It is a reference to The Handmaid’s Tale.
Hat tip to aggieric who posted this image in Sally Strange's diary about the 7-17-18 New York Daily News cover. That’s where I saw it first, but it will be all over the internet before long.
Everyone who has seen even one episode of Handmaid’s Tale would get it. The show is pretty popular, and a lot of people my age have even read the book.
Basically, the handmaids are assigned to powerful men called Commanders. They get no choice in the matter and have no ability to say no.
As part of the deal they lose their real names and have to be called “of” [commander’s name].
The lead character (played by Elisabeth Moss, who won a well-deserved Emmy for the role last year, and whom you may remember from Mad Men or West Wing) is assigned to a man named Fred.
So she is required to be addressed by the name Offred (Of Fred). One of the other main characters is called “Ofwarren” because she has been assigned to a Commander named Warren. See how it works? And if you get assigned to a different Commander for some reason then you take his name. In the TV series, for example, Ofwarren is sent to a man named Daniel and then she has to be called Ofdaniel.
So drawing DJT as a Handmaid and naming him Ofputin is an insult on several levels:
- it is depicting DJT as female, which he will hate
- it means DJT is completely under Putin’s thumb and has to be submissive to Putin in every way
- it means DJT has no choice but to obey any order Putin might give, even an order that would involve breaking official laws
- it means DJT has no autonomy whatsoever, no ability to make any decisions on his own without the threat of punishment; and
- it also means DJT is stuck in this subservient relationship and has no possibility of escape.
I will touch only briefly on the sexual angle because I’m not a fan of people who sexualize the relationship between Putin and DJT, but it is part of this meme so I have to acknowledge it here.
Handmaids are required to have a ritualized sex ceremony with the Commanders. This happens in the presence of, and with the permission of, the Commanders’ wives. (The whole point of Handmaids is that they are the last remaining fertile women and one of the perks of power in the culture is when the government assigns you a Handmaid. Only upper-class/privileged/well-connected men are allowed the chance to reproduce.)
Handmaids and Commanders are not supposed to have sex outside of the ceremony/without the Wife present, but if the Commander asks for it Handmaids are not allowed to say no to anything the Commander wants sexually.
I would rather focus on the obedience/lack of autonomy aspects of depicting DJT as Ofputin, since that’s what came to my mind when I first saw the picture. Just the idea that Putin owns him and can tell him what to do and he is incapable of saying no. But the requirement to be sexually submissive is part of the meme and I know that could even come to mind first for a lot of people who watch the show. I suppose to take this analogy further, the Republicons in Congress would be the Wives. Damn now I am imagining Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell in blue dresses and capes… [eww...shiver]
Anyway, that should explain to people who have never read the book or seen the Hulu series why Handmaid’s Tale fans are raving about this protest sign.
And as a mini-bonus, Ofputin looks like the word “off-putting” which certainly describes DJT in more ways than one.
Margaret Atwell’s 1985 novel is a dystopian feminist classic now. Very hard to read. The TV show is visualized in an even more harrowing way than I imagined it, which makes it *VERY* difficult to watch.
But it is brilliantly written and acted and full of powerful political commentary, so it is highly recommended.
This sign is brilliant and I hope it catches on just like the Trump Baby Blimp.
Because DJT will be INFURIATED by it.
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