If you're husband was in charge of you in Gilead...?

[Stickywhitelovepiss]

And you had to submit to his every whim will, how would that in practice work for you...?

Mine is generally good and well-meaning, and would like to think he was protecting me from the regime's worst excesses.

In practice though, I sense he might become complacent in the role, and I would resent the shit out of him as a result. And the inability to check his occasional stupidities would grate to high heaven...

I'm a 2nd wife and both DC born before we married so..... Handmaid's life for me i guess!!!

DH probably on the wall for rubbing the wrong person up the wrong way!!!!

They didn't say what they did about infertile men, other than not talk about it. DH is military, and infertile. He'd probably have been an Eye or a soldier. I'd either be with him or packed off as a Handmaid, as I'm fertile.

That said, I'd have scarpered long before. If I was stuck, I'd be a massive resistance fighter. I'm too stubborn to put up with all that crap!

History has shown that most follow the laws etc. Millions of Jews and disabled were killed and very few did anything about. Same for Stalin Andy many other countries. My DH would do what most would do I think.

I’m not married shame (sorry that’s a different show) and my dad is dead.

Does that mean I’d go to my eldest brother?? He’s a dick so i'd try to escape to Canada

I mean go to in the early days when they stopped the jobs and access to our cash

TwattingDog

They actively ignored infertile men, and didn't think it was a thing. I guess you would be an econowife just trying unsuccessfully to have a child or you would quietly get pregnant by another guy.

Ontheboardwalk

I think that means you would be a Martha.

We'd both be dead. We're radicals even in the eyes of centrist regimes.

I'd end up getting hanged pretty quickly.

Mine would dither about leaving until it was too late, unless I booked everything & announced we were going. He'd probably do as he's told then. He's just terrified of change so wouldn't instigate an international move.

If we didn't get out we'd probably be econo-people. No way could DH fake enthusiasm for the Gilead regime convincingly enough to be a commander. He is a people-pleaser though so he might get promoted on the basis of him wanting to seem helpful. He'd be wracked with guilt if he had a direct hand in any of the handmaid/wall type stuff & would probably kill himself.

He'd treat me well though. Our family is very much a matriarchy & I can't see that changing, no matter what was going on around us. We'd probably keep our heads down initially but if I met someone in the resistance I'd be up for joining. DH would be horrified & worried about me getting found out but, after some initial mumbling, he'd realise he couldn't stop me. I would be found out pretty rapidly though... I'm not good at keeping secrets!

Basically, either I'd get us killed or DH would kill himself & the DC would be taken away & I'd be a handmaid, I guess.

I'm mine husbands first wife but two out of three of our kids were born before we were married.
Would that make me a wife or a handmaid?

Either way, DH is very easily led but really respectful of women body autonomy so I think he would feel torn. Not torn enough to rape handmaids though.

Hmmm.... can anyone work out what happens to commanders whose wives are post-menopausal? Do they still get handmaids?

Maybe I'd be a Martha and he'd be a driver or something.

Just thinking on this, I think I'd end up a handmaid actually. I'm 17 years younger than my husband and still fertile so I reckon I'd be HM. Dunno what would happen to him alone. He's very much a feminist ally and he doesn't hide his opinions. Probably the wall for him.

I'd be allowed to read & write indoors. He's far too lazy to do any of the admin. I'd do 95% of the cooking. He's really respectful of my free will but I suspect he'd be after a bit more sex! I think he'd like to see me in dresses, too. But realistically, we'd probably be econopeople (albeit we have DD). Did having children in marriage automatically grant you the right to be a commander? If so, I think we'd actually have to leave, as he's got far too much socialist lefty tendencies to allow for him to be happy in Gilead.

Oh I've just remembered husband has had the snip. Where would he end up then? Interesting thread!

CedarTreeLeaf but I can’t cook especially not for an extended household. They’d send me to the wall pretty quick if I didn’t escape first.

Great thread

No mention of how DHs would respond to the handmaids?

Actually, PP have made really good points! DH has had the snip, and I'm post-menopausal. So I can't bear children. Would I be packed off to the colonies, or would I be allowed to be a wife?

Hmmm.... well, I like to think we would have tried to have fled with DD. But...

DH as a commander? God. He'd be ok. I like to think he'd manage the face of it outside the house but I don't think he could keep it up.

This thread is freaking me out because I find the character of Fred (the commander) genuinely skin-crawling. Cringing just thinking about him.

My DH would absolutely be a commander. He's well connected and would land on his feet. He fits the stereotype perfectly.

Behind the scenes I'd like to think that he would work to get our DDs out of the country as I have family abroad and could potentially get them foreign passports

But thinking about it I'd worry that the power would go to his head. Do you ever argue with your DH and really not like the person that you see a glimpse of? I often think he would be so vicious and vindictive if we divorced....this part of him does worry me. He's powerful, and what if he turned against me?

I would worry that society and his role would bring out the worst in him, so that he'd be mostly decent but I'd be on edge and playing along to survive. Sad, but true.

Without a doubt Dh would have had us all out of there sharpish.

He has an uncanny instinct, can read a situation (I've seen this in RL) he can suss people out incredibly quickly.

I'd be faffing about what to pack and loading the trailer

He would moan behind closed doors but keep his head down, so would I. We would be dirt poor econopeople but would hopefully keep our DD. Would have to hope no-one dug up our atheism, feminism, left wing views or my bisexuality. I think we would be politically appalled but personally get by. I would have to teach him to handle our finances and he would have to teach me how he gets the hob so shiny

Living in Trump's America we're already watching the way that wind's blowing.

But you haven't left yet, which is the point. By the time most people want to leave (e.g. by the time Luke consented to June leaving with their daughter), it's no longer possible. Boiled frog.

Most Jewish victims of the Nazis were watching and waiting...until it was too late. Those who got out, almost all got out very early. Germans, Austrians, French etc, most did precisely nothing to aid the Jews. Then again, they'd be on the figurative wall if they did.

The very idea of all these lovely men being in the resistance. 🤣🤣🤣 Men aren't even writing strongly worded letters to government to make rape a properly prosecuted crime and stop this nonsense of allowing murderers to get off by claiming it was a "sex game".

If they aren't willing to use their power and voice to "rescue" us from the present dystopia (or even do 50% of the house and lifework actually), the fuck would they do anything in Gillead. The fuck.

I agree with @PicsInRed. Find this thread v. interesting. I remember in school class learning about the Jews and everybody being absolutely shocked and stating that they would never have allowed this to happen. They never would have stood by and allowed this. At least 25 of the students said this. This thread reminds me of that day.