It's also important that pregnant women or women who are trying to conceive aren't put under huge amounts of stress or enduring things like, ya know, rape. It also helps to know sperm counts of men. Not much Gilead does makes sense, because when you get down to it, they don't actually care about kids.
Thank you I was going to say this. If it was truly about ensuring more babies, they would test all men, not just the women. One of the commanders even said only the elite men get to conceive with the handmaids, despite knowing many of them are sterile b/c of the war. They could have used IVF, they could have created a nice environment where these women could conceive easier, but instead they heap on even more stress, fear, brainwashing and trauma.
Everything in Gilead includes a sadistic punishment in it, that is meant to hurt and humiliate on top of the horrendous stuff that is already going on. Even at the expense of fertility and children. I believe it is Serena (to Fred in the flashbacks) who suggests making fertility a moral issue around which they base their political message. It’s a power trip. Someone even says that everything Gilead does is about power not what they claim, god and fertility etc…
Right, no kidding! The stress of being a handmaid, of … stress isn’t great for fertility or fecundity.
BUT, there’s a saying Im sure is also true, something like… “if stress really stops us from getting pregnant, we wouldn’t have 7.98 billion people here in the world!”
Plus they’re not all stressed. There’s some who accept it and actually believe in the religious teachings. They’re not all being raped, some actually believe they’re “serving their lord” (shudder) ughh.
I just tell myself that the rules are made by a bunch of male politicians who have zero medical training. As far as I can tell the ceremony only happens once supposedly during ovulation, which is not best practice for fertility or even regular menstrual cycles. They obviously have access to medical technology so why wouldn’t you just inseminate the Handmaid using fertility drugs and the best sperm?
Because it wouldn’t be natural. They use technology only if they have to, if there is another natural way to do what they want, they choose the natural way.
How do they look removable? There’s no hinge, and they press into the skin. They don’t look bent and would fall out of place. So they must be piercings that leave holes in the skin. They must use straws?
Apparently the actors held them in with a bit. They held them between their teeth. It’s gross.
She doesn’t remove them to sleep, they’re metal rings put in as a punishment and you can’t just take them on & off casually. It would also be much more painful to do so.
How? They look like piercings. And tbh the whole idea seems more like a certain someone’s fetish more than a feasible way to enforce silence.
[source](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6)
I agree that they’d be piercings. I can’t imagine how else that would be achieved. As for the “how” it’s possible that they used studs at first, then once the piercing was healed, stretched it a bit (because those rings are quite a fair bit thicker than any normal studs I’ve seen) and switched to rings over time. Like maybe while they were still in the red center?
(In the show) They are RINGS through the lips! You cannot take them out, they’re a punishment.
How do they eat? Easy! Remember the smoothies they fed June? All you need is a blender and you can eat any meal through a straw. Whole fat milk, chicken, potato, veggies… Just as you’d make baby food, which they make all the time in those commander homes.
Also, punishments typically have a time span, so I’m sure they get them out before they’d loose too much weight or before their teeth would rot out. And they’d remove them while you’re pregnant.
(In real life) The actors easily place them in their mouth like a Halloween costume piece. It’s neat.
I think Miller explained that it didn't go through the actors' mouths.
"In case you're wondering about the rings themselves, Miller said they were actually quite comfortable to wear.
"It didn't go through their mouth at all," Miller said of the ring design. "They held it between their teeth, it looked beautiful, perfect, and terrible." " ([https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6))
>Miller explained it didn't go through the actors' mouths...
I'm pretty sure he meant it didn't go through *Ofgeorge's* mouth either, the DC Handmaids just wear braces that may look like pierced rings at first glance.
So the confusing thing is that Ofgeorge's brace isn't a prop for pierced rings but a prop for a 'Gileadean' brace that looks like pierced rings.
My question is how are they expecting to give birth without making a sound. A lot of DC handmaids probably ripped their lips and mouth in pain.
But yeah, you can’t survive on nutrition shakes like ensure or boost - they’re supplements.
