Writer. Recovering from Book of Lives tour.
Toronto
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My goodness, some of you are good at misreading! To be clear: when HandmaidsTale came out in 85, there was disbelief. I thought a religious-right takeover was possible in the US, and was Crazy Margaret. Premature, but unfortunately too close. That doesn’t make me happy.
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Join the club. I did a signing to which Nobody came, except a guy who wanted to buy some Scotch tape and thought I was the help. :)
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Congratulations to BELEN, which has been chosen by the Argentine Film Academy to represent the country at the Oscars! It tells the story of a girl who went to the hospital because she was hemorrhaging, only to be told that she'd had a miscarriage, then to be accused and convicted of having caused or obtained an abortion, and imprisoned. It took years to challenge and reverse this false conviction. A fate that looms, USA women?
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Yes indeed to those who asked: I’m writing a sequel to The #HandmaidsTale. #TheTestaments is set 15 years after Offred’s final scene and is narrated by three female characters. It will be published in Sept 2019. More details: smarturl.it/TestamentsMA
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Some science here: "When Sex and Gender Collide." scientificamerican.com/artic… #TransGenderWomen Biology doesn't deal in sealed Either/Or compartments.
We're all part of a flowing Bell curve. Respect that! Rejoice in Nature's infinite variety!
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I would rather have been wrong.
Am I the only one who now sort of wishes not having read The Handmaid's Tale? I love your work, @MargaretAtwood, but I seriously worry that you might be a visionary.
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That is why I did not put anything into #TheHandmaidsTale that had not happened somewhere... including the snatching of children from their parents. Believable? Alas yes. nitter.app/hodgekinson/status/100…
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Vicepresident of Argentina @gabimichetti: don't look away from the thousands of deaths every year from ilegal abortions. Give argentinian women the right to choose! #AbortoLegalYa #QueElAbortoSeaLey #NiUnaMenos #AbortoEnSenadoYa
@cdnwomenfdn @equalitynow
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To be also clear, there are no overtly #LBGTQ+ people in Gilead society in The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) because the regime has killed and suppressed them. As has happened and is happening in many times & places.
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Wow, I'm the most dangerous little old lady of 84 you've ever heard of! Was it the blue XXXs? Too hot to read? Adult entertainment only? I wonder which satirists of ancient Rome would be banned there? And I'm banned from Russia, too! Oh alas, whatever will I do? Hit Utah with my cane?
🧵Utah has released a No-Read List of 13 book titles now banned in all public schools to comply with a new law that requires every district to remove books banned in at least three districts.
The list includes books by @MargaretAtwood @judyblume @ElanaKArnold @EllenHopkinsLit...
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Here's a piece of literature by me, suitable for seventeen-year-olds in Alberta schools, unlike -- we are told -- The Handmaid's Tale. (Sorry, kids; your Minister of Education thinks you are stupid babies.)
John and Mary were both very, very good children. They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits. They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex. Although they claimed to be Christian, they paid no attention to what Jesus actually said about the poor and the Good Samaritan and forgiving your enemies and such; instead, they practised selfish rapacious capitalism, because they worshipped Ayn Rand. (Though they ignored the scene in The Fountainhead where “welcomed rape” is advocated, because who wants to dwell, and also that would have involved sex and would de facto be pornographic. Well, it kind of is, eh?) Oh, and they never died, because who wants to dwell on, you know, death and corpses and yuk? So they lived happily ever after. But while they were doing that The Handmaid’s Tale came true and Danielle Smith found herself with a nice new blue dress but no job. The end.
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It’s an old playbook. Create chaos, remove validity from gov’t, create a demand for #authoritarian order, step in; OR force gov’t itself to use muscle, then yell Tyrant. Bingo, democracy doesn’t work! Enemies of it win. #blockades
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Mahsa Amini’s brutal death may be moment of reckoning for Iran theguardian.com/world/2022/s…
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Hi kids .. #HandmaidsTale (the book not the series!) has just been banned in #Edmonton…don’t read it, your hair will catch on fire! Get one now before they have public book burnings of it.
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I shouldn’t have, but I did. That’s Alex @FaneProductions killing himself laughing. I didn’t run over anyone (this time). #wellington N Z: filled with temptations!
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Why can’t we say ‘woman’ anymore? thestar.com/opinion/star-col… via @torontostar
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Ahem I got #vaccinated. (Old, you know.) Thank you front liners at St. Mike’s in #toronto. You were all great!
