Commodification of Women's Bodies in The Handmaid's Tale

 

 The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel by Margret Atwood was published in 1985. It is set in a dystopian society of the Republic of Gilead, a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime that emerged due to the threat of fertility crises. Women are categorized according to their ability to bear children. Women, especially the handmaids are denied the ownership of their own bodies. The leashes of their bodies lie in the hands of the Gilead regime. Handmaids are fertile women who are assigned to elite houses of commanders and wives due to their inability to bear children due to infertility. These handmaids are kept under strict surveillance. Their menstrual cycles and their sexual activities are also recorded by the regime. The commodification of women's bodies is the main theme of the novel. The whole novel brims with instances that highlight the objectification of women's bodies which is more unsettling due to its parallels that can be drawn to the real world. 

Handmaids’ Job Description

The commodification of women‟s bodies starts from the handmaid's job description itself. Handmaids are fertile women who are assigned to elite houses of commanders and wives due to their inability to bear children due to infertility. Therefore, we can observe that their bodies are assigned to other couples as if they are commodities. They are supposed to copulate with their respective commanders, give birth to children and hand over them to the couple without any emotional attachment to the baby.

Offred once remarks “I am a national resource”. The Republic of Gilead treats their handmaids as a national resource i.e. as an object to facilitate the advancement of their propaganda. She even says “We [handmaids] are two-legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices.” Therefore, the only thing considered important in a handmaid is her womb. Nothing else, not even her feet, hands, heart

or mind is acknowledged. They are reduced to breeding machines. This highlights how the regime has dehumanized the handmaid. 

The Ceremonious Copulation

The ceremonious copulation between the commander and Offred is described as “serious business”. There is no “arousal” involved. It is just a duty. Offred says, "We are containers, it's only the insides of our bodies that are important". She describes herself as if she is an instrument, an object or vessel whose sole function is breeding and there remains no feeling in the act of copulation. The Handmaids' bodies are reduced to mere vessels for reproduction, devoid of intimacy, pleasure, or autonomy. They are objects used to fulfil the desires and needs of the ruling class. Handmaids are subjected to ritualized sexual exploitation in the form of a Ceremony, where they are forced to engage in intercourse with their assigned Commanders. Offred describes the dehumanizing nature of the Ceremony: The Ceremony reduces the handmaids to objects for breeding. This denies them agency and autonomy over their bodies and sexuality.

"We are two-legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices." This reinforces the idea of women as commodities. 

Rachel and Leah Center

The roots of commodification and the internalization of this commodification lie in the Rachel and Leah Center. Also known as the Red Center, the Rachel and Leah Center is an institution of sorts where the handmaids are trained and tamed. Throwing light on the situation of handmaids at the centre, Offred says, “They are not being disciplined; they are only being fattened up, as for slaughter.”. At the Red Center, women are stripped of their individuality and autonomy, reduced to objects to be groomed and prepared for their roles as Handmaids. Their bodies are commodified and manipulated to serve the interests of the regime.

The Aunts are the ones who control the Rachel and Leah Center. They are modelled after nuns and believe that women are inferior. They have been assigned the task of indoctrinating the handmaids by teaching them the religious propaganda of the regime. They are also vested with the power to use violence against those who fail to conform to the rules of Gilead. The Aunts are assigned the task of

brainwashing the to-be handmaids to believe that “Yours [Theirs] is a position of honor”. For example, Aunt Lydia says, “For our [regime‟s] purposes your feet and your hands are not essential.” The Aunts the real perpetrators of Gilead‟s prejudiced propaganda. 

Offred's Reflection on Her Identity

The Aunts and the Gilead society objectify the handmaids to the extent that they themselves start believing in it and accept their commodification as a fact and fate. This internalization can be seen when Offred self-reflects on her identity. She says, "My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden. I tell myself it doesn't matter; your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others”. Offred realises that her true identity has been erased and replaced with a name assigned by the regime. This reflects the extent to which women's bodies and identities are commodified in Gilead. The authority strips women of their names and individuality and reflects that a handmaid is an interchangeable object. She is devoid of inherent worth or agency.

