So uh – we don’t mean to alarm you, but Handmaids are literally wandering through the streets of Sydney today, and it’s unsettling as hell.
If you’re not familiar with Margaret Atwood‘s iconic 1985 novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale‘, it takes place in a dystopian future under fundamentalist Christian rule where nuclear war has severely impeded humanity’s ability to breed.
Handmaids, in their red-and-white uniforms designed to constrict movement and prevent any accidentally lusting (note the blinders?), are forced into sexual slavery to provide rich, barren women with bubs.
(Credit: SBS On Demand / Facebook.)
Spotted at Central station this morning #handmaidstale @SBS pic.twitter.com/DHcj578zOw
— Stephanie Whitelock (@s_whitelock_mc) July 5, 2017
Freedom, like everything else, is relative. #HandmaidsTale pic.twitter.com/dGEvtHnfQ9
— SBS Australia (@SBS) July 5, 2017
“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”
? Margaret Atwood, The #HandmaidsTale
Handmaids spotted at Martin Place. pic.twitter.com/0NolS9QNmi— SBS On Demand (@SBSOnDemand) July 5, 2017
The Handmaids Tale showing up at Martin Place Station #SBS #OnDemand might have to #Bingewatch pic.twitter.com/9w2GIi49kd
— Trisha Carter (@TrishaCarter) July 6, 2017
The stunt is of course to promote the fact that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is available on SBS On Demand from today. The television adaptation has been getting rave reviews from the United States, so you should absolutely give it burl in this writer’s opinion. Additionally, the Handmaids are handing out copies of Atwood’s classic, i.e. one of the cornerstones of feminist literature. If you can, get yer mitts on one. It’s extremely good.
Photo: SBS On Demand.