Women’s bodies and their reproductive functions are the subject of scrutiny in The Handmaid’s Tale. The term body politics refers to the practices and policies through which powers of society regulate the human body, as well as the struggle over the degree of individual and social control of the body. How is The Handmaid’s Tale a lens for examining body politics in an extreme totalitarian society? Some things to consider:
• Examine how women’s biological function has come to define them in this society
• Aunt Lydia states, “There is more than one kind of freedom…Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of Anarchy it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it,” (Atwood 24). What is the difference between these freedoms and why is this relevant to body politics?
• Does the state have a right to regulate anyone’s body with regard to sexual reproduction? Where does autonomy end and fascism begin?
i. Your paper topic as well as all of the below:
ii. 5 sources (The Handmaid’s Tale, 1 Read 20, 3 outside sources) with MLA in-text citations
iii. Works Cited** page on separate page (MLA format)
iv. MLA heading on the first page of paper; title your paper
v. Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins
vi. Formal academic English, grammatically correct (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, verb tenses, etc.)
