By way of quick refresher course, Margaret Atwood is the feminist Canadian author who hates men and the United States in equal measure. Enough so that she penned the quintessential anti-American male tome in the early 80’s, The Handmaid’s Tale. The story depicts a not so distant future United States ruled by a revolutionary, misogynistic Christian theocracy. The ruling class of men and women live according to fundamentalist scripture, dictating all-powerful husbands, and servile wives. Since the wives are all infertile, “Handmaid’s” of former loose girl sinners with working uteruses are enslaved to make babies for the couples. The only way to escape this oppressive and sadistic rape culture — make it to Canada. Imagine those odds.
Atwood has been praised for this and other tales of female victimization dystopian woe through her many years of feminist writer icon. When Hulu went looking for a series that would perfectly fit the tortured American white woman cultural messaging, they gobbled up Handmaid’s Tale and turned it into a series. An okay series that necessarily must be lavished with praise from Hollywood. It’s been adapted before on multiple occasions for film and stage. But those were eras before the hashtag.
Atwood remains a feisty older lady, who had the temerity recently to suggest that perhaps the modern feminists #MeToo movement was too vigilante in nature, threatening to make the rule of law obsolete, which wouldn’t be to the benefit of either gender. If there’s one thing exceptionally Canadian, it’s law abiding citizenry.
The Handmaid’s Tale author penned a letter in the Canadian newspaper nobody outside of Canada reads because they aren’t forced to:
“#MeToo moment is a symptom of a broken legal system. All too frequently, women and other sexual-abuse complainants couldn’t get a fair hearing through institutions — including corporate structures — so they used a new tool: the internet. Stars fell from the skies. This has been very effective, and has been seen as a massive wake-up call. But what next? If the legal system is bypassed because it is seen as ineffectual, what will take its place? Who will be the new power brokers?”
This notion of lawless revolution cuts to the core of her own central work of authorship. In the Handmaid’s Tale, the feminist progressives are overtaken by the reactionary sexist biblical types and suffer the consequence. It’s a world without laws where the strong eats the weak, and the strong were men with guns and muscles. Male domination is an inherent fact of animal nature. This is why Atwood and her fellow feminists of yore sought to change the legal system, versus increasing their curl and leg press reps at the gym and undertaking firearms training.
The legal system has been very good to modern women. Women have managed to achieve the ironic combo of being a majority of the population, while receiving protected minority status. This means there are more women in college and professional schools and seeking advanced degrees than men, plus they are protected in hiring and firing and workplace and educational venues from harassment. It may still take place, but they have extremely effective legal recourse in 2018, despite what the hashtag liturgy may state. Yes, Fox News was riddled with deviant fat old male gropers. But the women in the office have sued and won to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in judgements, and are being hired at other outlets and senior capacities.
There are no employment ads encouraging men to apply. Everybody is looking to hire and promote female. It’s a high time to be a lady. Especially a college-educated Caucasian lady as this demographic is largely driving the modern “Hillary” women’s movement, #MeToo, and #TimesUp. Left in the dust are prominently underprivileged women of color. The bandwagon always seems to fill up before it reaches the wrong side of the tracks. Don’t think women of color don’t recognize this slight.
Atwood’s editorial expressing her fear of the rapidly expanding and grossly unsupervised kangaroo #MeToo court left her feeling like she had done her part to bring a measure of civility to the boundless witch hunt. Last year, Atwood penned a letter in support of due process for a University of British of Columbia professor accused of sexual harassment. Not to let him off, but to not hang him prior to trial. Consider these two strikes against Atwood in the rampaging feminist modernity. In Canada, that’s a strikeout.
Angry young prep school hewn feminists lashed out at Atwood, an icon of the larger movement, for daring to question the doctrine of burn and advance. Which is the standard response to a calming voice attempting to quell a rumpus fire that the Wild Things don’t want put out. The social media age put-upon ladies believe Atwood is a compromiser. That’s a kind way of saying old and sold out. Or worse, friends with men.
Witches get tortured in witch hunts. As do people questioning the witch hunt. For the sake of personal safety, imagine an unmanned locomotive barreling toward you on the track. There is but one option for survival.
Atwood is the consummate “too old for this shit” public figure who responded to the Twitter storm of rage and estrogen largely with a pity party swan song:
Taking a break from being Supreme Being Goddess, omniscient, omnipotent, and responsible for all ills. Sorry I have failed the world so far on gender equality. Maybe stop trying? Will be back later. (Next incarnation maybe.)
A leaderless movement built on floating ideals and uncapped wells of anger will ultimately feed more upon its own members more so than the targets of rage. Certainly, a few powerful men will be taken down for their sins, corporations and their advertising dollars will bend to accommodate in shows of dramatic kowtow, and some segment of the public at large will hide their true feelings for fear of repercussion. Fiats never hold. There’s no society that has ever choked meaningful discussion out of existence for any successfully extensive period of time. Autocracies inevitably fall under their own moral bankruptcy. So goeth hashtags when the consequences truly settle in.
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