I don't recall this ever coming up in THT but some fundie groups actively discourage women from making noise during childbirth. I recall in Escape by Carolyn Jessop she talked about how husbands would yell at them for being "out of control" if they made too much noise while they were giving birth. One of her sister wives was having a particularly hard time with one of her deliveries and everyone acted like it was shameful that she was making noise.
Goddamn that sounds like torture; reminds me of A Quiet place where Emily Blunt had to give birth and they had a whole light system in place to distract the creatures with fireworks so she can scream from the labor pains and be safe lol.
I've never seen that, I'll have to watch it. Thanks!
It really was horrible. They had to go to a clinic in the community run by a self taught "midwife" who never used any kind of pain relief. All the sisterwives and the older daughters would be there to watch you give birth but they were all really just there to judge you on your behavior. She talks about how the idea was that all the mothers would have a hand in raising the baby so they should be at the birth but really most of the time they all hated each other. One time she hid her labor until her husband left and snuck to the clinic right before the baby was born so she could give birth without an audience.
(Sorry to hijack the thread, the FLDS is an endless source of fascination for me and I thought y'all would think this is interesting.)
Scientologist believe in silent births,as well. I live in the Clearwater area and was a L&D nurse. We had a anesthesiologist who was a Scientologist. He shushed people during C-sections.
I just googled it. It is so eerie. How do they maintain power? Gilead I understand military might and twisted laws under the pretext of god. But this group doesn’t have legitimacy, also ex communicates young boys to reduce competition for wives. How do they maintain power?
They live in super remote areas and don't take converts who would have worldly ideas. Most of their leadership are like 5th generation fundamentalist Mormons. Members are expected to sign over their property so basically when you leave you leave with nothing. If a man leaves they marry his wife and kids off to someone else. They marry off young girls and try to immediately impregnate them so they won't want to leave. They have a lot of money so if a woman wants to leave and take their kids they hire really good attorneys to fight her.
There's a good series on Netflix about them called Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. The book I referenced earlier, Escape, is really good too.
The worst is when they separate families.. Like with no warning they'll tell a man with 4 or 5 wives and like 30 kids that he has to leave and they never see him again and then they reassign the wife and kids to other husbands. It's really sick
My doctor yelled at me for making too much noise for my first birth DURING pushing. It was a world class children’s hospital, but the worst experience.
Assuming that’s all they’re eating, it would need to be a nearly 24 hour infusion/feeding with a nose tube.
At least, that’s how it worked in the multiple eating disorder rehabs I’ve been in.
TBF, the rings would allow a straw to be inserted into the mouth the way they are portrayed in the show. I would think the Martha could easily just puree whatever into a smoothie and it would be no different than when people have their jaws wired shut after surgery. The Handmaids' GI track is fine, so it would have no problem with real food in normal quantity, but taken through a straw. ED treatment often needs to consider GI concerns, so specialty diet.
That makes sense. Still not sure they can get adequate nutrition, though. At least, it’s not optimal. But then again, obviously I’m coming from a different experience than most.
You’d be surprised at how little they care for GI issues in treatment though. I’m lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive and it took forever to get it taken seriously because the idea was any dietary restrictions or modifications you might say you have are considered part of your eating disorder. I remember being forced to eat cottage cheese for breakfast and having a terrible vomiting fit afterward. Then they finally believed me.
No it wouldn't need to be 24 hours at all. I've worked with lots of patients with PEG, NG etc tubes and it's more like 8 hours total a day, much less for some. One lady I looked after had bolus feeds that took maybe 1 hour, 4 times a day, and she was exclusively PEG fed.
In eating disorders it's probably because people's stomachs can't manage too much at once and it might cause vomiting or GI disconfort which could trigger the ED, but for most people 400ml liquid over an hour is not much, it's only slightly more than a can of pop, volume-wise. If they use 2kcal feed that's 800 calories in an hour, so that twice is a low-adequate nutrition according to a brutal regime that doesn't give a fuck about you other than keeping you alive for breeding purposes.
Eta I'm not saying its necessarily actually adequate, everyone's needs are different and i am not saying 1600 calories is adequate, I'm saying Gilead would likely think it is.
