Artsy Mag: The Rise of the Handmaid Habit as a Visual Icon
ARTSY MAGAZINE: By Alina Cohen, May 24, 2019 ||| Political demonstrations are theatrical. Their executions often require intricate choreographies and stage management, and the unfolding drama is eternalized by photographers on the scene. The enduring potency of a demonstration depends on these visual records; it’s no wonder, then, that clever signs and costumes stand out, summing up complex political arguments into a single icon.
The handmaid habit is one of the newest fashions to enter our visual lexicon of dissent. Since Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale(1985) was adapted for television in 2017, women around the world protesting abortion bans have donned the scarlet robe and white bonnet. These disguises have caught the attention of the media, from the New York Times and Wired to Saturday Night Live. Yet there’s a significant problem with this symbol—it represents women on the defensive, fighting to secure what they already (admittedly, tenuously) have, instead of advocating for more. It positions women as only having something to lose, without imagining what we might be able to gain.
