A Woman's Place (Book)

A Woman's Place (Book)
A Woman's Place (Book)
Description	A Woman's Place (Book)

A Woman's Place is an in-universe nonfiction book written by Serena Joy Waterford.

Known Content

Though not confirmed, Serena's ideological background suggests the book covers gender-specific (female) roles in a religious-based society where women "embrace their biological destiny". She states that since one should 'never mistake a woman's meekness for weakness', this ideology is a form of "domestic feminism".

Mentions in the Story

Before Gilead

Serena nervously prepares to speak in front of a crowd on a college campus to promote her book "A Woman’s Place" where the audience is already booing loudly before she even gets to the podium. When someone throws a water bottle at the stage, the organizers hustle her out, with Fred loudly protesting that she has a right to speak, because "This is America". On her way out, she shouts that they're living in a privileged bubble and tells the women to embrace their biological destiny. When heading back to the car, Serena's manager is shot in the chest and she is shot in the lower abdomen by a sniper..

Serena tells her husband she has an idea for a second book. She wants to write about how fertility can be used as a national resource and that reproduction should be seen "as a moral imperative."

After the Takeover

Serena's book in the trash

Serena is shown to be completely shut out of the new government planning since the new society won't let women "forget their real purpose" again, as Putnam points out to a dismayed Fred. In addition, most women in Gilead (except Aunts) are banned from any form of literacy meaning her book has become worthless. Rather symbolically, as she prepares to accept her new limited role in the society she helped create, a copy of her book is seen being thrown in the trash.

Present Time

A Woman's Place

Mrs. Castillo, the head of a Mexican delegation visiting the Waterford's home, quotes some phrases from Serena's book, which she re-read on the plane from Mexico. When she asks Serena if she ever imagined a society where women can no longer read her book, Serena replies that she did not, but "God asks for sacrifices".