Race in The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel written by Margaret Atwood that was adapted into a television show in 2017. The television show is currently on its second season, and though it has received great praise along with many awards, it has also received a fair amount of criticism. Evan Narcisse criticized the television series’ lack of a portrayal of racism in Gilead in his article “The Biggest Problem With The Handmaid's Tale Is How It Ignores Race.”

Narcisse argues that based on the time period and government structure of Gilead there would be racism in the society. In the novel, Margaret Atwood hints at racial inequality with the relocation of the Children of Ham. This is not mentioned in the television show, however. Though there are people of color in the show, Narcisse comments on the fact that they are not treated any differently than the white characters in the series, which is not very realistic.

I have to agree with Narcisse’s argument. Heterosexism, classism, ableism, and sexism are all portrayed in one way or another in the television series, particularly sexism and heterosexism, but racism is not. It is evident that the series is centered around feminism. There is a scene in the Pilot episode where Janine is describing a time she was sexually assaulted and aunt Lydia asked who's fault it was. This is then proceeded by the handmaids pointing to her and chanting “her fault.” This scene is a direct commentary on victim blaming and shaming, which is a current issue the feminist movement is focusing on.

In Narcisse’s article, he lightly comments on intersectionality. The main issue with the tv series is that it is not intersectional. It presents sexist issues as being the same for all women, but that is just not the case. Though white women deal with sexism, they still have privilege due to their race, whereas African American women do not, for example. Since the tv series fails to recognize this, the lack of intersectionality in feminism is perpetuated. The world film has a lot of social power, Evan Narcisse knows this and calls the series out for not using the extent of their power to effect change for all women.