture of mistrust and fear
Tammy Faye Bakker
during the 1980s, the American televangelist Jim Bakker presented a religious programme called The PLT Club alongside his wife, a singer and co-host, Tammy Faye
they preached Christian values and encouraged women to return to the home, much like Serena Joy who had a singing career and preached the same values on television
Aunt Lydia misquoting Karl Marx (abuse of ideology, ignorance of those in power)
Offred recalls Aunt Lydia getting them to chant a core Gileadean mantra (“From each according to her ability, to each according to his needs”) which she claims in from the Bible
these words are not from the Bible at all, she is actually misquoting Karl Marx’s description of how a perfect communist society will be able to meet the needs of all its citizens
this is highly ironic because this is the exact opposite of what Gilead does, as only the needs of the absolute elite are met
she is distorting his words and using them to vindicate the imbalance of power between men and women, even though the original meaning was linked to everyone being provided for equally
Marxism is known for championing the oppressed and demanding equality between all people regardless of gender and race, yet Aunt Lydia is using his words to justify the extreme oppression of women in Gilead
Marx also described organised religion as “the opium of the people” and argued that it leaves them in a state of stunned passivity and encourages them in the name of God not to rebel against their oppressors – the idea of Aunt Lydia mistakenly parroting his ideas is therefore very ironic
Reaganism
Reaganism is a term given to the conservative political and economic ideologies associated with US President Ronald Reagan, who dominated global politics throughout the 1980s
he implemented a radical plan of conservative reform initiatives and his presidency was seen by many feminists as posing a threat to women’s rights
for example, despite winning Congressional endorsement and support, the ERA failed to be ratified under the Reagan administration
his conservative agenda is also seen as having led to a major shift to the right in American political thinking, as well as leading to the growth of the Christian Right as a dominant political force
the Christian Right
in tandem with Reaganism, various social and cultural changes took place during the 1980s that Atwood viewed with much concern and disquiet
various right-wing evangelical Christian groups became increasingly vocal in their determination to influence public policy and social attitudes in accordance with their religious beliefs
the Christian Right grew exponentially in political influence during the 1980s under Reagan
the advent of televangelism allowed for the widespread dissemination of their social conservative condemnation of Darwinism, scientific research, homosexuality, divorce, abortion, contraception, feminism and pornography
there are clear parallels between the Christian Right and Gilead - both advocated for women to return to the home, preached a return to conservative family values, etc
the 1980s feminist backlash: Susan Faludi
in 1991, Susan Faludi published Backlash: The Undeclared War against American Women, a study of what she saw as a media-driven wish to turn back the clock following the advances made by feminist campaigners during the 1970s
Faludi suggested that this hostile response to feminism was an example of the classic knee jerk historical reaction that reoccurs periodically whenever women seem to have achieved a measure of social equality, status or progress
the 1980s feminist backlash: what was Atwood concerned with?
Atwood was concerned with the growing counterattack against feminism that took place during the 1980s
this backlash was led by conservative social commentators such as Phyllis Schafly who saw the liberation of women as posing a clear threat to ‘traditional family values’
just as women seemed to have made some substantial advances in terms of social equality, their achievements were openly criticised by those cultural conservatives who felt endangered by the changes they saw happening around them
from this ideological standpoint, abortion and contraception do not liberate women from the fear of having an unwanted child, but instead, threaten the very concept of the traditional family – the changes that led to women having a fairer stake in society has caused ruin and destruction
the 1980s feminist backlash: what was the backlash designed to stop?