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‘Enforced childbirth is slavery’: Margaret Atwood on the right to abortion theguardian.com/us-news/2022…
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The Handmaid's Tale Was Removed from an Idaho School Library. This Teen Handed a Copy to the Superintendent At Graduation people.com/idaho-graduate-gi… via @people
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Thank you all for Birthday wishes!
Opening present in the great Canadian freezing socially distanced outdoors.. :D
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How about this one? Hanging, Shooting,or gassing? And while you’re at it, execute a bunch that haven’t lied. Oh, and maybe some flogging first. Disembowling? Full 14th C? How about men that have lied about not raping people? Uh, I guess not eh?
Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon calls for the public execution of women who falsely claim to have been sexually assaulted: "#MeToo would end real fast ... All you have to do is publicly execute a few women who have lied." peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch…
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“You wont have to vote” because “it will be fixed?” What does “fixed” mean? As in dogs? As in elections? As in Mafia “We have a problem?” Christians, ask for an exegesis.
Trump: “Get out and vote just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years it will be fixed. It'll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore...In four years you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good your not gonna have to vote.”
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After a hard day’s #gardening or indeed #writing, a little splash does no harm.. #ireland No falling into the wheelbarrow however.
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Congratulations, American friends! I had the teapot ready for you, but I guess you won’t be fleeing now! Here’s to transparency and Truth.
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Congratulations to @StephenKing on the 50th anniversary publication of Carrie, his breakthrough novel. Moi has an Introduction in it -- longer than the one in the NY Times.... (It's got Jungian analysis, tho not by me, just sayin' ....)
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OK Twitterpals, as I crouch in my burrow, what would you like the most? a) comforting book reccos b) plague book reccos c) poetry book reccos d) stupid/weird/mundane things I have done to pass the time, which would have passed anyway...
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So, um, speaking as a very postmenopausal woman .. if I didn’t have grandkids, I should be taken out and shot? Lacking a sole purpose? Or?
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Thank you. A division between women's rights and human rights is a false dichotomy. One of my sources for #TheHandmaidsTale was Argentina under the Generals. So many women were killed and their babies stolen.
This a good article, Margaret. I hope you know that many of us don’t consider you a bad feminist or a traitor.
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Because it's in the world. (It's not just women who are controlled in the book.. it's everyone except those at the top. Gilead is a theocratic totalitariansim, not simply a Men-have-power Women-do-not world. Lower status men are told when and who marry, eg.)
My crazy English teacher is making us write essays on #TheHandmaidsTale tale where we are supposed to answer why @MargaretAtwood put the theme of power and control in the book. We do not have telepathy with @MargaretAtwood so I guess twitter is a close second... Helpppp!!!🥴
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Thanks to all for birthday wishes! I am now officially “spry.” Sharing cake (provided by my little sister).
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Glad some are realizing it could happen to them and maybe they should work to try to keep it from happening to anybody.
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June is on fire.. @CraVeTv6 @hulu @mgmstudios #handmaidsonhulu Just don’t annoy her! (Any more.)
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The life of glamour. Banished to a bench in the dungeons at @TheBookerPrizes in advance of guest arrivals. :(
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Here comes @HandmaidsOnHulu #handmaidstale Season 4: April 28! No I haven't seen it yet! I too will be surprised! (Where can I get one of these botanical specimens?)
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Authoritarians are fond of using any kind of social unrest as an excuse for a coup or an elimination of opposition. See Stalin’s purges etc etc etc.
You know in The Handmaid's Tale how it's never quite clear what happened to bring about Gilead? Are we about to find out @MargaretAtwood?
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"Humble"? This comment is high-school level mean. How do you know a woman Couldn't or Could have children? Then going "Na-na-na, I've got some," pats self on back. What next? "I've got two legs, na-na-na?" Oh + Vance is going to send childless + post-menopausal women to clean up toxic waste because they are otherwise useless? And step-parenthood doesn't count? A fine bunch of humble people!
Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets down lower than JD Vance's level by shaming another woman for not having biological children while she intentionally mis-pronounces her name: "Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble."
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Very sorry to hear that very old friend and fellow writer #AliceMunro has died. It would have been her 93rd birthday in July. Many memories, for over 45 years...
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In both "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Testaments," Canada is the place you can escape to when things become too oppressive in the States. You're welcome.
