Margaret Atwood's 1985 feminist dystopia — set in the theocratic Republic of Gilead where fertile women are enslaved as reproductive vessels — the primary literary reference point for discussions of women's reproductive rights.
Creates the feminist dystopia genre — The Handmaid's Tale's theocratic patriarchy (where women are categorized by function: wives, Marthas, Handmaids) is the most politically durable feminist speculative fiction; its 2017 Hulu adaptation made the red-cloaked Handmaid costume the universal symbol for reproductive rights protests.
No recorded contemporaries.
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