Mayday Resistance as a Projection of the 1970’s Women’s Rights movement in The Handmaid's Tale TV series.

Abstract

This study investigates the representation of women's struggles for rights during the 1970s embodied in the Mayday resistance in The Handmaid's Tale TV series. The work examines the portrayal of Mayday resistance and its relation with the feminist riots and uprisings in the USA during the 70s through the lenses of feminist historiography, Marxist class struggle theory, elite and sub-elite theories, and Media studies. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to the understanding of how the depiction of Mayday resistance in the show engages with feminist historiography and the struggle for power and resistance. It aims to address the existing gap in research by examining the representation of women's agency, collective action, and resistance within the fictional society of Gilead, utilizing a media discourse analysis approach that combines textual analysis, historical context from the women's rights movement, and relevant secondary literature. The research questions revolve around understanding the extent to which the Mayday resistance in The Handmaid's Tale reflects women’s experiences during the women's rights movement and how the resistance contributes to altering the position of women in the United States. The study employs methods such as narrative and visual analysis to uncover the parallels between the struggles faced by women in the 1970s and those portrayed by the characters in the show. It also explores the power dynamics within the women's rights movement and in Gilead, considering the intersections of gender, sexuality, and politics. Ultimately, this study aims to shed light on women’s challenges in pursuing autonomy, equality, and reproductive rights during the 1970s. It also examines the strategies employed by Mayday’s resistance to subvert the totalitarian regime while exploring character development and visual symbolism in the TV series.