Are there any bad men in the Handmaid's Tale

[Pratchet]

Nick: lovely rescuer
Commander: offered friendship, acted pained, tried to explain
(Wife: narsty caah)
Van driver: lovely rescuer
Pilot: lovely rescuer
Econohusband: lovely rescuer
(Econo wife: mean and didn't wasn't to help)
Those foreign visitors at the end of season one - man tried to help, woman refused
Clinic assistant male: gave her key to escape

It's like not being able to see the nuance in my obvious point. Some people think it's perfectly clear while others seem to struggle.

Does the handmaid's tale pass the reverse bechdel test? I can't recall any scenes where two men talk, unless the conversation is about a woman.

Yes, although it’s mostly women talking. There are scenes where men talk about other things. Buildings, promotions for the faithful etc

Ah OK. I was just thinking that one of the things that struck me was that the male characters don't do much at all, that their characters aren't as interesting, and that a character is male only when they need to be in terms of the plot. Kind of a reversal of most TV shows.

I would say it’s a very female heavy show. I like that change.

Maybe someone has posted this already; too scared to read the thread in case spoilers! This is a fun article ranking the baddies from absolute worst to least worst:

www.thewrap.com/handmaids-tale-authoritarians-ranked/

Actually can't look at pix of Aunt Lydia I hate her so much

Thanks for link

Oh wow, excellent list. I’d forgotten about all those nasty men. They’re a bit faceless and merge a bit. But that was a great reminder.

If Nick didn't sleep with his wife, he'd be strung up as a homosexual. His wife would have seen to it, because she wants to be pregnant. Still doesn't make him a "lovely rescuer" does it? I know it's only a TV show, but it's still rape.

But surely forcing a man, through threat of a horrible death, to sleep with you is rape as well? She told June she was going to report him as a gender traitor, that's threatening him. 15 or no, she knew what reporting him entailed.

I can see if you're only on episode 3 or 4 you might think the men are all "rescuers", but by episode 8 it becomes apparent that they (with the exception of Nick) are all rat bastards.

There is a section in the Wikipedia article (on the book) which sort of references what the OP is saying - well, at least in relation to a form of misogyn of women hating women

Feminist reading[edit]

Much of the discussion about The Handmaid's Tale has centered on its categorization as feminist literature. Atwood does not see the Republic of Gilead as a purely feminist dystopia, as not all men have greater rights than women.[17] Instead, this society presents a typical dictatorship: "shaped like a pyramid, with the powerful of both sexes at the apex, the men generally outranking the women at the same level; then descending levels of power and status with men and women in each, all the way down to the bottom, where the unmarried men must serve in the ranks before being awarded an Econowife".[17] Additionally, Atwood has argued that while some of the observations that informed the content of The Handmaid's Tale may be feminist, her novel is not meant to say "one thing to one person" or serve as a political message—instead, The Handmaid's Tale is "a study of power, and how it operates and how it deforms or shapes the people who are living within that kind of regime".[31][37]

Some scholars have offered such a feminist interpretation, however, connecting Atwood's use of religious fundamentalism in the pages of The Handmaid's Tale to a condemnation of their presence in current American society.[43][44] Yet others have argued that The Handmaid's Tale critiques typical notions of feminism, as Atwood's novel appears to subvert the traditional "women helping women" ideals of the movement and turn toward the possibility of "the matriarchal network ... and a new form of misogyny: women's hatred of women".[45]

Aunt Lydia reminds me strongly of my paternal grandmother.

shudder

I've not read the book, but never has a show got me thinking so much about women's rights.

I'm on US speed with the show and we have just heard the line: Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.