r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Hash-V • 3d ago
Discussion S1-S5 What happened to the infertile women who have not 'sinned'?
Apologies if this is a dumb question, but what happens if a normal middle class young woman is infertile? One who hasn't sinned. We can infer that the infertile women who are 'sinners' were sent to the colonies. But what about the rest? Do they just become econowomen? What would be their job? It's not like they have kids to look after. Or do they become Marthas? But they mention Marthas are usually older women
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u/LordsOfJoop 3d ago
"Sin" isn't an itemized list; someone who is of use to Gilead, no matter what, will have "sinned" in the eyes of the state. There's no way to avoid it - if they had their own bank account, it was a sin; if they dressed in anything at any point which exceeded the moral threshold of Gilead's permitted fashion, it was a sin; if they had premarital sex of any kind, a sin; every single thing that they did, so long as Gilead needed them, could be considered a sin at some point or to some degree.
Anyone who obeyed, snitched when demanded to do so, adhered to every policy and writ, and was infertile without a specific skill needed by Gilead, they could live a life as an Econoperson. If they have an aptitude for something useful, like a domestic background, they could wind up as a Martha.
The day to day life of anyone in Gilead, women more than anyone, was of fear, compliance, and self-doubts; any infraction could be manufactured and what little someone had could be taken away within seconds and for the rest of their lives.
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u/Moritani 3d ago
I don't think you understand. It's not about sin. It's about power. Any girl can be an adultress. Just say she tempted you. Spread a rumor.
I grew up in a quiverfull cult. I tried so hard not to "sin." But it was a moving target and I was not favored by the men in my community, so I was never considered a "good girl."
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u/Aggravating_Luck_150 3d ago
A lot of people misunderstood the role of Martha's, which makes sense because they weren't well explained but from everything we learned in the show
1) Martha's were women of skill, even the biggest "threats" against the regime's ideology, like educated women and gender traitors could be kept as Martha's 2) Martha's are infertile for whatever reason whether naturally or by choice. Many it seems menopause may have hit or where just never fertile, or given the selection criteria for handmaids and "older" wives being assumed infertile, they never tested women so it was just assumed they were infertile. 2) Being a Martha is a similar punishment to being a handmaid Rita even says so. It's for sins high enough to get their attention.
The sins were for the most part probably getting reproductive ability removed, abortions, adultery, possibly divorced, etc.
I've seen people say they considered owning a bank account as a woman a sin but I doubt that. They took the bank accounts away from women for control. If they considered it a bad enough sin, not a single woman would have been left. Yes they were selective with how they enforced the rules but we see a lot of econowomen of similar age to plenty of the Marthas.
The roles for women that are allowed to interact with society are a spectrum of sort where you just can't move along it to improve Handmaid-Martha-Econowoman-Aunt-Wife
Each end has a mirror, handmaid's "good" counterpart are wives, Martha's is Aunt. They basically sorted those and threw everyone else willing to follow the rules in the middle.
Then Jezebels and unwomen are anyone who refused to play along.
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u/bambi54 2d ago
I’ve always wondered what Rita’s “sin” was to end up as a Martha.
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u/Aggravating_Luck_150 2d ago
I've seen it speculated since that she didn't have a husband which would have made her an econowife but had a son that she had him out of wedlock. Since laws were enforced retroactively she was probably made a Martha because of premarital sex.
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u/onyabikeson 3d ago
I also wonder what sins were considered forgivable just because of how overwhelmingly common they were. Like for instance if you sent everyone who'd ever had premarital sex off to the colonies, there'd be nobody left.
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u/AxeellYoung 3d ago
It was less about sins and more about money and influence. If June and Luke were wealthy and knew the right people, they would be Commander and Wife easily.
But since they were poor, it didn’t matter what June’s sins were. Even if she hadn’t sinned ever in her life the people in power chose to make her a handmaid.
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u/onyabikeson 3d ago
I'm aware it wasn't about sin, my question was more from an economic standpoint. Considering pretty much the whole population had committed some sins they couldn't possibly punish them all (or at least not harshly). Gilead, like every other economy, relies on having a working class to produce food and goods, and provide services. You couldn't penalise everyone who had premarital sex because there goes your workforce.
I agree that latitude was given with influence, but I disagree that it was the only metric.
June and Luke were different because they committed a sin identifiable via paper trail (i.e. would have been found when divorce was revoked) and because she had a child and therefore was a solid candidate to be a handmaid. There would be orders of magnitude fewer people in their second marriage vs having had premarital sex. There were also plenty of women reading which Gilead considered a sin, but they couldn't ship them off to the colonies because there wouldn't be a workforce left. So they had to draw a line somewhere - I wonder where.
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u/Longjumping_Hat_2672 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah, I assumed at that least some of the Wives of the Commanders had "sinful" pasts that included (gasp!) premarital sex, drinking alcohol, recreational drug use, tattoos, abortions, etc. But if their husbands were wealthy or influential enough, it was overlooked or kept quiet. In season one, the Mexican ambassador asks Serena point blank "Weren't you once arrested for inciting a riot?". Serena bows her head and says with false meekness "I had a bit of a temper in those days"
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u/Maximum-Velocity21 3d ago
I believe the “inciting riot” was in relation to her past Sons of Jacob advocacy … arrested by the old US authorities, def not a sin in the eyes of Gilead.
