The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) is a novel of speculative fiction by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Set in a near-future New England, in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government, the dystopian novel explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency.
Religious bigots are taking control. They are intent on controlling women and taking away their rights. Sex is taboo. Women’s bodies are no longer their own.
The misogynistic religious culture emanating from ancient Arab nomadic cultures is on the rise.