the anti-feminist backlash was designed to stop women in their tracks long before they ever reached their goal of total equality
it sought to discourage them from taking up the fight against their oppressors as well as quell any thoughts of resistance
Atwood began writing the novel just at the historical moment when after women had begun to make obvious sustained progress towards full empowerment, equality and social justice, the conservative counteroffensive kicked in and sought to undermine all this progress
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558) by John Knox
the idea of an anti-feminist backlash is far from new
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558) by John Knox was a notorious attack on what he saw as the obscene situation of three major European countries being ruled by women
namely Elizabeth I of England, Mary Queen of Scots and Catherine de Medici, the Regent of France
he argued that allowing female rulers ran contrary to the word of God
environmental concerns after WW2
after WW2 and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the public became increasingly aware of the ways in which humanity was putting the planet at risk
global issues such as oil spills, climate change, nuclear testing, air pollution, energy problems and the overuse of pesticides led to growing public concern for the environment
in the novel, pollution has caused mass infertility and led to the overthrow of the US government by Gilead
as a member of the Green Party of Canada, Atwood was very concerned by the high profile environmental problems that began to penetrate deep into the public consciousness during the 1980s
when did the environmental movement gain most public support and reach its peak?
the environmental movement gained much public support and recognition by staging the same kind of successful protest marches and meetings as the civil rights and anti-Vietnam protestors of the 1960s
anti-nuclear protests reached a peak in the 1970s and 1980s, with the infamous 1979 meltdown at the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania, the worst nuclear accident in US history, causing a major public scandal
given the panic induced by this incident, an anti-nuclear rally held in New York in 1982 attracted a million demonstrators
the cultural influence of Canada: David Staines
David Staines argues that “perhaps only a Canadian, a neighbour as well as an outsider to the United States, could create such an unsettling vision of the American future”
“in implied contrast to Gilead is its northern neighbour, once again the final stop of a new underground railroad, this time one that smuggles handmaids to the freedom of Canada”
the cultural influence of Canada: Gina Wisker
Gina Wisker notes that “the Canadian context is noticeable in The Handmaid’s Tale as Canada features as a place of relative equality and security, while the US has been polluted, has undergone terrible wars and reverted to a version of religious fundamentalism”
Wisker also says that we must consider “the relationship between the USA and Canada, where the US is often seen as a brasher, more powerful neighbour and Canada as more liberal and tolerant, less war like”
The Future Library
Atwood was the first contributor to the Future Library project, she has written a story that will be read only in a century’s time, long after her own death
her book is the first of a hundred to be written by different authors between now and 2114
this premise of a woman’s words being locked away to await decryption by readers that are yet to be born is a central part of The Handmaid’s Tale
Atwood’s stance on writing
“Writing… is an act of faith; I believe it’s also an act of hope, the hope that things can be better than they are”
the practice of depriving people of their names
the practice of depriving people of their names to dehumanise them and rob them of individual identities, thus also emphasising their interchangeability and meaninglessness, has a long history
it happened in slavery, colonial practices and in Nazi concentration camps
the Moral Majority
in 1979, the Baptist minister and televangelist Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, a movement that brought together and mobilised the support of many Christians and Republicans
such televangelists were extremely popular in the late 1970s and 1980s
famous feminists of the 20th century
some of the heroines of the second wave feminist era were Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex, 1952), Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique, 1963) and Germaine Greer (The Female Eunuch, 1970)
their focus was one women’s bodies and female sexuality; on issues around motherhood, abortion and reproductive technologies; pornography and violence against women; and equal pay as well as environmentalism and peace campaigns
feminist achievements in the 1970s and 80s
the feminist movement rapidly gained strength in the US, winning Congressional endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972 and the Supreme Court decision to make abortion legal in Roe v Wade in 1973
however, opposition campaigns and lobbying by the New Right and pro-life campaigners meant that the ERA failed to be ratified in 1982, a bitter defeat for feminism
a period of conservative revival in the West partly fuelled by a strong, well-organized movement of religious conservatives and the growing power of this “religious right” heightened feminist fears that the gains women had made in previous decades would be reversed
what feminist fears does Atwood explore in THT?
