The Handmaid's Tale Initial Thoughts part II

As a continuation of my previous blog, I wanted to expand a bit on what I feel like are the major women's roles that I have seen in my faith/religious life. As I mentioned before, I have been to several different churches, and although the denominations may have been different, I feel like the roles of women were pretty much the same. Here are some of them:
- Worship team (singers, musicians, etc)
- Childcare - Women are mainly the ones who teach Sunday school.  I guess it goes along with the motherly aspect, our supposed innate ability to deal with and care for children.
- Church Coffee/ Church luncheons - Again, another semi-stereotypical job for women.
- Bible study leaders - women's fellowship is a big deal in my faith. Some of the "religious giants" of our generation are women, surprisingly.

At first glance, these may seem extremely stereotypical and restricted. Note, these are not the only roles that women have that I have experienced. I have dealt with female ministers, missionaries, religious global speakers. And what I have observed about all these women is that they are proud to do what they do. Even in the small actions like laying out cookies and coffee for social time after services, they take each opportunity as a chance to encourage fellowship. They truly find joy in the mundane tasks.

This is where I find the difference between my religious experience and that of the women in The Handmaid's Tale. My religion/faith is used to encourage women and have them step out into the world, whereas the women in the book are repressed and bound and silenced by theirs.

"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection." Here he looks us over. "All," he repeats (Atwood 233).

"Start them soon is the policy, there's not a moment to be lost -  still they'll remember. And the ones after them will, for three or four or five years; but after that they won't. They'll always have been in white, in groups of girls; they'll always have been silent" (Atwood 231).

"Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" (Atwood, 233). Saved by childbearing? Salvation through a baby? That is how women in the book can be saved. In my experience with religion, faith is all you need.

I find this stifling and so powerful. It seems so against everything I have learnt about faith in my life to use it to bind and keep captive. When I was young my leaders would teach me in a way that would instill confidence and self-esteem in me. A lot of my strength and sense of self came from what I believed in. I cannot comprehend or imagine it any other way. I think that this experience of mine that is so opposite to what the women in the book experience allows me to see the severity of the situation. Not only that, it makes me extremely thankful that my experience has never been anything like that.