Nevertheless She Resisted

Last updated on: April 27, 2018 at 5:29 am by James F. McGrath

Nevertheless She Resisted 2018-04-26T11:45:05-04:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Handmaid’s Tale returned with a new season that picks up where last season’s finale left off – which is also where, apart from an epilogue, Margaret Atwood’s novel left off. And so the new season (and any future ones that may follow it) have fewer constraints. For those who know Atwood’s novel well, this may be exciting, worrying, or a bit of both, depending on how one feels about how one has filled in the rest of June Osborne’s story in one’s own imagination.

Before watching the episode, I had seen many people talking about it online as “brutal.” After watching, I understood why. The episode explores the nature of terrorism, the cost of freedom, and the no-win situations that oppressive regimes place their victims in.

Religion plays a powerful role in the episode, essentially from the first moments. June is taken with the other rebellious handmaids to a stadium where gallows have been set up. The viewer realizes that this is a ridiculously convoluted mode of execution, since the stands are not packed with crowds of viewers, and between that and the likelihood of June’s survival, we expect this to not end with her death. The authorities are using fear to try to extract obedience, and perhaps even piety as they understand it. And June does indeed appear to pray as she stands with her head in a noose. But when the deception is unveiled, and Aunt Lydia chastises the handmaids for having failed to obey God and God’s servants on earth, we hear June’s prayer that she expresses in her thoughts: “Our Father in heaven…what the actual fuck?” If there were ever a circumstance in which such a prayer might be appropriate, it is this one.

Later, Aunt Lydia further reprimands the handmaids, accusing them of having heard the will of God and yet decided that they know better than God. She says that there are two kinds of freedom – freedom for and freedom from. They used to have the former, which is anarchy. Now they have the latter, which she says is a gift from God. This approach to freedom is actually a central part of religious ethics in more than one tradition, and it is not entirely off base. One is free to take drugs, but then one loses the freedom to quit whenever one wants to. One is free to indulge one’s appetites and yet there are consequences which will then impose their constraints. The issue is not this distinction, but the use of it to justify authoritarianism and oppression. We see this in many patriarchal religious and cultural settings, in which veiling or not going outside is depicted as freedom from the ogling stares of men, objectification, and the threat of molestation. But in that case, a better solution would be for the men to behave ethically so that the threat itself is eliminated.

The episode doesn’t shy away from exploring the two options in June’s own past as a working mother who is a strong, independent woman with a family. She chooses to medicate her daughter and send her to school when she has a slight fever so that she will not miss work. She chooses to go to her feverish daughter rather than watch the breaking news on TV about the shootings at the Capitol and the bomb at the White House. Patriarchal society has regularly criticized women for their choices. But every human being chooses among a variety of freedoms and constraints.

This makes the ending of the episode especially poignant, as well as ambiguous. June lists a number of things about herself – and her mention of her healthy ovaries is telling, since (as theorists have long highlighted) the marginalized and oppressed often volunteer aspects of their identity that the privileged do not feel the need to. It is hard to imagine a male character similarly listing his healthy testicles in such a list. And so when June’s final words of the episode are “I am free,” we are left wondering how free she is and will be in the episodes to come. But for now, bravo to the series for raising these topics in such a powerful way.

For an even more detailed exploration of the episode, see Manuel Lopez’s blog post. For clues about things coming up in future episodes this season, see the article on IO9. And for resistance and defending inclusivity in the present day, see the numerous articles in the latest issue of Religious Studies News.

Finally, here is a meme that I made, inspired by the episode…

Previous Post

April 26, 2018

Trading Dogma for Love

Next Post

April 28, 2018 James, Brother of Jesus, Bother of Mythicists

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz