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wingedbeastThis chapter starts with a memory of the time before, wandering through art galleries that had, ubiquitous through the 19th century, paintings of harems and consorts and other bits of eroticism. That is where you would find the classic image of a woman leaning against a Roman-style couch, draped in something gauzy, with an arm over her forehead.
From her current perspective, Offred sees those as less erotic. They're not pictures of women being sexy. They're pictures of women being bored, because they're not currently in use and they're not given much of anything else to do.
It's worth a note that Offred figures that weaving or knitting would offer her something to do with her hands during this unfilled time. And, weaving or knitting would have been, for those ladies in harems, an acceptable task. A King or some noble with a wife and a harem would count on his wife organizing said harem in the creation of intricate rugs and tapestries to decorate homes, give as gifts, and otherwise act as symbols of status.
I can think of two reasons why Gilead doesn't offer handmaids either the needles with which to knit or the yarn that could be woven into ropes. Both of those reasons are violent. Both of those reasons tacitly acknowledge that, despite the image of things that Gilead likes to present, the nation is in a constant state of enacting violence upon the handmaids.
That leads to remembering her Psych classes, in which she learned of rats who would shock themselves just for something to do. That leads her to remembering pigs given balls to push around rather than sit around doing nothing. Both lessons that Gilead does not apply to the handmaids, because that would require thinking about their perspective more than it takes to tell them what the required emotional response is.
So much of Gilead seems to be about actively refusing to acknowledge its own responsibility.
And, that is my segway into a scene I alluded to way back in part 4 of the deconstruction.
Back at the gym, during the training, a woman, Janine, tells about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion. Offred remembers that the story might not be true, or it might be. Whether or not Janine is being truthful is beside the point. The point is that the Aunts immediately leap upon this and blame Janine for having been raped.
According to the narrative of the Aunts, Janine lead on whoever it was that gang-raped her, thus making the actions of the men her own fault. (Note: The men are given power in the society, always ranked above women. Yet, they are not given the responsibility for their own actions.) God allowed the gang-rape of a fourteen year old in order to teach her a lesson. (Note: Because God is incapable of teaching that lesson any other way?)
How can one be safe, in any degree, in a situation wherein the victim will always be made responsible for the actions of those with far more power?
I recall the story of King David and Bathseba. In that story, King David spies a woman bathing, finds her beautiful, and has her brought before him. There are some narratives of the story wherein it was up to her to find some way to stop his advances.
This kind of ethic seems to pervade the kind of Christian culture that Atwood is examining. Responsibility is split into two parts, blame and credit. Blame goes down the Great Chain of Being and credit goes up, thus ensuring that nobody with the power to do anything is actually burdened with the responsibility to do anything but maintain the status quo.
And, it's here where I start to get a sense of how Gilead treats handmaids. It's similar to thoughts I've had about how many companies treat employees.
The thing about how companies treat equipment is that they know that, in order to get the longest life and most efficient use out of equipment, there need to be certain things. As a result, some respect is given to the machines, if only because that has an immediate bottom-line consequence. Similarly, a pig may be given some red ball to "improve muscle tone" or something similar, because that markets better (an example from Offred's memory, if not in how swine are actually handled in meat industry).
But, people get less than that. People can be handed responsibility for things like always being happy, regardless of conditions internal or external. If the equipment requires quiet, you can bet the rule will be to stay quiet. If, on the other hand, one works at a call center (as I did for six years), you can bet the rule will be to scream across the call-center whenever the alternative is walking five feet, because any impact that has on the ability of people to have the conversations over the phone that are the entire point of the center just don't occur.
Part of the reason Offred isn't given some suitable harem-woman hobby to do is because anything that could be given her could be used against Gilead. But, a large part of the reason is that Gilead just isn't interested in her enough to think of it. She isn't a machine or a domesticated beast. Because she's a person, she can be treated with less consideration than either, made responsible for all the consequences thereof.
