Women in the society of Gilead are separated into several different groups. The Handmaids are the women who give birth to children. Marthas are the women who fulfill the duties of a housewife. The Wives are just women married to the men. Econowives are women who do the jobs of the Handmaids, Marthas, and Wives. Lastly, there are the unwomen who are nuns, lesbians, widows, sterile women, or feminists, and these women serve no purpose in the front of the society. Each woman is treated differently according to their social status. Handmaids are given the luxury of healthy meals, Marthas are given the luxury of showing their head, the Wives are given the luxuries money and status can buy, the Econowives are given the ability to complete all the jobs of a wife, and the unwomen are given shortened life spans, something most of the other women would prefer. No woman in Gilead is completely happy and no woman is given any choice in how they can live. The society of Gilead is based off of traditional values, something that certain citizens fought for, namely feminists, but these traditional values only resulted in the stripping of rights and happiness for the very women the feminists were striving to liberate.
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