In The Scarlet Maid (1985), a “cult” novel by Margaret Atwood, religious fanatics found Gilead, a republic set up to ensure the survival of humanity after a drastic drop in fertility. In the dystopian universe imagined by the Canadian writer, each woman is reduced to one function: wife, aunt, governess, prostitute or servant. Those of this last category, the only still fertile women in the community, see their bodies offered to the Commanders, who dispose of them in particular for procreation purposes.
On June 24, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down Roe v. wade, the judgment protecting the constitutional right to abortion throughout its territory since 1973, comparisons with the novel by Margaret Atwood were quick to fuse on social networks. Protesters dressed in the red dresses and hats with white blinders worn by the servants shouted their anger outside the building of the highest American judicial body, in Washington DC.
Margaret Atwood herself, in her collection of essays Burning Matters, compares this significant setback to “slavery”. “Women who cannot decide for themselves whether or not to have children are reduced to slavery because the State arrogates to itself ownership of their bodies and the right to dictate to them how they should be used. do it,” it read.
Three experts consulted by The duty express themselves on the clairvoyance of Margaret Atwood and react to particularly striking passages of the novel.
“Our function is reproduction: we are not concubines, geishas or courtesans. […] We are two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, walking chalices. »
Martine Delvaux : From time immemorial, the fact that women are the ones who bear the children has served as a pretext for having them nailed to the ground, relegating them to the private space. The public space — the political, economic, legal and decision-making space — is the prerogative of men. Where the dystopia sticks to today’s reality is in its treatment of the declining birth rate caused by the environmental crisis. In reality, we are only just beginning to understand the repercussions of pollution on fertility. In the novel, reflection is pushed to the extreme; to avoid the extermination of humanity, men assume the right to force women to bear children. It is always women and minorities who pay the price in a crisis.
Francine Descarries : The novel is strongly inspired by the images of the Bible and the testament. In the vision of the leaders of Gilead, you are either a prostitute or a mother. There is no place for women. We find this same blind adherence to an unequal conception of relations between men and women in American conservative ideology, and this same refusal to adhere to the scientific consensus.
Francoise David : Two-thirds of the American population want to maintain the right to abortion, with all sorts of nuances. We are therefore faced with a real political kidnapping, made possible by the appointment of three ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court during the mandate of Donald Trump. Nine judges, mostly men, decided the fate of millions of American women, in a totally disproportionate power relationship. When political institutions believed to be democratic confer exorbitant powers on a few individuals, I say beware. Democracy is more fragile than we think.
Francine Descarries : When we have enjoyed certain privileges for too long, we come to consider them as rights. Women, when they claim their place, revoke privileges. In the National Assembly, for example, if we demand parity, there are 50 men who would have been elected 20 years ago who will no longer be elected. It opens the door to all kinds of masculinist discourses and ideologies that can be reinforced by the authorities in place to stay in power. This is what Atwood warns us about.
Martine Delvaux : We are not yet in this state of blinders in the United States, even if the Supreme Court has limited the right to abortion. His consciousness is still possible. We have not yet reached thought, the imaginary. Women have always found ways to end their pregnancies, and that will continue. With the adaptation of the book in series, one sees the thought of Atwood in evolution. While the novel was more of a testament, the series — and its popularity — opens a path to hope and revolution.
Francoise David : Margaret Atwood wrote her novel before the advent of social networks. Today, there is a whole youth who are aware of what is happening elsewhere, and who have the power to revolt. We have seen it in countries where education is extremely rigid, like in Iran. Any setback provides an opportunity to change things. No dictatorship is eternal.