Owning Gilead: franchising feminism through Margaret Atwood’s <i>The Handmaid’s Tale</i> and <i>The Testaments</i>

Margaret Atwood’s most famous dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), is one of those stories whose message seems to carry across the ages. hyperreal patriarchy-as-terror-regime that portrays has become a well-known shorthand in feminist protest culture. Its presence became even more prominent response Donald Trump’s 2016 election, and its visibility as symbol there at other events aimed curbing women’s rights was strengthened by visual imagery novel’s recent adaptation. 2019 addition storyworld, Testaments, with adaptations media, have effectively given shape what media franchise. As uses context politics populism show, this franchise refers not only commercial concerns; it also references form political enfranchisement offers tools language for calling out patriarchy. We argue conglomerate Gilead texts engenders fraught both politically emancipatory senses. While reluctantly ‘offering itself up’ exploitation, makes freely prominently available