Clik here to view.
First came the pussy hat. Then, “nevertheless she persisted” became a rallying cry and popular tattoo. Lipstick benefiting Planned Parenthood soon followed. But one of the most enduring, and most literary, trends in the fight to protect women's reproductive rights comes from The Handmaid’s Tale.
In the novel and Hulu's TV adaptation, women forced to bear children for others, called handmaids, wear a similar ensemble. The long red cloaks mask their bodies, and their large bonnets cover their faces. Now, women are bringing these outfits in front of lawmakers to remind them how eerily close our country's laws seem to the dystopian world of The Handmaid's Tale. From Jefferson City, Missouri to outside the US Capitol, women are donning red cloaks and white bonnets to stand up for women’s reproductive health.
We rounded up some of the best moments when handmaids took action in real life. Offred would be proud.
This story was originally published on June 27, 2017.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Date: October 26, 2017
Reason for protesting: Handmaids lined in the streets facing the Denver Marriott Tech Center as Vice President Mike Pence was inside speaking at a GOP fundraiser. The women went there to protest Pence's record on reproductive rights and women's healthcare.
"We thought Ronald Reagan was bad enough with the religious right and Focus on the Family," protester Kathy Partridge told the Boulder Daily Camera. "That is what inspired the book. But that was nothing like Mike Pence."
Clik here to view.
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Date: July 6, 2017
Reason for protesting: The handmaids went international, gathering in Warsaw's Krasiński Square for President Trump's speech during his second trip abroad. Though the crowd in the Polish capital was overwhelmingly pro-Trump (people held "Let's Make Poland Great Again" signs and chanted the President's name), the handmaids stood in opposition.
Photo courtesy of @cnn/InstagramClik here to view.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: June 27, 2017
Reason for protesting: Handmaids joined the #PeoplesFilibuster, a protest of the Senate’s proposed healthcare bill outside the Capitol. The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 and defund Planned Parenthood for a year.
The handmaids made it to the national stage.
Photo courtesy of @ESCochrane/TwitterClik here to view.
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Date: June 13, 2017
Reason for protesting: The cloaked women quietly sat in the Ohio statehouse during a hearing for Senate Bill 145, which would ban the dilation and evacuation procedure, commonly used in second-trimester abortions.
The women quietly shuffled in pairs as they came and left the hearing — an eerie example of how dystopian the world seems.
Photo courtesy of @ProChoiceOH/TwitterClik here to view.
Location: Jefferson City, Missouri
Date: May 3, 2017
Reason for protesting: A handful of women arrived at the Missouri legislature to protest an amendment to the state budget that would bar the Missouri Women’s State Funded Health Services Program from providing funding to clinics that perform abortions. These women came armed with more than just bonnets and capes; they also carried signs reading “Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again ” and “Don’t let Missouri become Gilead. ”
Praise be.
Photo courtesy of @PPGreatPlains/TwitterClik here to view.
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: March 20, 2017
Reason for protesting: Handmaids arrived at the Texas Senate building to protest two pieces of anti-choice legislation: Senate Bills 415 and 25. SB 415 proposed banning the dilation and evacuation procedure, which effectively eliminated second-trimester abortions in the state. SB 25 allows doctors to withhold vital information about the health of the fetus from pregnant patients. Both measures passed 31-0.
However, the bright red capes sent the message that these bills pose a serious threat to women's rights.
Photo courtesy of @shift_stigma/TwitterLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Who Ivanka Trump Follows On Instagram — & What It All Really Means
In Appeal Effort, Brock Turner's Lawyer Says What He Did Was Actually "Safe Sex"