Margaret Atwood has recently been in the spotlight as a result of the Hulu television adaptation and expansion of her award-winning 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel is about a dystopian future in which part of the United States is under the rule of a fundamentalist theocratic totalitarian regime in which women are treated as property, with their sexuality and reproductive capacity brutally controlled. Using the work as a jumping-off point, on Tuesday, Guardian columnist Zoe Williams published an opinion piece titled “The Handmaid’s Tale comes to life in Alabama. Women must heed the warning.”
The piece focused on the insane set of circumstances that led to an Alabama grand jury indicting Marshae Jones for manslaughter of the fetus she had carried in her own womb, which was killed when someone else shot her. Atwood saw Williams’ article and boosted its signal on her social media platform.
One of the first replies revealed the depths of ignorance of the “pro-life” movement.
If anyone would know what The Handmaid’s Tale is about, it’s Margaret Atwood.
The responses came fast and furious, and we are going to have a good time reading and watching them in a moment. But to this guy’s credit, he has retweeted every one, with one single commentary—thanking someone for an informative Twitter thread that explains why people are invoking The Handmaid’s Tale in the debate over abortion, reproductive rights, and bodily autonomy around the country.
However, while this poster might have learned a few things, many others share his previous level of knowledge and understanding. So without any more interruptions, here are responses that are still valid.
Nice.
Lebowski is always good for a meme.
Penguins!
Watch out for rabbit holes!
It sort of did, didn’t it?
