Neuman’s article “Just a Backlash” forced me to do a closer reading of the various representations of feminism in The Handmaid’s Tale. I was most taken aback by Atwood’s strong resistance to being labeled a feminist. While she fittingly points out that “No one who observes society can fail to make observations that are feminist” (858), she is also quick to critique the more extreme form of feminism. She claims, “If practical, hardline, anti-male feminists took over and became the government, I would resist them.” Atwood’s self-identification as a ‘tamer’ feminist brings up the question of what the female characters within the novel truly represent.

Even though her physical presence in the book is minimal, I found Offred’s mother to be one of the most interesting characters. With her book burnings and banner protests, the mother personifies the 1970’s feminist. She adamantly claims that there is no room for a man in her life; she asks Offred, “What use are they except for 10 seconds’ worth of half babies” (12). The mother is the feminist who Atwood never wants to be associated with. The mother thinks herself superior to men, at the very least in an intellectual sense. She credits them for their ability to fix cars and play football but not much else. Offred’s mother does not seek equality for men and women; rather she would most likely be content if the male race was wiped out completely. However, she made a comment to Offred that struck me as sad and contradictory. Only a few lines after criticizing Offred for not understanding all that had been done for female rights, Offred paints quite a different picture of her mother. She writes, “Sometimes she would cry. I was so lonely, she’d say. You have no idea how lonely I was. And I had friends, I was a lucky one, but I was lonely anyway” (122). I could not help but imagine that she was so lonely because she did not have a man. With this statement I am hardly attempting to take the stance that every straight woman needs a man in her life to feel complete. But I do believe her admittance to feeling lonely gives the mother a side that does perhaps desire a man. She says she had friends but they were clearly not enough. She needed a space filled in her life and often this space is fulfilled by the presence of a man to love or at least care for.

Perhaps there is not much more to read into this brief moment of vulnerability, but I suspect Atwood is criticizing the man-hating feminist that does not necessarily seek progression into equal rights. No matter how much feminists may categorize men as chauvinists only driven by sex and sports, ultimately, they can not fully deny the need for men. Fine, Offred’s mother knows that men are needed to reproduce but she is less willing to admit that at times, she missed the simple touch of a man. While they clearly had different objectives in mind, in some ways, I found the Aunts to be an extreme representation of the 1970s feminist. Of course they were strict enforcers of the rules of a government that oppressed women. But they also encouraged the girls to take advantage of the sexual control they had over men. Even in the disgusting scene where the girls were encouraged to blame Janine for being raped, the Aunts wanted the girls to take responsibility for their roles as sexual beings. Men were depicted as little more than sperm donors. Clearly the Aunts are not shining images of feminist ideals but it is worth considering them as a terrifying depiction of that “hardline” feminist taking over the government.