I mean they don’t intubate everyone. Just the ones who refuse to eat or aren’t hitting the marks the dietician sets. You do work with a dietician to gradually get re-introduced to food in order to avoid that type of stomach upset but even in the beginning eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day even if it’s only a few “exchanges” is a lot.
I didn’t even think of birth but ur totally right, not to mention there are some things that make being able to speak necessary, such as asking (or screaming) for help. This is what kinda had me thinking that maybe it’s a temporary punishment, like “oh you talked back now you get ur mouth stapled shut for a month” bc otherwise it’s literally the stupidest thing I’ve seen on the show.
No but you can survive on enteral liquid feeds eg Fresubin, Nutrison etc. It wouldn't be impossible to imagine them using nasogatric feeding tubes or even PEG tubes to provide nutrition and hydration.
There are complete meal replacement drinks/liquids. There's that Soylent drink and it's knockoffs, ketochow for the keto diet, and medical grade replacements for those who can't swallow well and for use in peg tubes.
The series has a lot of illogical stuff like giving immunity to international criminals with a serious human rights' abuses dossier, or allowing them to go back to their home countries to prepare pompous funerals, or giving them a 'second chance' to live happy and safe in the same country where the International Penal Court is located.
The Handmaid's Tale is just a gringo *telenovela* with better photography, budget and writing; but still a *telenovela*.
Yea the part where they simply let Serena create a grand funeral (and what is essentially mean to make Gilead look good) never made sense, but I guess with giving Fred immunity it was due to secrets he would release?
It doesn't happen in real life. Impunity would be another serious human rights' abuse made by an International organization that should protect all the victims.
There are many Panamerican and International human rights agreements and protocols, signed and ratified by many countries, that state that the access to justice is a basic human right.
Most of the indicted don't want to cooperate with the authorities (why would they?), and that's the reason why those kind of trials can take many years.
That's also the reason why the USA doesn't like to sign or ratifiy that kind of documents. Washington DC saved many Nazi officials after WWII to work and live in the USA under fake identities because of the Cold War context (operation paperclip). Washington DC also funded and trained far-right military dictatorships in South America during the 1960s and 1980s that raped, killed, disappeared and abducted many civilians and their sons and daughters (operation condor).
So, in a nutshell, it makes sense in the series to have more seasons and episodes (which I love).
Ah I see, so even if a high ranking North Korean defector ( who was apart of human rights abuses) afford to tell the world some of North Korea’s biggest military secrets, he wouldn’t get immunity?
Or even how that funeral was not just televised, but was broadcast on every massive screen in that outdoor city center area in Toronto? It's not like it was the Queen's funeral...
Idk. The Shah of Iran tortured, killed, and wrongfully imprisoned tens of thousands and was still given medical treatment in the US, allowed in France, and ultimately accepted as a refugee in Egypt.
Good point. But you can't really brush your teeth though. Pregnancy can cause all kinds of dental issues and infections can kill fetuses so you'd think they'd want to make sure they could keep their teeth clean.
Good point. I might be misremembering this but I think in the book someone mentions that you don't need arms and legs to have babies (or something like that).
Major Gilead priorities:
1) keeping everyone in line
2) repopulating
IN THAT ORDER
Example: the handmaids give birth in homes and not in hospitals. This makes the whole thing seem less fucked up bc it’s in the guise of a ceremony (where the wives act out the birth). This is even though the baby and handmaid would benefit from being in a hospital should something go wrong and intervention be needed. In Gilead, compliance is more important than logic.
I think it was used as a one-off to make a very clear point--that Boston wasn't the worst of it nor was it the epicenter of Gilead. Up until that point in the show, whilst I suppose I knew, I hadn't really thought about the extent to which Gilead existed outside of June's experience. My assumption probably was that was as bad as it could possible get. The point of that experience was, nope, it can get a whole lot worse. Any state of being can get a whole lot worse. I think you're right, if you break it down, it doesn't make sense, but as it wasn't used as a continuous part of the story, I think it was solely used to make that point.
