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The Handmaid's Tale author thinks we need to be more focused on holding the line on women's rights than toppling the patriarchy
Margaret Atwood suggests that we need to have a more practical goal in these uncertain times
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Margaret Atwood has become one of the central figures of feminist literature since her debut, but The Handmaid’s Tale solidified Atwood as a central voice in feminism. So it isn’t surprising that she is often asked questions on the subject. For Margaret Atwood, the current aim of feminism – and, indeed, of society in general – shouldn’t be as lofty as toppling the patriarchy; it should simply be trying to keep from slipping back to a darker time with regards to women’s rights.
The Guardian allowed several people to pose questions to Margaret Atwood. One, asked by South African author Deborah Levy, caused Atwood to give a decidedly dour answer. Levy asked, “Do you think we will ever topple patriarchy?” Atwood didn’t seem hopeful.
“Depends what you mean by topple (all men gone? Japanese female prime minister?) and what you mean by patriarchy (men rule everything? Men are taller, on average?),” the author replied. However, it was the next bit that gave the impression that The Handmaid’s Tale author isn’t feeling very hopeful at the moment. “For me, the Q of the day is rather: can we even hold the line – the line on one side of which women don’t have jobs, money or political rights; and on the other side of which they do?”
Margaret Atwood has always been very wary of totalitarian movements, which was a central subject of The Handmaid’s Tale when it was written, so it isn’t surprising that she would have such a practical and pessimistic view of the world at the moment. For her, it seems that we shouldn’t be focusing on such lofty goals as toppling the patriarchy that binds us. We should be more worried about slipping back to a time when women were treated as second-class citizens.
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