Later, at the club, the readers notice that Offred has a tattoo on her ankle. It is not any creative tattoo about personal memories. Instead, the tattoo is given to her by the Republic of Gilead. It marks her identity as a handmaid. It also helps in categorizing them like a cattle farmer labels his/her cattle for identification. Just like the cattle are fed for breeding and providing milk, the handmaids too are fed for the sole purpose of breeding and nourishing the infant in the initial days only. Therefore, the tattoo symbolizes ownership by the regime. Even if they escape and go beyond the fence, the tattoo will be a stark and harsh reminder for the handmaids of their slavery and the pitiful situation under which they have thrived. When the commander strokes Offred's ankle tattoo, she comments aside, “where the tattoo is, a Braille he can read, a cattle brand. It means ownership.” This indicates how Gilead strips women of individuality and gives them a new label.

Offred's detachment from her flesh is a result of the capitalist belief in the mind/body separation. Offred recalls how she "used to think of [her] body as an instrument... an implement for the accomplishment of her will" (73). Despite the fact that it was a piece of labour instrument, it carried out her wishes rather than those of others. She explains that the body was “single, solid, and one with me.”

However, as Offred loses control of her own body, “the flesh organises itself differently. I am a fog that has congealed around a focal item”. When women's autonomy and freedom are forbidden, the female body is portrayed as repressive, the tool of an invading nature hostile to human society and foreign to real humanity, a nature that can only be suppressed or overcome. The main character is deprived of her own body when it is separated, becoming a repressive tool that is owned and governed by Gilead's ruling elite. 

Body as a bargain 

In the initial stage of the novel, Offred thinks of using her own body as a bargain because she knows it is the only thing she has. Her worth depends on her fertile body. Her personality, ideas, intelligence and emotions do not matter. All that matters is her physical body. Therefore, she herself commodifies her body by thinking of it as a tangible object for the purpose of bartering. She tries to trade sex for procuring illegal things like cigarettes and coffee. She realises that women's bodies may be traded, as they have at every step of history. Even though she seemed helpless within Gilead, her own body provided a means of negotiating. Offred recognises this formidable resource, the "power of a dog bone, passive but there," which tempts men and gives her a measure of power. However, Offred confesses that it was merely a “fantasy” since, despite the fact that women‟s bodies certainly have their worth, the women within Gilead lack control over their own bodies and labour, whether or not that be reproductive or sexual. As the last chapter established, the ruling class totally owns Offred's body. So, although there is power in her body she doesn‟t have power over her body. 

Hierarchy of Women

Women in Gilead are divided into rigid hierarchies to execute various elements of 'women's work,' such as Handmaids allocated to reproductive labour, Marthas who cook and clean, and Wives who assist the commanders. Within this compartmentalization of women's bodies and prospective labour production, even the women themselves notice other women in the home as nothing else than a task or obligation to be fulfilled. The Marthas are charged with showering the Handmaids so they avoid committing suicide while the bath, and Cora and Rita (the Marthas in Offred's house) treat Offred as a mere "household chore, one

among many" and speak about her "as though [she] can't hear," not recognising her identity beyond labour.

Wives were granted limited influence over other women in the house, both to appease this upper-class group of women and to maintain the tight hierarchy required under these kinds of ownership. During the birth of capitalism, the sexual segregation of labour was foremost a power relation, segregation among the workforce. Since this distinction existed prior to the establishment of Gilead, the new regime had to impose stricter segregation among women and their labour. Serena's physical power stretches to her ability to exert influence over Offred's body, instructing her, "You can sit down. I don't make a practice of it, but just this time," emphasising the comprehensive control over the Handmaids' bodies, which cannot even determine whether to sit or stand. 

Doctor’s treatment

The Handmaids are also called for basic upkeep, such as a monthly doctor's checkup, to make sure their ability to reproduce matches their potential to generate more capital. This is similar to oiling a machine of servicing a car for maintenance purposes. The doctor conducts these examinations as if operating with a commodity and "deals with a torso only," rather than an individual. From the beginning, we can tell that women, particularly Handmaids, are no more than labor-producing machines. 

Intrusion by Japanese Tourists 

In one instance, Offred and Ofglen encounter Japanese tourists, who are visiting Gilead out of curiosity. This becomes a harsh reminder of the handmaids' objectification and commodification, as they are treated like attractions for foreign visitors. Offred reflects on the tourists' fascination with their costumes:

"We are fascinations, zoo exhibits; oddities; there is an entertainment value here." The intrusion by Japanese tourists highlights the dehumanization of the handmaids within Gilead's society. It also emphasizes their pitiful situation as objects of curiosity and spectacle.