Silva

The Vilification of Women in the World of Politics

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood is a continuation of her novel The

Handmaid’s Tale. It talks about the rise and the eventual fall from grace of Gilead,

beginning 15 years after the events of the original novel. Just like its predecessor, The

Testaments is also seen as a take on a dystopian future; however, it doesn’t seem as far

away as it once did. It is impossible to read this book and not make parallels to the

contemporary world. And one of them is the constant vilification of women in positions

of power, especially in the world of politics. No character represents this situation better

than Aunt Lydia, the anti-hero of the book.

She is one of the Founders of Gilead and one of the Founding Aunts, alongside

Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Helena and Aunt Vidala. She is also seen as the undesignated

leader of this class of strict women. Because of her status and her knowledge, she is

considered as not only the most powerful woman in Gilead, but also as one of the most

influential people in this totalitarian regime. She is one of the Aunts who preside over

the Particicutions, which makes her responsible for numerous excruciating executions.

Additionally, she also oversees the education and training of the Handmaidens, so she is

also to blame for the horrible treatment that these women suffer while being at the

Rachel and Leah Center. As a result of her active role in this new society, she is seen as

an easy target for all the of the hatred and anger towards Gilead. While reading the first

novel in the series, one can’t help but see Aunt Lydia as the main antagonist of the

book, based on the long-lasting effect that she had on Offred/June.

Nonetheless, things start to change in the second novel. Aunt Lydia starts to be

seen in more sympathetic way. The reader begins to understand why she is the way she

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is and shows how her hand was forced in the early days of Gilead. Finds out that she is

the anonymous source for Mayday and she was been praying for its fall since the early

days of Gilead:

[D]o you have something to show me?”

I was puzzled. “Like what?” I asked. “No, I didn’t bring—”

“On your arm, for instance. Under your sleeve.”

“Oh,” I said. “My arm.” I rolled up the sleeve: there was GOD /LOVE , not

looking very pretty.

She peered at it. “Thank you for doing as I requested,” she said.

She was the one who’d requested it? “Are you the source?” I asked.

“The what?”

Was I in trouble? “You know, the one—I mean—”

She cut me off. “You must learn to edit your thoughts,” she said. “Unthink them.

Now, next steps. You are Baby Nicole, as you must have been told in Canada.

(Atwood 266 and 267)

One also finds out that she saved many girls from being Wives and the suffering

that came with it. Many of these young girls were turned into Aunts, where they were

forbidden to marry, and ironically, making them freer that any other women in this

regime. The most notable examples of her compassion are what happened with

Agnes/Aunt Victoria, Becka/Aunt Immortelle and Shunammite.

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While the reader might start to form a different perspective of Aunt Lydia, this

change does not occur for the rest of the world built in The Testaments. She is still the

main focus of hatred towards the injustices of Gilead. She is seen as this omnipotent

being, watching everything and everyone, waiting for her opportunity to strike and

punish. She is almost like the boogeyman of Gilead:

[I]n my own present day I am a legend, alive but more than alive, dead but more

than dead. I’m a framed head that hangs at the backs of classrooms, of the girls

exalted enough to have classrooms: grimly smiling, silently admonishing. I’m a

bugaboo used by the Marthas to frighten small children—If you don’t behave

yourself, Aunt Lydia will come and get you! I’m also a model of moral

perfection to be emulated—What would Aunt Lydia want you to do? —and a

judge and arbiter in the misty inquisition of the imagination—What would Aunt

Lydia have to say about that? (Atwood 33).

This treatment puts a spotlight on one of the many double standards shown in the novel.

While Aunt Lydia is feared and hated, her male counterparts, who can be just as guilty

as her, if not worse, are respected and celebrated. A prime example of these two sets of

rules is Commander Judd.

Commander Judd is one the original men who planned and executed the coup

that created Gilead. Because of his involvement, he was assigned one of the most

powerful positions in this new society, the leader of the Eyes. He is the one who

handpicked Aunt Lydia and coerces her into establishing the new social rules in Gilead

via torture. To his dismay, his work gradually gets more intertwined with Aunt Lydia’s

and her skills at manipulation and the intel that she has proven to have. Information that

can and will damage the perception of many influential people in Gilead. One of the

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secrets is the fact that Commander Judd is a pedophile who murders his wives when

they get too old:

[T]his Wife has lasted longer than usual. His Wives have a habit of dying:

Commander Judd is a great believer in the restorative powers of young women,

as were King David and assorted Central American drug lords. After each

respectable period of mourning, he has let it be known that he is in the market

for another child bride. To be clear: he has let it be known to me. (Atwood 57).

She saved at least two girls from his grasp and their eventual death (Shunammite and

Agnes/Aunt Victoria) and probably saved many others from the hands of other

predators. This situation creates an interesting dynamic between the both of them. They

both feel the need to protect themselves from the other, and yet they still need to work

with each other to make sure their new regime maintains its stability. They become both

allies and threats to each other.

Because of their symbiotic relationship, their work overlaps more than few

times. The vast majority of the time, this interaction ends up with Commander Judd

taking full credit for the ideas and plans formulated by Aunt Lydia. One way this

pattern is shown are The Pearl Girls. This new class was imagined by Aunt Lydia;

however, her concept was somewhat stolen by Commander Judd in an effort to save his

career due to his lack of success in the field. Despite this constant lack of recognition,

she is still seen as the biggest monster in Gilead.

