The Real Handmaid’s Tale Is How The Left Talks About Conservative Women

Her exact words? When asked what advice she has for the first female president of the United States, Clinton stated:

"Well, first of all, don't be a handmaiden to the patriarchy, which kind of eliminates every woman on the other side of the aisle, except for very few. Yeah, there's a few. Um, look, first we have to get there, and it is, you know, obviously so much harder than it should be. So, you know, if a woman runs who I think would be a good president, as I thought Kamala Harris would be, and as I knew I would be, I will support that woman."

First of all, can we please acknowledge the absolute chokehold The Handmaid’s Tale has on the Democratic Party? Please, for the love of God, read another book. It’s giving Harry Potter hysteria before J.K. Rowling refused to pretend that men can be women. Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic has been reduced to cosplay, dragged out every time the left wants to avoid engaging with the fact that millions of women just don’t want what they’re selling.

Which brings me to the second thing we have to acknowledge, which is that this whole “if you’re not a Democrat, you’re not an empowered woman” thing is played out. We've been hearing from Democrats that women who reject progressive orthodoxy are somehow betraying their sex for over a decade now, but clearly the message is not landing like they think it is.

Oh, and one more thing: there’s something uniquely audacious about Hillary Clinton, a woman who stood by her serially unfaithful husband while publicly smearing his accusers, other women “handmaidens” like she’s the face of female courage. She's really the one calling women with happy marriages to good, faithful men handmaidens? Self-awareness, where are you?

The Only Good Woman Is a Liberal Woman?

Clinton’s comments reveal something more than just personal bitterness, though; they show the left’s increasingly narrow definition of what a “good woman” looks like. According to this logic, you can be wildly successful, highly educated, happily married, and politically engaged, but if you vote the wrong way, your convictions are wrong and your femininity is suspect.

This attitude isn’t new. Remember when Joe Biden told black voters they “ain’t black” if they didn’t vote for him? Or when Democrats warned that Latinos were “too susceptible to disinformation” (read: thinking for themselves)? Or how white voters are constantly reminded that their race somehow automatically discredits any conservative viewpoint? Now, women are just the latest group to be stripped of complexity and agency in the name of progress.

The Real War on Women

The left constantly accuses the right of waging a “war on women,” but what do you call it when a powerful woman publicly declares that half the country’s women are just ignorant, powerless pawns? A true feminism, if we’re still using that word, shouldn’t require lockstep allegiance to Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris. It should allow for variation, even opposition. It should honor women’s capacity to think for themselves, even if they come to different conclusions.

But instead of respecting the millions of women who vote Republican, many of them mothers, business owners, educators, and leaders, Clinton dismisses them all with the same smug insult. To her, they're not actively engaged citizens, thinkers, or equals. Just accessories to men.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, women aren’t allowed to think for themselves. They’re not allowed to question authority. Their roles are assigned. Their voices are silenced. But ask yourself: who’s actually doing that today?

It’s not the conservative mom on a school board pushing back against gender ideology, it’s the liberal mob trying to get her fired for “hate speech.”

It’s not the woman choosing to ditch hormonal birth control after a decade of side effects, it’s the influencer accusing her of “falling for right-wing propaganda.

It’s not the woman who wants her daughters to compete on a fair playing field, it’s the activists calling her a bigot for caring about her child’s safety.

It's not the immigrant woman who fled socialism and now votes Republican, it’s the progressive pundits mocking her as too “uninformed” to understand what’s good for her.

It’s not the young mom who homeschools her kids and starts a business on the side, it’s the thinkpiece writer calling her a “tradwife” as if that’s a slur.

Maybe the real Handmaid’s Tale isn’t a warning about a future theocracy. Maybe it’s actually a mirror reflecting how progressives now talk about any woman who won’t fall in line. When “feminism” can’t accommodate stay-at-home moms, pro-life advocates, religious women, or anyone weary of failed progressive policies, is that really feminism, anyway? Isn't that just a selective "sisterhood" that uses shame and mockery to enforce ideological purity?

The left loves to warn that conservatives want to control women’s lives, but take a closer look at who’s demanding obedience, who’s punishing dissent, and who’s erasing women’s complexity. What if the real story isn’t about women being forced into submission by men but women being forced into submission by a narrative?

Maybe Real Empowerment Is on the Other Side of the Aisle

But there’s a quiet revolution happening, and it’s no longer being led by hysterical women in pink hats screaming in the streets. It’s led by women who are questioning tired political dogmas and rejecting the idea that their worth is measured by how closely they can parrot progressive-approved talking points.

These women want to be told the truth. And they certainly don’t want to be told they’re less of a woman for daring to disagree. And they're certainly not interested in Hillary’s bitter brand of feminism.