October 7, 2019 The Nation. 11REUTERS
including misogynist ones. Even ISIS has its female
devotees, now busily tormenting “heretic” women in
Syria. “Aryan” German women adored Hitler, even as
he deprived them of their rights. The Nazis made good
use of separate-sphere ideology, too, putting mothers
on a pedestal, giving girls and women their own organi-
zations with traditions and banners and uniforms.
As long as there are privileges to hand out as well as
punishments, as long as basic material needs are sup-
plied and there is enough religious or nationalistic or
ideological fervor to keep things exciting, it is not that
hard to get women to go along, just as men go along.
Even if Gilead succeeded in brainwashing its citizens
into Christian fundamentalism, it could never have last-
ed in its harsh original form. The society promoted too
much punishment and not enough pleasure. The only
entertainment was religious mania, executions, and forlucky women, babies. Except for the elites who enjoyed
a steady supply of homemade fancy desserts, even the
food was terrible—ersatz cheese and soups made out of
kitchen scraps. The Romans had the right idea: bread
and circuses. And plenty of hand cream.
If it had managed to end its wars and become more
prosperous, Gilead might have come to resemble Saudi
Arabia, a theocracy where banned imports find their
way in, a subject caste does the hard work, much foreign
media is censored or banned, and only a few people
have to be tortured and beheaded as an example to oth-
ers. There are plenty of Aunt Lydias in Saudi Arabia;
they’re instrumental to the functioning of every country
where women are subordinate, including our own.
And when those regimes are overthrown, there will
be plenty of Aunt Lydias who will claim they had a hand
in it. QThere are plenty
of Aunt Lydias
in Saudi Arabia;
they’re instru-
mental to the
functioning of
every country
where women
are subordinate.SNAPSHOT / RICARDO MORAESAmazon Apocalypse
A tree burns as a tract of land is cleared by farmers
in Rio Pardo, Brazil, on September 15. Since Jair
Bolsonaro became president, the number of fires in
the Amazon has jumped 85 percent. In August, smoke
traveled 1,800 miles and darkened the skies in São
Paulo, the most populous city in South America.Calvin Trillin
Deadline Poet
NEW AIR FORCE ANTHEM
“Air Force says it sent crews to Trump’s
Scottish resort up to 40 times.”
—PoliticoOff we go into the wild blue yonder,
Foreign threats ready to quell.
As we fly, we begin to ponder
Cushy nights in a Trump-owned hotel.
We’ve reserved the accommodations
And we know the president’s thrilled.
The minibar is not too far.
And Trump makes out as citizens are billed.