Nonetheless, this double standard is not only a work of fiction. This dichotomy

between treatments is very much prevalent in our current society. Women are put

through much higher standards than men, especially in politics-based position.

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While reading The Testaments, one cannot help but compare Aunt Lydia to

various female political figures, being one of the most obvious the previous prime-

minister of the United Kingdom, “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher. Just like Aunt Lydia,

she is seen as controversial character that is still very polarizing.

In her time as a prime-minister (1979–1990), she was known for her

controversial and uncompromising positions. Her policies still divide the British and

consequently her image has created two drastically different opinions: one which

strongly favors her and one that passionately disagrees with her. Just like Aunt Lydia,

there is no middle ground with Thatcher.

Both women managed to rise to top of a predominantly male dominated

hierarchy, despite all odds, becoming the most powerful women in their respective

society. To reach this point, they used drastically different methods. Aunt Lydia had no

choice but to strip herself of all of her femininity and to act submissive towards her

male counterparts. Margaret Thatcher used her feminine qualities to her advantage,

creating a seductive image, while still showing her characteristically uncompromising

ways (Bell). Even though, they chose two completely different ways, they both used the

misogynist agenda in their favor.

Nonetheless, Margaret Thatcher, unlike Aunt Lydia, chose to be surrounded by

men, promoting only one woman to be in her cabinet. This leads to the fact that both

had very interesting relationships with other women. While in power, Thatcher made a

point to distant herself from any feminist propaganda, believing that women had to

achieve success by themselves, just like she did. She had shown a very explicit

disregard towards female-friendly policies, like childcare (Freeman) (Murray). This

sense of superiority is also seen in Aunt Lydia. She promoted actions and attitudes that

are sexist, even though she had shown feminist tendencies before her life in Gilead.
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Undeterred by this, she still exhibited a sense of superiority towards the women who

surround her. This was evident on her last day in her office and also during her time in

the stadium and it still transcends to her relationship with the rest of the Founding

Aunts, “If it’s a henyard, I thought, I intend to be the alpha hen. To do that, I need to

establish pecking rights over the others.” (Atwood 146). The only one who is almost

seen as an equal by her is Aunt Vidala, however there is a very strong rivalry between

both of them. Aunt Vidala is constantly undermining Lydia, her fellow Aunt, in an

attempt to replace her, going along with the sexist ideal that there can only be one

powerful woman at a time.

Although both of these women are surrounded by men, they managed to

establish a very dominant presence in their circle of peers. They both exuded a sense of

respect and admiration but also of fear. Aunt Lydia made the Commanders fear her

because of the secrets that she knew about them, “Third, I’m discreet. Each one of the

top men has always felt that his secrets are safe with me; but—as I’ve made obliquely

clear—only so long as I myself am safe. I have long been a believer in checks and

balances.” (Atwood 56), while Margaret Thatcher dominated the members of her

cabinet with the power that she held (Spitting Image). Another important factor for this

sense of fear, is that a vast number of men feel uncomfortable and emasculated when in

contact with powerful women, especially ones as strong-willed and determined as

Margaret Thatcher and Aunt Lydia (Womack).

Finally, the two women have one more thing in common. As mentioned before,

both women were subject to the very common double standards in the world of politics.

They both witnessed their image and their persona being picked apart and criticized by

the public.

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Margaret Thatcher was villainized for showing the same characteristics as her

male peers; ambitious, determined and unrelenting. Even though she has very

passionate supporters, she also has very intense opponents, who strongly disagree with

her tough manner of exercising politics. She left such a long-lasting effect on the British

political scheme, that it is still felt today. Yet, this level of hate is not felt towards the

other members of her cabinet, who supported and agreed with the vast majority of her

decisions. Most of them have gone into obscurity, while Thatcher and her Thatcherism

still creates a very strong reaction in the British people.

As said before, Aunt Lydia is also as polarizing as Thatcher. She also has her

strong believers but she also has a substantial opposition. While her image is smeared

for her controversial behavior, the Commanders who are guilty of the same are

celebrated and garner more respect. Even with her lack of credit, she is still seen as the

bugbear of Gilead, while Commander Judd is seen as one of the most desirable men in

this dystopian society (Osborne).

Margaret Thatcher is just one example of many of this double standard in this

modern world. It is possible to witness this sexist trend in more cases, being one of the

most recent the 2016 American Presidential election, between Hillary Clinton and

Donald Trump. Clinton was put to a much higher standard than her opponent, who

based his campaign on sexist (Yan), racist (Lee), xenophobic (Gamboa) and elitist

(Roberts) remarks. Whilst all of her moves were strongly scrutinized, Trump seemed to

have a free pass during the whole run, so much so that he ended up winning.

These are only two examples of the double standard that plagued Aunt Lydia.

Even though she is far from a saint, one can’t ignore that she was a mole for Mayday

and the main reason why Gilead fell. Though she had a fundamental role on the end of

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this totalitarian regime, her involvement and even her existence is being question by

future historians.

Aunt Lydia never wanted to become what she was, she had no choice but to

adapt which did wholeheartedly. She had to become the monster, that traumatized

Offred/June (protagonist of the first book) and many others, to survive. On one hand she

managed to maintain a bit of her humanity by saving girls from the hands of predators,

while on the other she was one of the main reasons for the end of Gilead once and for

all. In a book full of compelling and interesting characters, Aunt Lydia is definitely one

of the highlights.

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Works Cited
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