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OPINION | Trans rights? Yes. Toxic, in-your-face activism? No | CBC News cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-…
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‘I Think the Women Are Winning’ theatlantic.com/newsletters/… #iran
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Yes, I’m giving some thought to the #texas rat-out-your-neighbour-for-bounty-hunter-cash, bear-false-witness-with-impunity, mess-up-your-ex-with-a-false-accusation, state-owns-your-body Thoughtcrime Law. Clog up the justice system, will it? A tv plot there?
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Two very clearly-explaining young people. Thank you,
clearly-explaining young people! You are very thorough.
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Right now, women in #Argentina are fighting for their rights and lives. @equalitynow @cdnwomenfdn #AbortoLegalYa #AbortoEnSenadoYa. If #irelandreferendum can do it so can Argentina. #NiUnaMas
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If this account of the bill is true, it’s Lettres de Cachet all over again. The possibilities for revenge false accusations + thoughtcrime stuff are sooo inviting! Trudeau’s Orwellian online harms bill thespectator.com/topic/trude…
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Dang! @JimCarrey and I had planned a little naughty weekend getaway in Moscow. Guess it will have to be Kyiv instead.
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Amazing story: girl went to hospital with tummy ache, turned out she’d had a miscarriage, didn’t know she was pregnant, accused of having an #abortion, imprisoned for 2 years until a group of women worked to get her out. Yes USA, this could get you. Intro by me. Read it & weep.
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Women Of Ireland To Watch Handmaid’s Tale To Escape Grim Reality waterfordwhispersnews.com/20…
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The fight for women's rights in #Argentina: ABORTO LEGAL media sanción Afirmativa... ARGENTINA piped.video/KcIrkdulsNw via @YouTube #NiUnaMenos #AbortoLegalYa #AbortoEnSenadoYa #QueElAbortoSeaLey
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It’s called child stealing.
This is unacceptable. If you've read @MargaretAtwood's Handmaid's Tale, you know that even in fiction, this is the hallmark or a society that has gone off the rails. If you don't vote for any other reason, vote for candidates who commit to fixing this stain.
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Just discovered Glue Guns! What took me so long? !! Now I roam the world, seeking that which must be glued...
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Four Seasons Total Landscaping Local Ad piped.video/VAyh2xPrFvo via @YouTube
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Why should women in #Argentina be forced to carry a fetus that is already dead + septic? tmblr.co/Ztdf-l2YT-P17 This is not Right to Life but a sadistic Rite of Death. #QueSeaLey #SenadoresQueSeaLea @anaecorrea @hindeli Senators, please change this unjust & death-dealing law.
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That is very sweet! Thank you! But I am tough like old pickled ox and have the immune system of a meercat, plus I stuff my nose with rose petals and hit too-close strangers with ski poles, so I should be ok unless I fall down in the bathtub. >:>}
I’ll tell you what I’m worried about. I’m worried about @MargaretAtwood. Seriously. I do not want this virus to get @MargaretAtwood. (I’ll bring you groceries if that would keep you indoors.)
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Note that not a single “administrator” has taken a pay cut. #Universities have to teach. It’s what they are for. They are not “for” administering without any #teachers. Many have become topheavy with administrators, who just keep administering themselves more money and cutting the teaching of students.
The crisis here spells disaster for the future of public education. bostonreview.net/articles/an…
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Claudia Lopez, Bogota's first female mayor - CNN cnn.com/2019/11/02/world/cla…
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Twitter pals, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. Trigger thumb (self-inflicted physical injury) plus US Election obsessive anxiety (self-inflicted psychological injury) have slowed me down... ):>(
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Happy Birthday, fellow Scorpios! We’re very nice really, most of the time, unless people do unwise things to us, yes? 🌹🌸💐🦂
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Congratulations to @StephenKing on publication of The Institute. “What fresh hell is this?” (Dorothy Parker.) Would YOU kidnap and torture children if you were told it was in aid of protecting your world? Well? Would you? @HodderBooks
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(Sigh) First published in 1985. nitter.app/marshallexi/status/845…
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The Handmaid’s Tale comes to life in Alabama. Women must heed the warning | Zoe Williams theguardian.com/commentisfre…
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Is there a platform that allows sharing of family pics etc. but does not allow lies and hate? Anyone know?
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Women are people. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :D
I read @MargaretAtwood in High school and remember being amazed at finally seeing representation of the darker, psychological side of female interactions. It's something you rarely see in YA or beyond one token villain or stereotypical clique.
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Interesting to see which politicians and would-be Prime Ministers are now openly against the rule of law. Of course if they achieve power it will be a different story. Always is. French Rev anyone?
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