From her current perspective, Offred sees those as less erotic. They're not pictures of women being sexy. They're pictures of women being bored, because they're not currently in use and they're not given much of anything else to do.
It's worth a note that Offred figures that weaving or knitting would offer her something to do with her hands during this unfilled time. And, weaving or knitting would have been, for those ladies in harems, an acceptable task. A King or some noble with a wife and a harem would count on his wife organizing said harem in the creation of intricate rugs and tapestries to decorate homes, give as gifts, and otherwise act as symbols of status.
I can think of two reasons why Gilead doesn't offer handmaids either the needles with which to knit or the yarn that could be woven into ropes. Both of those reasons are violent. Both of those reasons tacitly acknowledge that, despite the image of things that Gilead likes to present, the nation is in a constant state of enacting violence upon the handmaids.
That leads to remembering her Psych classes, in which she learned of rats who would shock themselves just for something to do. That leads her to remembering pigs given balls to push around rather than sit around doing nothing. Both lessons that Gilead does not apply to the handmaids, because that would require thinking about their perspective more than it takes to tell them what the required emotional response is.
So much of Gilead seems to be about actively refusing to acknowledge its own responsibility.
And, that is my segway into a scene I alluded to way back in part 4 of the deconstruction.
Back at the gym, during the training, a woman, Janine, tells about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion. Offred remembers that the story might not be true, or it might be. Whether or not Janine is being truthful is beside the point. The point is that the Aunts immediately leap upon this and blame Janine for having been raped.
According to the narrative of the Aunts, Janine lead on whoever it was that gang-raped her, thus making the actions of the men her own fault. (Note: The men are given power in the society, always ranked above women. Yet, they are not given the responsibility for their own actions.) God allowed the gang-rape of a fourteen year old in order to teach her a lesson. (Note: Because God is incapable of teaching that lesson any other way?)
How can one be safe, in any degree, in a situation wherein the victim will always be made responsible for the actions of those with far more power?
I recall the story of King David and Bathseba. In that story, King David spies a woman bathing, finds her beautiful, and has her brought before him. There are some narratives of the story wherein it was up to her to find some way to stop his advances.
This kind of ethic seems to pervade the kind of Christian culture that Atwood is examining. Responsibility is split into two parts, blame and credit. Blame goes down the Great Chain of Being and credit goes up, thus ensuring that nobody with the power to do anything is actually burdened with the responsibility to do anything but maintain the status quo.
And, it's here where I start to get a sense of how Gilead treats handmaids. It's similar to thoughts I've had about how many companies treat employees.
The thing about how companies treat equipment is that they know that, in order to get the longest life and most efficient use out of equipment, there need to be certain things. As a result, some respect is given to the machines, if only because that has an immediate bottom-line consequence. Similarly, a pig may be given some red ball to "improve muscle tone" or something similar, because that markets better (an example from Offred's memory, if not in how swine are actually handled in meat industry).
But, people get less than that. People can be handed responsibility for things like always being happy, regardless of conditions internal or external. If the equipment requires quiet, you can bet the rule will be to stay quiet. If, on the other hand, one works at a call center (as I did for six years), you can bet the rule will be to scream across the call-center whenever the alternative is walking five feet, because any impact that has on the ability of people to have the conversations over the phone that are the entire point of the center just don't occur.
Part of the reason Offred isn't given some suitable harem-woman hobby to do is because anything that could be given her could be used against Gilead. But, a large part of the reason is that Gilead just isn't interested in her enough to think of it. She isn't a machine or a domesticated beast. Because she's a person, she can be treated with less consideration than either, made responsible for all the consequences thereof.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-02 10:18 am (UTC)And I've visited a couple of call centers and your experience is far different from what I've seen. The rooms were designed to dampen sound and the employees were instructed to confer in soft voices. But a call I once made to tech support does match what you describe - I could barely hear the rep, as if he and his colleagues were grouped around a table instead of working in individual cubicles.