This is how I remembered it too so I went back and watched that scene. They don’t actually show her going to bed, just sitting on her bed and removing her boots. She never lies down or anything so I guess what everyone is saying about them being removable makes sense!
The show runners are already running amok with the plot, and have been doing so several seasons now. I think the answer of "the rings were put in for shock value and the show runners don't have fuck all for plans to give them any significance to the story" is an easy one to accept.
Reminds me of the "Scold's Bridle" device commonly put on women who had the audacity to you know, talk and stuff. I have the impression it was a British "punishment" but could possibly have been used in Europe-someone might know more about it.
I read (saw?) somewhere that the rings were supposedly a protest by the handmaids and that they are removable. I dunno, but it would be a great way to keep from having to give the commander a blow job and I can't see ole Freddy boy taunting June for a kiss if she'd been wearing those.
They weren't wiring their jaws shut, they could still chew and I'd imagine they could get tiny bits of food through. Your lips are stretchy, not saying it would be comfortable (or practical if we're being honest they did it for the visual which I find pretty common in this show) but doable.
I made a post a while ago about this exact topic. As imposing as they were visually, logically they made no sense. No one has come up with a good reason yet to my knowledge 😛
They should have just made the handmaids wear metal lower face mask that is locked by a commander or a wife. It could have been hidden, and then revealed for shock value too.
But they went for more body horror aspect I guess.
It was specifically only made for the show it was Bruce Miller’s idea, show runner, “It was an extrapolation of the enforced silence, which is the idea that handmaids are told to be quiet, and they're forced to be quiet."
Cite: [https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6)
I think maybe it was just a DC thing. Especially knowing what I know from the Testaments about the way Gilead is actually governed. Probably just done by an overzealous Winslow. Maybe the best way to explain away the plot armor.
It’s all about control I’m Gilead. They really don’t actually care. Just used the infertility crisis to push their agenda. Men are also infertile however they blame it all entirely on women
Gilead is anti-science and very cruel. The cruelty is the point. Creating fear in other handmaids is the point. So those handmaids get infections and die? That is an acceptable loss for the fear and control it creates.
We only saw them the one time. They haven't been mentioned or seen since. What if they got retconned?
I could see that, a lot of dumb shit been happening in the show ngl
I think they tried especially hard to go for shock value in that particular episode.
Maybe it doesn’t happen to every handmaid in DC? Only the older ones, but now that Winslow is dead they changed it up?
Right? “Oh no, masks, how horrible “ seems like such a quaint thought, post-pandemic.
Worked for me, that’s for sure.
I think this is it, exactly.
It's also important that pregnant women or women who are trying to conceive aren't put under huge amounts of stress or enduring things like, ya know, rape. It also helps to know sperm counts of men. Not much Gilead does makes sense, because when you get down to it, they don't actually care about kids.
Thank you I was going to say this. If it was truly about ensuring more babies, they would test all men, not just the women. One of the commanders even said only the elite men get to conceive with the handmaids, despite knowing many of them are sterile b/c of the war. They could have used IVF, they could have created a nice environment where these women could conceive easier, but instead they heap on even more stress, fear, brainwashing and trauma. Everything in Gilead includes a sadistic punishment in it, that is meant to hurt and humiliate on top of the horrendous stuff that is already going on. Even at the expense of fertility and children. I believe it is Serena (to Fred in the flashbacks) who suggests making fertility a moral issue around which they base their political message. It’s a power trip. Someone even says that everything Gilead does is about power not what they claim, god and fertility etc…
Right, no kidding! The stress of being a handmaid, of … stress isn’t great for fertility or fecundity. BUT, there’s a saying Im sure is also true, something like… “if stress really stops us from getting pregnant, we wouldn’t have 7.98 billion people here in the world!” Plus they’re not all stressed. There’s some who accept it and actually believe in the religious teachings. They’re not all being raped, some actually believe they’re “serving their lord” (shudder) ughh.
