Feminism in Dystopian Fiction

Recently, dystopian fiction has gone from being a genre of possibilities for civilization to a genre of probabilities for it. Orwellian language is used by political leaders in the media, calling lies “alternative facts” and truth “fake news.” Protesters all over the world have donned the iconic Handmaiden’s outfit from Margaret Atwood’s famous novel and television series to decry assaults on women’s reproductive rights. And it seems every week brings new catastrophic predictions from climate scientists, turning our newspapers themselves into grim prophecies of an uncertain future. The line between the dystopias we imagine and the real world we inhabit is blurring.

Perhaps because of this convergence, dystopian literature seems to be more popular than ever right now. Feminist dystopias, in particular, are having a moment, as writers acknowledge that women likely have the most to lose in any coming collapse of civilization. In most of these stories, there is one consistent theme: women are the victims. Even when female protagonists go through a hero’s journey and end up with power by the story’s end, they start without agency and they need to discover it.