Do Gender Roles Suppress Individuality? Anonymous 12th Grade

All societies must develop some form of social order to be able to function. Often times, the society’s government determines the foundations for social order by creating rules, institutions, or practices that group people more effectively. However, there are also many ways to establish social order that are detrimental to the freedom of the citizens. Author Margaret Atwood illustrates the effects of a dysfunctional social order in the Republic of Gilead, where the purposes of men and women are strictly dictated by gender. In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood argues that a society organized according to gender roles inherently sacrifices some individuality for both men and women.

In particular, organization through gender often objectifies women and devalues their self worth. The main character Offred explains how her duty as a Handmaid restricts her individuality: “We are for breeding purposes: we aren’t concubines, geisha girls, courtesans. On the contrary: everything possible has been done to remove us from that category. There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us...there are to be no toeholds for love. We are two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices”(136). By designating fertile young women as...