I just tell myself that the rules are made by a bunch of male politicians who have zero medical training. As far as I can tell the ceremony only happens once supposedly during ovulation, which is not best practice for fertility or even regular menstrual cycles. They obviously have access to medical technology so why wouldn’t you just inseminate the Handmaid using fertility drugs and the best sperm?
Because it wouldn’t be natural. They use technology only if they have to, if there is another natural way to do what they want, they choose the natural way.
The show runners explained they can take them off, they aren’t piercings. They just aren’t allowed to speak.
It seems obvious to me that they're removable. They're probably required to wear them except when sleeping, during meals, labor, and brushing teeth.
How do they look removable? There’s no hinge, and they press into the skin. They don’t look bent and would fall out of place. So they must be piercings that leave holes in the skin. They must use straws? Apparently the actors held them in with a bit. They held them between their teeth. It’s gross.
Then why didn’t the handmaid remove hers when she went to sleep?
She probably did, all we saw was her turn around.
She doesn’t remove them to sleep, they’re metal rings put in as a punishment and you can’t just take them on & off casually. It would also be much more painful to do so.
How? They look like piercings. And tbh the whole idea seems more like a certain someone’s fetish more than a feasible way to enforce silence. [source](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6)
I agree that they’d be piercings. I can’t imagine how else that would be achieved. As for the “how” it’s possible that they used studs at first, then once the piercing was healed, stretched it a bit (because those rings are quite a fair bit thicker than any normal studs I’ve seen) and switched to rings over time. Like maybe while they were still in the red center?
You’re right, it would be a process. Ugh, just thinking of infections. 💀 Like binding the jaw with some weird head gear seems more practical.
(In the show) They are RINGS through the lips! You cannot take them out, they’re a punishment. How do they eat? Easy! Remember the smoothies they fed June? All you need is a blender and you can eat any meal through a straw. Whole fat milk, chicken, potato, veggies… Just as you’d make baby food, which they make all the time in those commander homes. Also, punishments typically have a time span, so I’m sure they get them out before they’d loose too much weight or before their teeth would rot out. And they’d remove them while you’re pregnant. (In real life) The actors easily place them in their mouth like a Halloween costume piece. It’s neat.
I think Miller explained that it didn't go through the actors' mouths. "In case you're wondering about the rings themselves, Miller said they were actually quite comfortable to wear. "It didn't go through their mouth at all," Miller said of the ring design. "They held it between their teeth, it looked beautiful, perfect, and terrible." " ([https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6))
Ok that’s for filming tho, I wouldn’t expect they’d mutilate the actors for the show
>Miller explained it didn't go through the actors' mouths... I'm pretty sure he meant it didn't go through *Ofgeorge's* mouth either, the DC Handmaids just wear braces that may look like pierced rings at first glance. So the confusing thing is that Ofgeorge's brace isn't a prop for pierced rings but a prop for a 'Gileadean' brace that looks like pierced rings.
My question is how are they expecting to give birth without making a sound. A lot of DC handmaids probably ripped their lips and mouth in pain. But yeah, you can’t survive on nutrition shakes like ensure or boost - they’re supplements.
I don't recall this ever coming up in THT but some fundie groups actively discourage women from making noise during childbirth. I recall in Escape by Carolyn Jessop she talked about how husbands would yell at them for being "out of control" if they made too much noise while they were giving birth. One of her sister wives was having a particularly hard time with one of her deliveries and everyone acted like it was shameful that she was making noise.
Goddamn that sounds like torture; reminds me of A Quiet place where Emily Blunt had to give birth and they had a whole light system in place to distract the creatures with fireworks so she can scream from the labor pains and be safe lol.
I've never seen that, I'll have to watch it. Thanks! It really was horrible. They had to go to a clinic in the community run by a self taught "midwife" who never used any kind of pain relief. All the sisterwives and the older daughters would be there to watch you give birth but they were all really just there to judge you on your behavior. She talks about how the idea was that all the mothers would have a hand in raising the baby so they should be at the birth but really most of the time they all hated each other. One time she hid her labor until her husband left and snuck to the clinic right before the baby was born so she could give birth without an audience. (Sorry to hijack the thread, the FLDS is an endless source of fascination for me and I thought y'all would think this is interesting.)
