US elections 2024: Real imitates reel as women wear Handmaid’s Tale cloaks to cast votes at polling booths, but why?
Nov 06, 2024 01:49 PM Is the United States of America turning into the real life Handmaid’s Tale? A certain silent demonstration surely thinks so Rarely has there been a year when the US elections have not had people glued to their screens, biting down on their nails, not just in the States, but the world over. This year, the stakes seem multiplied manifold, as both majoritarian parties — the Democrats and the Republicans — go head to head in their race to the White House. Donald Trump potentially returning to power has always been hanging like the sword of Damocles on the seemingly very tumultuous future of the States. Joe Biden, understandably but shockingly bowing out of a potential second term as POTUS however, was quite the plot tw. In came, his VP Kamala Harris, set to ensure that the Democrats stay in power. But the current tally of electoral seats spell out an easier feat for Trump than Kamala, when it comes to moving into the White House. Women turn up at polling booths in cloaks and bonnets, referencing The Handmaid’s Tale: But why?(Photo: X/mluckovichajc) During a time in world politics when Charles Dickens’ lines “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, rings truer than ever, you can trust there to be very skillfully curated flashes of social messaging gracing your feeds. Here’s where this little socially informed revival, TV series The Handmaid’s Tale seems to be making. As per reports, and a few visuals, some women have been spotted dressed in the unmissable red cloak and white bonnet — a series staple — as they make their way to the polling booths to cast their vote. Why you ask? The internet is decoding this as a smartly conceptualised move to express what Trump coming to power may spell out for American women in the future. For context, The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, is a dystopian television series showcasing women’s fertility being used as their cages. Now mirroring this to a potential Republican coup of the White House, the party with Trump as their face, has for long been advocating for ‘traditional’ families part of which entails a serious pushback on abortion rights. Coming back to the silent demonstration women at the booths in their cloaks, abortion may just be one issue. It can very well be seen as a larger dialogue of the once covert, now rather out-there infringement of the agency that women possess. In the same breath, there are some on the internet who have expressed that the correlation this social messaging has drawn is extremely dasteful, considering the fact there are many women the world over, who’s reality is a more accurate reflection of the premise of The Handmaid’s Tale. “American women: you are not enslaved. You are not oppressed. Maybe take 5 minutes to learn about the plight of Afghan women before you claim to be a ‘handmaiden’.”, read an excerpt from a comment. As for the results, Trump is projected to have won his second term as POTUS with the Democrat victory in Pennsylvania taking the Republican tally past the seminal 270-mark, for electoral votes. See more News / HTCity / US elections 2024: Real imitates reel as women wear Handmaid’s Tale cloaks to cast votes at polling booths, but why?