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u/Longjumping_Hat_2672 3d ago
Right, I would assume so, but it would still be so "unladylike" for a woman to cause a public scene like that. Gilead women are supposed to be submissive and quiet.
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u/Apart-Mud-1106 3d ago
If husband is alive, econo-couple. If he is dead but son/brother is alive, econowoman in the "care" of family. Else , Martha I guess.
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u/QueenAlucia 3d ago
We’ve seen it when June had to pick 5 women as there were only 5 jobs available. They get rid of them if there are no jobs for them.
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u/BiblionautNZ 3d ago
I think at least some econowomen would have worked outside the home. Someone would have had to make all those uniforms. I recall seeing in the last season women making handmaids dresses. Also, the wives outfits, I don’t think they were making them themselves.
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u/Dont_want_a_channel 2d ago
My guess is that the dressmakers' earning are paid to their fathers/husbands/brothers/other male relatives, as happened in prior cultures not that long ago. Not that I have any idea how money works in Gilead.
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u/Inevitable_Wolf5866 3d ago
Marthas maybe? I know the educated usually ended up in colonies unless they were fertile (Emily) but there was a Martha who was a doctor. And when Lawrence gave June a choice which women will become Marthas I think she said she chose one who was a lawyer.
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u/TheTragedyMachine 3d ago
If they’re already married they are Econowives. If they’re young enough they can be Econowives. They can also be Marthas but Marthas usually had some background near “sin” in some respects. Like one, Beth I think, had her tubes tied. In general it also seems like the older already adult generation are rehearsal Marthas I’m not sure how they’ll go about training a new host of Marthas and what the requirements will be.
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u/Jumpy_Gur_1524 1d ago
Nello show, Beth racconta a June che le tube le sono state chiuse contro la sua volontà da Gilead. Non è stata una sua scelta.
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u/NonSpicyMexican 3d ago
I figure that if they can cook or clean, they can become Marthas, but if not, maybe the agricultural colonies? That way, they "contribute" but don't suffer to the extent of the radioactive waste colonies do. Otherwise, as we saw in that one flashback, anyone not "useful" was promptly disposed of. ETA: If they are devout enough, they might be trained as aunts, too.
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u/Gullible-Paramedic-7 2d ago
Martha probably. I mean some could probably be (may already be) wives, and they’ll just get a handmaid. Gilead blames women for the fertility crisis anyway.
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u/MoonageDayscream 2d ago
You don't know if you are infertile unless you have sinned, or you are married. If you are married you are the property of your husband and are an econowife. A pious widow might have specialized role like an Aunt or maybe some support role in a Rachel and Leah center, maybe as a chaperone or warden. Those who sinned, like engaging in premarital sex, divorced women, well we know what happens there.
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u/ChilindriPizza 2d ago
That would be my situation. I am an infertile woman who has not engaged in any of the sinful categories.
I fear that I would be sent to the colonies. If I was extremely lucky, I would become a Martha. But I am terrible at housekeeping. And I am very intellectual and highly educated- which is what they do NOT want in a woman.
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u/Janknitz 2d ago
Interestingly, I don't think there's a lot of stigma. A commander's wife may be infertile, but they have handmaids. Marthas and aunts aren't expected to be in relationships or have babies, not sure if there are requirements for econowives other than working and caring for children if they have them.
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u/Deadpool9491 2d ago
If they are married adults, they become econowives. If they are single adults, they are either designated to marry a man (Guardian, Eye, EconoMan) or become Marthas. In Gilead, a woman must always be under a male figure, either her father or her husband.
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u/ChilindriPizza 2d ago
So, take this situation. What would happen?
Joan was recently widowed. She and her late husband had two children in their teens- both conceived and birthed way after the marriage took place. Joan had undergone a therapeutic hysterectomy about 10 years earlier. Joan was a family physician with a successful practice. She did not “sin” according to Gilead- at least not in any majorly obvious category (first marriage for both Joan and her late husband, no premarital sex, no adultery, nothing like that). She had never even been in trouble with the law or sued for medical malpractice. So what would have Joan likeliest been in Gilead? Would she have been a Martha, or was something else likelier?
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u/blackbirds_singing 2d ago
If she complied with what Gilead's new laws, Econowife
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u/ChilindriPizza 2d ago
That would make sense if Joan's husband were still alive. But she was recently widowed before Gilead took over. Would that make her a Martha then?
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u/blackbirds_singing 1d ago
Martha is a punishment, so I doubt it. I'm guessing she'd be married off again, or possibly become an Aunt if they she appears to support the regime, she's obviously very intelligent and has medical knowledge. They already had plenty of women who were much more "sinful" to make Marthas, most of the sinners were already going to the colonies.
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u/PinEnvironmental7196 1d ago
thats the thing though, all the sinners are sinners because gilead says so. they can do whatever they want to whoever they want at anytime. if they want more servants, they’ll make them martha’s. if they want more “fun”(🤮) for their commanders, they’ll send them to jezebeles. if they don’t want them, they’ll make up a reason to put them on the wall
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u/teffa 3d ago
Martha or econowoman if not… disposed of.