Book Reports / An essay about, the inequality amongst genders, based on 2 narratives-feedback [2]

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Intructions: A compare and contrast essay based on a paradigm(Gender) and two narratives, the novel Blindness and the film The Handmaid's Tale.

The Inequality amongst genders

The narratives, "Blindness" and the film, The Handmaid's Tale express negative and unfair behaviour that men have shown towards women because of their gender. There were several similarities and differences that were explored throughout the narratives. Some of the similarities and differences that will be explored in detail throughout this essay are, the sexual exploitation that the main character experienced, the unfair treatment of the other women in the society and the power that men possessed because of their gender. In both the narratives, women have been victims of cruel but all-too-believable sexual exploitation and unfair treatment by the men in their societies.

In the film, The Handmaid's Tale the main character, Offred is a victim of sexual exploitation by the men in her society. The society that she lives in has transformed her into a Handmaid, which is a woman that is nothing more than a body used for fertility. At the beginning of the film, we see that Offred was sent to her Commander's home, Fred where she was forced to have sex with him once a month during the Ceremony. This event demonstrates that the Commander used Offred as a sexual object, because she was forced to have sex with him just for the purpose of reproducing. Later in the film, we discover that the Commander wants to secretly develop an unlawful relationship out side of his marriage with Offred. He makes her wear sexual clothing, which appeals to him at the Jezebel. This event shows that the Commander was taking advantage of Offred to receive and fulfill his sexual desires. In this situation, Offred was not able to tell anyone because if she were to get caught, she would be sent to the Colonies. The Commander took advantage of his authority and continued to sexually exploit Offred in the film.

In addition, there were also other women in the film that lived unfair lives in the Republican of Gilead. These women were to follow certain rules and did not hold any personal identities. The Commanders, and Aunt Lydia believe that women were better protected against violence and were treated with respect in Gilead because of the rules they had created for them. However, those women that are taken by force and made into Handmaids are not treated with respect because, their Commanders continually raped them against their will. The Handmaids are helpless and they must follow the law, and allow the Commander to use them sexually or else they would be sent to the Colonies. The women in Gilead were always mistreated and they were blamed for things they had no control over. If a Handmaid was not able to get pregnant, no doubt was raised towards her Commander who was old and sterile. This situation demonstrates that, a woman was considered unholy and served no purpose in society if she was not able to bear a child. The Republican of Gilead also discriminated women because they were not able to vote, have a job, read or do anything that might allow them to become independent. In the film, we see that the Jezebels have high-educated women such as lawyers and teachers that were forced to become prostitutes for men, because they were no longer allowed to work in Gilead. The society that the women of Gilead lived in placed them into a very constricted environment where they were not permitted to live their normal lifestyles because of the unfair laws that were implied to them just because they were women.

Furthermore, the lifestyle that men in Gilead lived was completely different than the women, because men were considered to more superior in Gilead. It was a man-dominated society, where women were forced to do all the hard labour and were controlled by higher authorities. The Guardians and the Eyes were some of the authorities that kept a close watch on the women in Gilead, especially the Handmaids. These authorities punished anyone that violated the law. In the film, we see at the Salvaging that other Handmaids hanged a Handmaid because she was caught seducing a member of the medical staff. This event indicates that men have the ability to control women in Gilead, because the Eyes caught this Handmaid violating the law, which upset the other Handmaids and caused them to hang her. The other group of men that have power and are able to control women are the doctors in Gilead. When Offred goes to the doctor for her medical check-up, the doctor tells her she is not pregnant and he could have sex with her to get her pregnant. This event demonstrates the power that the doctor has as a man to manipulate the minds of the Handmaids and have sex with them because they are so desperate to get pregnant. Throughout the film we see that the men in Gilead are able to control women and manipulate their minds because they have the power to do so. However in the novel, "Blindness" men did not possess all the power nor did the women because everyone was blind.

The novel, "Blindness" also expresses the horrifying sexual exploitation the main character, the doctor's wife experiences by the blind men in the mental asylum. The leader of blind hoodlums forces the doctor's wife to have sex with him in exchange for food for her ward. For hours she was "passed from one man to another, from humiliation to humiliation, from outrage to outrage, exposed to everything that can be done to a woman while leaving her still alive" (Blindness, 181). The doctor's wife was "humiliated" by the horrifying events that occurred to her because she was used as a sex slave by the blind hoodlums in exchange for food. In both the narratives, we see that the men used the main characters as sexual object for some purpose. In the film, Offred was forced to use her body for reproducing, and similarly in the novel, the doctor's wife was forced to use her body to receive food from the blind men. The cruel display of sexual exploitation that the protagonist suffers is demonstrated by the inhumane behaviour of the blind hoodlums.

Furthermore, the other women in the mental asylum also experienced unfair treatment by the men. The blind women experienced discrimination in the mental asylum when the blind hoodlums wanted women for pleasure instead of the valuables, which they demanded earlier. The quote "...they wanted women. Just like that, Bring us women." (Blindness 166) demonstrates that the blind hoodlums considered women as objects that are worthless and only good for their pleasure. In addition, the other blind men did not care about the dignity of the blind women because they just wanted food to survive. The quote "either you go there or they will give us nothing to eat" (Blindness 167) demonstrates how unfair the men where behaving towards women. They implied force on them and gave them no choice but to visit the blind hoodlums and loose their pride. However unlike the film, where the other women were afraid of going against the Republican of Gilead, women in the mental asylum spoke up for their beliefs. The quote "and what would you do if these rascals instead of asking for women had asked for men, what would you do then..." (Blindness, 168) demonstrates the courage and anger that some blind women had, which made them stand up against the men. In the novel, the blind women were also implied force and discriminated by the people in the mental asylum, which was similar to the behaviour the women in the film experienced. However there were some women in the novel that were able to stand up against those that showed unfair behaviour towards them.

Also in the novel, there were only certain types of people that possessed power. The mental asylum was not a man-dominated environment like the film, nor was it completely dominated by women. In the novel, the blind hoodlums were the only men that possessed power because of the handgun the leader possessed. They were able to create fear among the blind people because everyone knew "...the fatal effects handguns tend to have" (Blindness 163). These men were able to manipulate the minds of the innocent blind people with the sense of fear they created. Similarly, the Eyes and the doctors in the film also had that effect on the women in Gilead. However, in the novel no specific gender truly was able to gain power because everyone was blind and they all "...miss having [their] sight, [and] to be able to see" (Blindness, 69). This quote demonstrates the desperate situation the blind people were in because they felt hopeless and powerless without their sight. In the film, this was the situation that the Handmaids and the other women were in because of the insensitive law that was implied on them. In both the narratives, the possession of power to control others varied between the genders.

In conclusion, both narratives have many similarities and differences in the way the protagonist was sexually mistreated, the type of unfair laws that were implied on the women and the possession of power between the two genders. In each of the narratives, it was demonstrated that women were considered as a sexual object that was used for some purpose by the men. They have also described the type of role men have in a society, and the power that they possess over women. However, we also learn that the possession of power in genders varies in different situation thereby leaving the readers under the impression that we are all equal.