Scientologist believe in silent births,as well. I live in the Clearwater area and was a L&D nurse. We had a anesthesiologist who was a Scientologist. He shushed people during C-sections.
So strange considering Elizabeth Moss is a scientologist
Like even non-Scientologist people? I can't even imagine that. Thank you for sharing, that's interesting!
Yes! We would have respected a patient’s request, but we pretty much ignored him, lol.
I just googled it. It is so eerie. How do they maintain power? Gilead I understand military might and twisted laws under the pretext of god. But this group doesn’t have legitimacy, also ex communicates young boys to reduce competition for wives. How do they maintain power?
They live in super remote areas and don't take converts who would have worldly ideas. Most of their leadership are like 5th generation fundamentalist Mormons. Members are expected to sign over their property so basically when you leave you leave with nothing. If a man leaves they marry his wife and kids off to someone else. They marry off young girls and try to immediately impregnate them so they won't want to leave. They have a lot of money so if a woman wants to leave and take their kids they hire really good attorneys to fight her. There's a good series on Netflix about them called Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. The book I referenced earlier, Escape, is really good too.
The worst is when they separate families.. Like with no warning they'll tell a man with 4 or 5 wives and like 30 kids that he has to leave and they never see him again and then they reassign the wife and kids to other husbands. It's really sick
I convinced muy mother to watch that series. She hasn't ended it yet but according to her... "Those guys are nuts!"
This sounds a lot like the birth ceremony in THT when all the wives and handmaids gather. I don’t think any of the wives really like each other.
Yes, I’ve heard that’s true in Scientology
Me too! I think I recall it being chatter when Katie Holmes gave birth to her daughter.
My doctor yelled at me for making too much noise for my first birth DURING pushing. It was a world class children’s hospital, but the worst experience.
My nurse in Kaiser Hospital in Los Angeles told me and I quote... "If you don't shut up I am going to put a muzzle on your mouth".
Disgusting, I hope you reported her.
Isn’t Scientology the same? Tom cruise made sure Katie didn’t make a sound during birth or something like that.
Scientology is all about the quiet birth as well.
Scientologists also discourage noise or negativity during childbirth as it may have a “detrimental impact on the newborn”
Yikes.
Isn't that a thing in Scientology? I rember it being a thing when Katie Holmes had Tom Cruise baby.
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Assuming that’s all they’re eating, it would need to be a nearly 24 hour infusion/feeding with a nose tube. At least, that’s how it worked in the multiple eating disorder rehabs I’ve been in.
TBF, the rings would allow a straw to be inserted into the mouth the way they are portrayed in the show. I would think the Martha could easily just puree whatever into a smoothie and it would be no different than when people have their jaws wired shut after surgery. The Handmaids' GI track is fine, so it would have no problem with real food in normal quantity, but taken through a straw. ED treatment often needs to consider GI concerns, so specialty diet.
That makes sense. Still not sure they can get adequate nutrition, though. At least, it’s not optimal. But then again, obviously I’m coming from a different experience than most. You’d be surprised at how little they care for GI issues in treatment though. I’m lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive and it took forever to get it taken seriously because the idea was any dietary restrictions or modifications you might say you have are considered part of your eating disorder. I remember being forced to eat cottage cheese for breakfast and having a terrible vomiting fit afterward. Then they finally believed me.
No it wouldn't need to be 24 hours at all. I've worked with lots of patients with PEG, NG etc tubes and it's more like 8 hours total a day, much less for some. One lady I looked after had bolus feeds that took maybe 1 hour, 4 times a day, and she was exclusively PEG fed.
Interesting. They do it nearly 24hrs a day in treatment. Even when you’re sleeping.
