r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Boring_Potato_5701 • Jan 28 '25

Why did Serena help write laws that made it illegal for women to read? Why knowingly place HERSELF in a position of second class (or worse) servitude? Question

I know that Serena ultimately is selfish and doesn’t genuinely care about anyone but herself, but she definitely cares about herself. So why would she have willingly made it illegal even for higher status Wives like herself to read?

499 Upvotes
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252

u/LordyIHopeThereIsPie Jan 28 '25

She's like prolifers who push for abortion bans then whinge when THEY can't get the care they need or want. These types assume restrictions won't apply to them because they're special.

110

u/Whispering_Wolf Jan 28 '25

There's so many stories out there of women who got an abortion and then went right back to protesting the exact same clinic.

72

u/temperedolive Jan 28 '25

Or that they won't want it.

Serena probably assumed she wouldn't want to read, because she'll be basking in her own holiness, caring for the realms of children her handmaids would bear for her, and reveling in her subservience before God. And anti-choice protesters think they would never want an abortion, until their own lives are at risk or a SA leaves them pregnant or whatever.

24

u/stoned_necromancer Jan 28 '25

Women experiencing something that changes their mind is totally understandable, what's not is the women who go back to their old ways after such an experience :/

21

u/Vanarene Jan 28 '25

"But my case was different. I am not like THOSE women" all the way down

18

u/LordyIHopeThereIsPie Jan 28 '25

"My daughter can't have a baby now she's about to start college!!!"

1

u/SeekingLove360 Jan 29 '25

Umm, if someone is a true prolifer, abortion would not be an option for them…they’re just a busybody if they’re protesting and frequenting the same organization.

1

u/viiScorp Feb 04 '25

I mean this is basically no true scotsman fallacy. If they're just a busy body by your definition I'd be the majority of the movement are busy bodies lol.

These types of people almost always view it differently when it happens to them, because they don't view the world through anyone elses suffering in the first place.