Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Would you be a Handmaid, Martha or Jezebel?

188 replies

FortunesFave · 21/06/2020 09:22

Re-watched some of the Handmaid's Tale and started thinking what I'd be if I lived in that world.

I'd be a Martha I think. I'm too old for them to choose me as a Handmaid and I think my lifestyle would ensure I got to be a Martha.

What were the criteria for Jezebels though?

OP posts:
Tulipstulips · 21/06/2020 11:44

A Martha or an unwoman. I’m a pretty good cook and baker, but I’m an academic...DH was divorced when we met, so our marriage would be illegal, and we have a small child who would be perfect for adoption by a commander and his wife.

madcatladyforever · 21/06/2020 11:45

I'd be packed off to the colonies straight off because I am a natural rebel and don't fit into any of their categories and would rather die than sleep with any man in that situation.

Tulipstulips · 21/06/2020 11:45

I’m prematurely menopausal so def not a Handmaid.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

TV
CuteOrangeElephant · 21/06/2020 11:49

I'd probably be an econowife, though we'd suffer as I am currently the main breadwinner.

I was raised a Catholic but married a man who was raised CofE. I am sure that in their eyes I would follow my husbands religion.

MalamuteLover · 21/06/2020 11:51

I needed fertility treatment that worked and I now have a 30 day cycle so probably could be a handmaid as I'm in my 30s? Offred/June I believe is early 30s? I'm divorced too so I'd be immoral. I'm a crap cook so I couldn't be a Martha and I'm ugly so no Jezebels for me

MalamuteLover · 21/06/2020 11:54

And they'd probably take my 2 year old as hes still young enough to be brainwashed. I'd be like June though and be fighting to get him out

SinisterBumFacedCat · 21/06/2020 11:59

Too old to be a Jezebel or a handmaiden, not religious enough to be an eco wife or a Martha it’s either Colonies or being maybe I could get away with being a cook or cleaner for a Wife.

MinorArcana · 21/06/2020 12:05

I’d be an econowife.

My marriage to DH is the first for both of us, and our DC were born after our wedding.

I’d definitely rather be a Martha than a Handmaid or Jezebel though.

Does the book actually say anywhere that the marriage ceremony had to be in a church for women to avoid being handmaids once the Gilead thing started?

WindsorBlues · 21/06/2020 12:07

I'd be an ecconwife but I have serious issues with authoritybso would be part of May Day and most likely end up swinging from the wall.

I was so surprised when my sister said she'd love to be an Aunt... Buts since she's a gender traitor she'd be a handmaid.

nowaitaminute · 21/06/2020 12:08

I thought econowife but I had a non religious ceremony so obviously not...so probably handmaid 😭

AllsortsofAwkward · 21/06/2020 12:10

Handmaid I have ds from a previous relationship and have 3 pregnancies in total so I think they would see me as pretty fertile.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 21/06/2020 12:14

I'd probably be a handmaid until they realised I had secondary infertility. Even though DH and I were married for 17 years, and I'm now widowed, DS was born the year before we married and I was a second wife, although no adultery involved as DH had been divorced for 10 years when we met, and his ex had been unfaithful not him. I think that would rule me out of being an econowife and I wouldn't meet the criteria for a Jezebel.

Dyra · 21/06/2020 12:16

Tough one.

Husband is religious, but not military, so not Wife.
On first marriage, but it wasn't in a church, so not Econowife.
Have had a child (9 m/o, she'd instantly be taken to be a Daughter), but needed help to conceive due to problems with fertility. Plus heading into mid-30's, so they'd have to be truly desperate to make me a Handmaid.
Terrible at domestic chores, so Martha is out.
Certainly not attractive enough to be a Jezebel.
I don't have it in me to be an Aunt.

Assuming I don't get myself sent to the wall for criticising the regime, Unwoman it is! Hold a spot for me guys!

AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings · 21/06/2020 12:18

I shagged about loads before DH, but we got married in a church and had our DC after marriage. I've had 6 pregnancies but 4mc so not sure they'd want me as a handmaid. So I'd probably be a nondescript normal wife.

elephantsbreath2 · 21/06/2020 12:18

I have no idea!! I am married to a senior officer but we had a non religious ceremony!! 🤣🤣🤣

ToothFairyNemesis · 21/06/2020 12:20

@mommydragon yes , they paused filming due to Covid19.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 21/06/2020 12:23

What about the Aunts Grin I bet some of the people ardently 'reporting' Covid breaches and logging things with 101 would make great Aunts.

That's probably how they were chosen, you know.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 21/06/2020 12:25

I'd be a Martha. At 38 I wouldn't be worth the risk as a Handmaid, and I'm a good enough cook. So long as they don't want a Martha who can clean.

Amummyatlast · 21/06/2020 12:30

I think I could get away with being a econowife, as although I’m atheist now, I did have a church wedding. The main problem is that DH was the SAHD and me the main breadwinner, so I don’t know if they would rule us out for being ‘unnatural’. If so, off to the colonies for me! Although given my outspoken nature, it might well be the wall.

Can’t be a handmaid - infertile.
Can’t be a Jezebel - not attractive.
Can’t be a Martha - DH does the cooking and cleaning.
Can’t be an Aunt - too softhearted.

iklboo · 21/06/2020 12:31

I'm past childbearing. We got married and then had DS, but not a religious ceremony. We're not religious at all - but I reckon we could pretend if it meant not being sent to the colonies.

I think I'd be one of the underground movement Marthas helping people get out. I was thrown out of Brownies for subversive behaviour.

ragged · 21/06/2020 12:37

I'd be dead, probably having futilely rebelled.

GracieLane · 21/06/2020 12:39

I'd be a handmaid. 3 kids and lots of fertile years left 🤷🏻‍♀️

JingsMahBucket · 21/06/2020 13:12

@MalamuteLover

I needed fertility treatment that worked and I now have a 30 day cycle so probably could be a handmaid as I'm in my 30s? Offred/June I believe is early 30s? I'm divorced too so I'd be immoral. I'm a crap cook so I couldn't be a Martha and I'm ugly so no Jezebels for me
If you’re on your first marriage you’d likely be an econowife. If not, probably the colonies.

And if anyone on this thread is not white, you’d likely not be a Wife or an Econowife according to book. The book is clear (yet subtle) that Gilead is a white christo-fascist nation that banished or exterminated almost all non whites and non evangelical Christians.

MaudebeGonne · 21/06/2020 13:19

If I hadn't managed to escape I'd be an Aunt. A sneaky treacherous Aunt, who would be doing my best to make sure my two daughters got out safely and with the minimum of damage to them. Once they were safe I'd carry on trying to subvert from within until I either managed to get out and claim asylum or got caught and murdered.

MinorArcana · 21/06/2020 13:23

I think women in their mid to late 30’s might still be handmaids.

The world of the Handmaid’s Tale has mass infertility, there’s a shortage of fertile women. A woman in her mid-late 30’s with proven fertility who’s still menstruating regularly would be worth using as a handmaid. It’s not exactly uncommon for women in their mid to late 30’s to conceive naturally.

The top ranking commanders would probably get younger women, yes, but I think they’d still have enough demand for handmaids to want to use the older women.