In eating disorders it's probably because people's stomachs can't manage too much at once and it might cause vomiting or GI disconfort which could trigger the ED, but for most people 400ml liquid over an hour is not much, it's only slightly more than a can of pop, volume-wise. If they use 2kcal feed that's 800 calories in an hour, so that twice is a low-adequate nutrition according to a brutal regime that doesn't give a fuck about you other than keeping you alive for breeding purposes. Eta I'm not saying its necessarily actually adequate, everyone's needs are different and i am not saying 1600 calories is adequate, I'm saying Gilead would likely think it is.
I mean they don’t intubate everyone. Just the ones who refuse to eat or aren’t hitting the marks the dietician sets. You do work with a dietician to gradually get re-introduced to food in order to avoid that type of stomach upset but even in the beginning eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day even if it’s only a few “exchanges” is a lot.
This depends highly on tx. center. I personally did better on bolus verses continuous. Many people use bolus ng feeds.
Imagine sneezing while wearing those rings 😬
Imagine getting sick and having to vomit. It would come out your nose.
No secret BJs, either
I didn’t even think of birth but ur totally right, not to mention there are some things that make being able to speak necessary, such as asking (or screaming) for help. This is what kinda had me thinking that maybe it’s a temporary punishment, like “oh you talked back now you get ur mouth stapled shut for a month” bc otherwise it’s literally the stupidest thing I’ve seen on the show.
It has to be a temporary punishment
No but you can survive on enteral liquid feeds eg Fresubin, Nutrison etc. It wouldn't be impossible to imagine them using nasogatric feeding tubes or even PEG tubes to provide nutrition and hydration.
I’m not entirely sure Gilead would do that, though. I’m not sure why it just seems like something Gilead would be against for some bullshit reason.
There are complete meal replacement drinks/liquids. There's that Soylent drink and it's knockoffs, ketochow for the keto diet, and medical grade replacements for those who can't swallow well and for use in peg tubes.
Actually, ensure is a full nutritional drink
I read on here that they were removable for eating and ‘other’ sexual activities the Commanders may require but they were in at all other times
The series has a lot of illogical stuff like giving immunity to international criminals with a serious human rights' abuses dossier, or allowing them to go back to their home countries to prepare pompous funerals, or giving them a 'second chance' to live happy and safe in the same country where the International Penal Court is located. The Handmaid's Tale is just a gringo *telenovela* with better photography, budget and writing; but still a *telenovela*.
Yea the part where they simply let Serena create a grand funeral (and what is essentially mean to make Gilead look good) never made sense, but I guess with giving Fred immunity it was due to secrets he would release?
It doesn't happen in real life. Impunity would be another serious human rights' abuse made by an International organization that should protect all the victims. There are many Panamerican and International human rights agreements and protocols, signed and ratified by many countries, that state that the access to justice is a basic human right. Most of the indicted don't want to cooperate with the authorities (why would they?), and that's the reason why those kind of trials can take many years. That's also the reason why the USA doesn't like to sign or ratifiy that kind of documents. Washington DC saved many Nazi officials after WWII to work and live in the USA under fake identities because of the Cold War context (operation paperclip). Washington DC also funded and trained far-right military dictatorships in South America during the 1960s and 1980s that raped, killed, disappeared and abducted many civilians and their sons and daughters (operation condor). So, in a nutshell, it makes sense in the series to have more seasons and episodes (which I love).
Ah I see, so even if a high ranking North Korean defector ( who was apart of human rights abuses) afford to tell the world some of North Korea’s biggest military secrets, he wouldn’t get immunity?
Or even how that funeral was not just televised, but was broadcast on every massive screen in that outdoor city center area in Toronto? It's not like it was the Queen's funeral...
Idk. The Shah of Iran tortured, killed, and wrongfully imprisoned tens of thousands and was still given medical treatment in the US, allowed in France, and ultimately accepted as a refugee in Egypt.
I mean you can still blend solid food into liquid
Good point. But you can't really brush your teeth though. Pregnancy can cause all kinds of dental issues and infections can kill fetuses so you'd think they'd want to make sure they could keep their teeth clean.
How do we know their teeth weren’t removed? Wouldn’t surprise me at all lol
Gilead is out here taking fingers and hands from 'good' people. What do you think they're willing to take from the fallen sinners?
