U.S. Social Movements through Biography

Classroom Activities

Modern Social Movement Research

In small groups consisting of four to five students, I plan on giving my students choices to research: Black Panthers, Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Occupy Wall Street, Women’s Movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the Conservative Right Movement of the 1980s. The Women’s Movement, #MeToo, and the Conservative Right Movement all deal with the issues that are echoed in the novel, the older movements helping to provide some historical context as well. Because I want students to see how social movements deal with a variety of social injustices, I added Black Panthers, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights Movement, and Occupy Wall Street. I would randomly assign each group one of these movements. Teachers are welcome to use other social movements like Gay Rights Movement or Labor movements; the ones that I chose use a variety of strategies that would allow my students to get a comprehensive list of tactics social movements use to convey their message and fight against injustice.  In their research, students will ask questions such as what are these movements working against and responding to? What were their methods of organization? How did they get their cause and message to the public? Who was attracted to this movement and who was not? Was this movement successful? If not, why not? Students will use the information and terminology of the anatomy of social movements and give short group presentations. I will have students use the free platform Prezi to give multimedia examples of the social action tools of their social movement. Teachers could also use other platforms such as Google Slides. I prefer Prezi because it allows for all types of media and it incorporates movement which is apropos for the subject matter. In this Prezi, students should include pictures of protests, examples of print sources (zines to newsletters), slogans, songs, and speeches used.

Culminating Activity: Revolution Handmaid-Style!

Set the stage for your students. It is the late 1980s, early 1990s. The Handmaids within Gilead have had enough and need to do something -- even if it starts small. People outside Gilead have no idea what is really going on inside, but have heard information that has leaked out about the injustices and mistreatment against women. The women inside Gilead feel isolated and angry, especially about being brainwashed into fulfilling their prescribed role in this sexist society. Students will have the chance to participate in a fictional social movement against Gilead, using whole-class simulation and role play and zine creation and publication.

Riot Grrrl-style Zine for The Handmaids’ Resistance

While introducing this part of the final project, I will give students background about the Hulu show and Handmaid symbols which was discussed earlier. Describe how the Hulu series is moving beyond the book because of the novel’s frustrating resolution. Students will get in small groups or they can work solo. Here, they will create a Riot Grrrl-style zine from the voices of the oppressed in Gilead. They can choose whichever character they want. They can write from the point of view of a Martha, Moira, Offred, or Janine. They could use any Handmaid mentioned in the book or even take on the persona of an Econowife, a Jezebel, a young girl being indoctrinated at Gilead’s schools, or an Eye turned rogue -- the options are endless and I will encourage students to be creative.  Each zine should contain a poem, a manifesto, personal narrative, drawings and media manipulation, slogans for the revolution, information about meetings, subversive messages on how to anger the Wives or Commanders, ways to rebel (remind students about Almeida’s “weapons of the weak”),  and ways to protect yourself. They are already familiar with what these Riot Grrrl zines look like due to the earlier mini-study of this early ‘90s social movement, and these images should still be made available for students to revisit as they are creating their own. These students will use the Riot Grrrl method of zines to get their words and ideas out. From reading the book, students will recognize that “language in Gilead is recognized as a very powerful tool; its disruptive power is intuited, and hence only those in power are allowed to use it.”³³ Of course, the Handmaid’s main weapon of rebellion would be the written word. Unlike the Riot Grrrls, they would never be able to be loud, to perform music, or to actively protest. However, they could secretly exchange ideas through these zines which could be passed around through hidden channels and tucked into sleeves or under floor boards. For the women of Gilead,  “to have something to ‘exchange’ is to have social power, a power women are forbidden. In Gilead, the silent woman is the ideal woman.” ³⁴ As writing and reading are absolutely forbidden, they cannot be seen with these zines. You should point out that the zines will function just like the phrase “Nolite te bastardes carboundorum”³⁵ that Offred discovers in her closet. She knew this phrase was from another Handmaid and this message became comfort for her; “It becomes her prayer.”³⁶ It is so important for the women of Gilead to find like-minded people, just like the Riot Grrrls did, to begin their underground, subversive, DIY resistance within, spreading and unifying their message.

By creating these fictionalized zines,  they will not only evoke anger and frustration of the unhappy people of Gilead, but they will also begin to build a collective identity and mobilize characters in the book. Simulating the beginning of this Handmaid revolution will not only be cathartic for them, but will show them how the written word can unify a disembodied, marginalized group. This will be beyond what a normal high school writing experience can give students because their work will be published and distributed. Zines should be reproduced and shared between all the classes.

Organizing a Fictional Social Movement Against Gilead

After students create their Handmaids’ zines, I want them to become part of the Mayday resistance and put to use their study of social movements to organize a fictional resistance against Gilead. Because of the Handmaids’ zines, word has gotten out about the mistreatment of the women who reside in oppressive Gilead. It is time for the rest of the world (aka your classroom) to organize a social movement against the injustices occurring in Gilead. As a class, students should brainstorm what their social movement will look like. I plan on bringing a few short excerpts from Atwood’s The Testaments that give examples of how Atwood envisioned what the protests against Gilead looked like. The pages for these excerpts will be in the Resources section of this unit. After their brainstorming session and taking in consideration their creative ideas, I will give students options to write a persuasive speech, create propaganda posters with symbols that represent the movement, write a letter to fictional politicians or leaders of Gilead, write and perform a street theater skit, create a step-by-step plan to organize a rally or sit-in, along with chants and signs, or write a Mayday manifesto or unity message for the social movement. Giving students a week to prepare, I will give them a specific day for a Mayday Protest Day in class, or even within the whole school. On Mayday Revolt Day, students will share their speeches, letters, chants and signs, etc. in class. If you can pull it off, maybe there would be a sit-in, disrupting a History class or another English class with their permission, maybe they dress all in red, maybe they perform their skit at lunch and film it, maybe they put posters up around the school,  or maybe Handmaids’ zines get passed out to others around the school. The options are endless here, but regardless if this is a small classroom activity or a bigger school-wide affair, the energy should be there -- an energy of a social movement daring to create change and fight against social injustices. After simulating and role-playing the Mayday social movement, students should have two feelings: First, they should feel a sense of accomplishment and strength as a group as they strived for justice for Offred and the women of Gilead. Secondly, they should feel empowered. They will truly understand the inner workings and power of social movements -- a knowledge that will allow students to understand that they can stand up against any injustice in the real world.