“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum…Don't let the bastards get you down” (Handmaid's Tale 186-187). This Latin phrase is appreciated by main character Offred in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Before discovering the meaning of the phrase, Offred becomes passionate about the carving on the floor of her bedroom closet because it is one of the few things she can read since women are forbidden to read. Furthermore, seeing the carving connects her to the previous Handmaid of her family who she often wonders about. After finding out its meaning from the Commander, the phrase becomes a symbol of her resistance to the Republic of Gilead. “Don't let the bastards get you down,” being an appropriate response to a patriarchal society, also became a symbol of resistance for many women in real life as she wrote her 1985 novel, Margaret Atwood based grand part of the society that Offred lives in about real events that happened or were happening during the time she was writing The Handmaid's Tale. Many of the obstacles and injustices that Atwood based his fictional position on still occur today, which is why many people still identify with the Latin phrase. Both women and men still face sexual repression. Many women are still denied the medical care they need. People from the LGBTQ+ community still face persecution and, in some cases, still face imprisonment or even execution. Additionally, many people still hold the ideologies that create the Republic of Gilead, located in the United States, in Offred's reality. While much progress has been made throughout the story, there are many people who still have to deal with the injustices explored in The Handmaid's Tale, and many people often feel that regression has occurred throughout the world. Due to the repression of sexuality and other sexual mannerisms that have occurred around the world in 2017, The Handmaid's Tale remains relevant and parallels true events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Many people might believe that the people of the modern world could ever agree with the ideology that gave birth to the Republic of Gilead, yet there are numerous of them. Some people believe that the use of birth control and lowering the birth rate have a negative impact on society. For example, Jennifer Lahl wrote in her article "Surrogacy, the Handmaid's Tale, and Reproductive Ethics: Egg Donation, Sperm Donation, and Surrogacy" about how trends in birth control, same-sex parenting, of surrogacy and more have created "problems" in the modern world. Lahl writes: “The dominant theme of the last fifty years has been the deconstruction of bodily reproduction, beginning with the advent of the birth control pill, designed to enable sex without procreation. Reproductive technology then sought the next logical step: procreation without sex” (242). There are numerous people with this kind of attitude towards progressive inventions that help many people, such as surrogacy and birth control. Furthermore, there are communities where women are like second-class citizens. In Natasha Purkins' article about the lives of three women within cults or communities where they are extremely repressed, she says: "Hannah Ettinger is the eldest of nine children and was expected to help her mother raise her siblings, cooking and cleaning since I was little." age, while her father went out to bring home thebacon. Her duty, as stated by the Quiverfull community in which she was born, was to provide children for her husband. These communities, among others, still believe that women are “baby-making machines,” which parallels the beliefs of the Republic of Gilead. Purkins also reveals that women in the Quiverfull community are not allowed to leave their homes without their husbands' permission. In The Handmaid's Tale, women are only allowed to leave their home under certain circumstances, and can only go to certain places. In The Handmaid's Tale, Offred describes the executions of several individuals she can see on the Wall as she walks home after fulfilling her duty of fetching groceries. These dead, hung as a warning to the citizens of Gilead, have symbols around them that explain their crime. One such crime that Offred notices is for homosexuality. Offred explains as she looks at the corpses on the Wall: “The other two have purple signs hanging around their necks: Gender Betrayal. Their bodies still wear the Guardians' uniforms. Taken together, they must have been…” (Handmaid's Tale 43) To many, this death punishment for homosexuality seems outrageous, but there are many countries that currently still criminalize homosexuality, and some are punishable by death. As of July 2017, there are 72 countries where same-sex relationships are banned, eight of which are punishable by death. These eight countries (Duncan) include Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Around the world, people in same-sex relationships are still persecuted and sometimes punished. In the Republic of Gilead, abortion would never be an option for a woman of any social status. All women are forced to reproduce if fertile. If a man is married to a barren woman, he is assigned a handmaiden, who is ritually raped to reproduce. If a Handmaid is unable to produce a healthy child, she is punished by being sent to the Colonies, where she will face a slow and painful death. All children are carried to term no matter what, and children born in Gilead are considered Keepers, healthy children, or Not-Babies/Shredders, children with something wrong. However, any use of technologies to find out the conditions of children in the womb is not illegal. Around the world, there are numerous countries where abortion is completely illegal, and there are many where it can be difficult to obtain safe, legal abortions, including the United States. The United States is one of sixty countries where abortion is legal without reason restrictions, but most states have gestation limits, ranging from 20 to 24 weeks (Mackintosh). According to Marge Berer, abortion was illegal in most countries in the late 19th century (14). Furthermore, Berer explains: At the end of the 20th century, abortion was legally permitted to save a woman's life in 98% of the world's countries. The percentage of countries allowing abortion for other reasons was as follows: to preserve the woman's physical health (63%); preserve women's mental health (62%); in case of rape, sexual abuse or incest (43%); fetal anomaly or compromise (39%); economic or social reasons (33%); and on request (27%) (17). Despite this change over the years, there are still millions of women forced to become pregnant and give birth when they don't want to, and many are forced to face a risky pregnancy instead of receiving a safe abortion. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In preparation for Hulu's adaptation report released in early 2017, Margaret Atwood wrote an article for the New York Times titled "Margaret Atwood on What 'The,.