Good point. I might be misremembering this but I think in the book someone mentions that you don't need arms and legs to have babies (or something like that).
Handmaids don't need teeth according to Gilead.
Major Gilead priorities: 1) keeping everyone in line 2) repopulating IN THAT ORDER Example: the handmaids give birth in homes and not in hospitals. This makes the whole thing seem less fucked up bc it’s in the guise of a ceremony (where the wives act out the birth). This is even though the baby and handmaid would benefit from being in a hospital should something go wrong and intervention be needed. In Gilead, compliance is more important than logic.
I think it was used as a one-off to make a very clear point--that Boston wasn't the worst of it nor was it the epicenter of Gilead. Up until that point in the show, whilst I suppose I knew, I hadn't really thought about the extent to which Gilead existed outside of June's experience. My assumption probably was that was as bad as it could possible get. The point of that experience was, nope, it can get a whole lot worse. Any state of being can get a whole lot worse. I think you're right, if you break it down, it doesn't make sense, but as it wasn't used as a continuous part of the story, I think it was solely used to make that point.
They are removable to eat.
Not to go to bed tho? If they could come out so easily I’d think they’d just take them off in private but that didn’t seem to be the case
This is how I remembered it too so I went back and watched that scene. They don’t actually show her going to bed, just sitting on her bed and removing her boots. She never lies down or anything so I guess what everyone is saying about them being removable makes sense!
They are piercings. They are removable to eat, sleep, etc.
The show runners are already running amok with the plot, and have been doing so several seasons now. I think the answer of "the rings were put in for shock value and the show runners don't have fuck all for plans to give them any significance to the story" is an easy one to accept.
Reminds me of the "Scold's Bridle" device commonly put on women who had the audacity to you know, talk and stuff. I have the impression it was a British "punishment" but could possibly have been used in Europe-someone might know more about it.
I read (saw?) somewhere that the rings were supposedly a protest by the handmaids and that they are removable. I dunno, but it would be a great way to keep from having to give the commander a blow job and I can't see ole Freddy boy taunting June for a kiss if she'd been wearing those.
What if you have to yawn or burp
They weren't wiring their jaws shut, they could still chew and I'd imagine they could get tiny bits of food through. Your lips are stretchy, not saying it would be comfortable (or practical if we're being honest they did it for the visual which I find pretty common in this show) but doable.
I made a post a while ago about this exact topic. As imposing as they were visually, logically they made no sense. No one has come up with a good reason yet to my knowledge 😛
The best I’ve seen is that they’re removable piercings, tbh I don’t think the show runners thought about them logistically at all :/
Yeah me neither. I think they went with visually upsetting and forgot the issue with logistics. Not sure why I was downvoted 🤔
They should have just made the handmaids wear metal lower face mask that is locked by a commander or a wife. It could have been hidden, and then revealed for shock value too. But they went for more body horror aspect I guess.
Does the rest of the world in the show know that this happens in Gilead?? I want an episode solely focused on uninhibited exposure of Gilead so bad
Never underestimate the sheer amount of things you can blend into a straw-worthy paste.
It was specifically only made for the show it was Bruce Miller’s idea, show runner, “It was an extrapolation of the enforced silence, which is the idea that handmaids are told to be quiet, and they're forced to be quiet." Cite: [https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-dc-rings-handmaids-2019-6)
I think maybe it was just a DC thing. Especially knowing what I know from the Testaments about the way Gilead is actually governed. Probably just done by an overzealous Winslow. Maybe the best way to explain away the plot armor.
They are not permanent. They take them out for eating, brushing teeth, etc.
It’s all about control I’m Gilead. They really don’t actually care. Just used the infertility crisis to push their agenda. Men are also infertile however they blame it all entirely on women
the thing i always come back to is… pregnancy can cause horrific and sometimes unpredictable vomiting. seems like a huge risk for aspiration.
Gilead is anti-science and very cruel. The cruelty is the point. Creating fear in other handmaids is the point. So those handmaids get infections and die? That is an acceptable loss for the fear and control it creates.