in The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood explores the consequences of a reversal of women’s rights
what feminists considered the great triumphs of the 1970s—namely, widespread access to contraception, the legalization of abortion, and the increasing political influence of female voters—have all been undone
women in Gilead are not only forbidden to vote, they are forbidden to read or write
Jonathan Swift
Swift is writing about Ireland at a time when there wasn’t enough food and people were having more children than they could feed
he satirically proposes that people should raise their children like cows or other farm animals and sell them to be eaten
what’s frightening about it is how easy it is to take the idea seriously, and how Swift can manipulate language to make his irrational ideas sound like rational solutions to what was, after all, a very real problem
similar to how Gilead rationalises the regime and its oppression of women using Biblical ideas
inspiration for The Handmaid’s Tale
Iranian executions — public executions, stoning and hanging, religion coming into law
televangelists — television preacher, Serena Joy was one of these
her trip to Afghanistan — treatment of women, dehumanising/objectifying, not allowed to look or talk to the women, chadors
chador, nuns, old Dutch cleanser, clothing is a symbol, inspired the Handmaids’ costumes
rise of the Christian Right — religion as an oppressive tool, branching into politics and power and having influence
Ceausescu’s Romania — communist leader of Romania, banned contraception and abortion to increase population (1966), Hitler also did this, led to the rising of orphanages
feminism — radical (eliminate male supremacy) and cultural (female nature, saw feminism as an attack on motherhood)
worldwide drop in fertility, declining sperm count
Roe v Wade (1973) — very important case in feminism, landmark case in abortion rights
rise of the Christian Right
(see ‘Dystopia’ flashcards)
Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania: who was he?
Nicolae Ceausescu was a Romanian politician and authoritarian communist leader of Romania from 1965-89
he and his government were considered by far the most Stalinist in Eastern Europe
Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania: what happened under his rule?
he initially eased press censorship and openly condemned the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, but his government then became severely repressive and authoritarian
his secret police, the Securitate, was responsible for severe repression and he suppressed and controlled the media and press with methods that were among the most harsh and restrictive in the world
due to economic mismanagement and the skyrocketing foreign debts in Romania, there were severely lowered living standards and heavy rationing of food, water, oil, heat, electricity and other necessities
Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania: cult of personality
Ceausescu created a pervasive personality cult, giving himself titles such as Leader and The Genius of the Carpathians
after his election as President, he even had a king-like sceptre made for himself
Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania: abortion and contraception
in 1966, Ceausescu made abortion illegal in an attempt to boost the country’s population and introduced Decree 770 to reverse the low birth rate and fertility rate
before 1967, the Romanian abortion policy was one of the most liberal in Europe but to counter the sharp decline in population, the Communist Party decided that the Romanian population should be increased from 23 to 30 million inhabitants
in 1966, Decree 770 was authorised which made abortion and contraception illegal (except in certain circumstances, for example women over 45, women who had already had at least four children, women whose lives would be threatened by carrying to term, etc)
to enforce the decree, society was strictly controlled, contraceptives disappeared from the shelves and all women were forced to be monitored monthly by a gynaecologist
any detected pregnancies were followed until birth and the secret police monitored operations in hospitals closely
sex education was re-focused primarily on the benefits of motherhood, including the satisfaction of being a heroic mother who gives her homeland many children
mothers of at least five children would be entitled to significant benefits, while mothers of at least 10 children were declared “heroine mothers” by the Romanian state
the government targeted rising divorce rates and made divorce more difficult, it was declared that a marriage could be dissolved only in exceptional cases
Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania: what was the result of making abortion illegal?
by the late 1960s, the population began to swell and a new problem was created due to child abandonment which swelled the orphanage population
disabled and orphanaged children were brought into psychiatric hospitals where they lived under inhumane conditions
Iranian executions: what does the law make illegal?
since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the legal code has been based on Islamic Shari’a law
all sexual relations that occur outside a traditional, heterosexual marriage (sodomy or adultery) are illegal and no legal distinction is made between consensual and nonconsensual sodomy
homosexual relations that occur between consenting adults in private are a crime and carry a maximum punishment of death, while forced homosexual relations (rape) often result in execution
Iranian executions: how many people have been executed in Iran since 1979?
some human rights activists and opponents of the Iranian regime claim that between 4000 and 6000 gay men and lesbians have been executed in Iran for crimes related to their sexual orientation since 1979
law in Iran states that stones used in stoning should neither be so big as to kill the victim at the first or second blow, nor as small as a pebble
“In Iran, stoning a person to death is not against the law. Using the wrong stone is” — Amnesty International
Iranian executions: what happened to Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh?
Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh was an Iranian girl who was executed on charges of adultery and “crimes against chastity”
she was arrested after being raped by a 51 year old man — according to Islamic Sharia law, she was convicted for “crimes against chastity” based on her admission, which was obtained through torture, that she repeatedly had sex with a 51-year-old married man
she was publicly hanged from a crane in 2004 and the judge in her case allegedly also applied the noose himself
the drop in fertility: what has happened?
according to scientists, sperm counts among men in the west have more than halved in the past 40 years and are currently falling by an average of 1.4% a year
some commentators say that humanity could soon become extinct
in 1913, the average number of children per woman was just over 3, in 1963 (during the postwar baby-boom) this rose to nearly 4, however in modern times this has fallen to below 2
this trend could be tragic — there are no treatments for improving sperm production in infertile men and there are no real conclusions about what the cause of the condition is, it cannot be remedied
the drop in fertility: what are factors behind the drop in fertility?
factors behind fertility decline include…
- urbanisation
- female literacy and enrolment in schools
- contraception
- affluence and increasing material expectations
- high housing costs
- abortion
- divorce
- disease
- infertility
- global pessimism
Roe v Wade: what was the case about?
Roe v Wade (1973) was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion
the court ruled 7-2 that a right to privacy extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion
the case prompted a national debate that continues today about issues including whether and to what extent abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion and what role religious and moral views should take in the political sphere
it reshaped national politics, dividing much of the United States into pro-abortion and anti-abortion camps while activating grassroots movements on both sides of the debate
Roe v Wade: what do advocates of the case argue?
advocates of the case describe it as vital to the preservation of women’s rights, personal freedom, bodily integrity and privacy
they also argued that access to safe abortions and reproductive freedom are fundamental rights
some scholars have equated the denial of abortion rights to compulsory motherhood and have argued that abortion bans therefore violate the 13th amendment
“when women are compelled to carry and bear children, they are subjected to ‘involuntary servitude’ in violation of the 13th amendment… even if the woman has stipulated to have consented to the risk of pregnancy, that does not permit the state to force her to remain pregnant”
Roe v Wade: what do opponents argue?
opponents of abortion maintain that personhood begins at fertilisation or conception and should therefore be protected by the Constitution
every year, on the anniversary of the decision, opponents of abortion march up to the Supreme Court building in Washington DC in the March for Life
different aspects of feminism: Take Back The Night
Take Back The Night is an international event and non-profit organisation with the mission of ending sexual, relationship and domestic violence in all forms
hundreds of events are held in over 30 countries annually
events often include marches, rallies and vigils intended as a protest and direct action against rape and other forms of sexual, relationship and domestic violence
different aspects of feminism: anti-pornography groups
from the mid 1970s into the early 1980s, public rallies and marches protesting pornography and prostitution received widespread support among men and women from across the political spectrum
beginning in the late 1970s, anti-pornography radical feminists formed organisations such as Women Against Pornography
these groups provided educational events, including slideshows, speeches, guided tours of the sex shops in areas like New York’s Times Square, petitioning and publishing newsletters in order to raise awareness of the content of pornography and the sexual subculture in pornography shops and live sex shows
different aspects of feminism: radical feminism
radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical reordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts
radical feminists seek to abolish patriarchy by challenging existing social norms and institutions
this includes challenging the notion of traditional gender roles, opposing the sexual objectification of women and raising public awareness about issues such as rape and violence against women
early radical feminism, arising with second wave feminism in the 1960s, typically viewed patriarchy as a trans-historical phenomena prior to or deeper than other sources of oppression
patriarchy is not only the oldest and most universal form of domination but the primary form and the model for all others
different aspects of feminism: cultural feminism
cultural feminism is a term used to describe the view that there is a female nature or female essence
it may also refer to related attempts to revalidate attributes ascribed to ‘femaleness’
it is also used to describe theories that commend innate differences between women and men
