US Election 2024: Real imitates video of women donning capes from The Handmaid’s Tale to vote at polling stations, but why?

Rarely has there been a year in the US elections when people haven’t been glued to their screens and biting their nails, not only in the States, but around the world. This year, the stakes seem to have increased exponentially as both major parties – Democrats and Republicans – go head-to-head in the race for the White House. The potential return to power of Donald Trump has always hung like a sword of Damocles over the seemingly very turbulent future of the United States. However, Joe Biden understandably but shockingly turning down a potential second term as US President was a real plot twist. His vice president, Kamala Harris, arrived, intent on ensuring the Democrats remained in power. But the current election count means Trump will have an easier time than Kamala when it comes to moving into the White House.

At a time in global politics when Charles Dickens’s line “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” rings truer than ever, you can rest assured that your feeds are adorned with some very cleverly chosen flashes of social messages. That’s where this little socially aware revival of the series comes in The Handmaid’s Tale seems to do. According to reports and several images, some women were seen wearing a can’t-miss red cape and white hat – a staple of the series – as they headed to the polling booths to cast their votes.

Why are you asking? The internet is interpreting this as a well-thought-out move to express what Trump’s rise to power could mean for American women in the future. For context, The Handmaid’s TaleBased on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, it is a dystopian television series depicting female fertility being used as cells. Now, reflecting a potential Republican takeover in the White House, the party of which Trump is the face has long advocated for “traditional” families, some of which entail significant opposition to abortion rights.

Returning to the silent demonstration of cloaked women outside the tents, abortion may be just one of the issues. This could well be seen as a broader dialogue about the once hidden, but now quite obvious, assault on the agency that women have.

At the same time, there are people on the Internet who have stated that the correlation that these social posts have revealed is extremely troubling, given the fact that there are many women around the world whose reality is a more accurate reflection of the premise The Handmaid’s Tale. “American women: you are not enslaved. You are not oppressed. Maybe take 5 minutes to educate yourself about the plight of Afghan women before you claim to be a “handmaid”,” read an excerpt from the comment.

As for the results, Trump is projected to win a second term as US President, and a Democratic victory in Pennsylvania will allow Republicans to surpass the record 270 electoral votes.