Colonization of woman in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Christina Dalcher's Vox

This thesis examines two contemporary dystopian novels, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Vox by Christina Dalcher, from a feminist perspective, focusing on the systemic strategies that patriarchal ideologies employ to reinforce dominance and suppress female autonomy. Both novels depict societies in which oppressive regimes strengthen institutionalized patriarchal ideology through education, religion, language control, constructed gender roles, distinguished spheres, and panoptic surveillance to maintain the dominant ideology. Furthermore, this study investigates how these means are used to objectify, commodify, silence, control, and confine women to the private sphere, aligning with Simone de Beauvoir's concept of women as the 'second sex'. It also examines how female identity is defined and constructed by patriarchal structures that reshape gender roles, positioning women as silent, obedient, and submissive figures. Women's autonomy is systematically erased and undermined through political and theological strategies of subjugation, with both texts illustrating how such oppression is normalized under ideological extremism. Subjected to the political and religious control of patriarchy, women struggle to retain their autonomy. The Handmaid's Tale and Vox reveal the colonization of women's bodies, identities, and voices under oppressive patriarchal authorities. The theme of resistance, explicitly or subtly, is also portrayed throughout this thesis, as the novels under discussion serve as cautionary tales that underscore the dangers of patriarchal control and the silencing of women. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of awareness of women's suppression and calls attention to the need to question and resist dominant ideologies that reduce women to subordinate identities, advocating for the recognition of women as autonomous and equal individuals.