Why was The Handmaid's Tale (novel) banned? Details explored as adaptation edges closer to final season 

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian story, The Handmaid’s Tale, first came out back in 1990 and has since been the inspiration for multiple movies and TV series. Since its release, the book has been banned in multiple states across the USA and has been received the same way in multiple countries, including Spain and Portugal.

While multiple reasons have been cited for the same, it seems as if different communities/governments have far different reasons for it. Multiple aspects of the original story have led to it being labeled anti-Christian, anti-religion, and profane.

The book also dealt directly with multiple LGBTQIA+ characters and also had ‘se*ual content.’ The recent movement against the book led to Atwood herself releasing a 2022 version of the novel which was ‘unburnable.’ Made from fire-resistant paper, the book was released as an act of defiance against the ban on The Handmaid’s Tale. Furthermore, the author herself wrote a stellar piece for The Atlantic, in which she expressed her resentment in particular towards a move by the Virginia School Board, which in particular she deemed as unacceptable. She also wrote:

“To those who seek to stop young people from reading The Handmaid’s Tale: good luck with that. It’ll only make them want to read it more.”

---

Why was The Handmaid’s Tale banned in multiple states and countries?

There seems to be a range of elements that have been deemed problematic by different governments and communities. While it is no new phenomenon, fiction books in recent decades have only rarely undergone such perils.

However, the biggest reason why the movement has continued against Atwood’s creation, in particular, appears to be down to her depiction of various LGBTQIA+ characters, something which has been observed concerning multiple works in recent years.

Furthermore, in the US, rather than the decision to ban books being taken on a central level, it appears as though it is the parents of students who have pushed for such censorship. For example, Atwood herself talks about how Governor Glenn Youngkin had allowed school boards to ban certain teaching materials via legislation that allowed them to deem various materials as ‘se*ually explicit.’

“It’s shunning time in Madison County, Virginia, where the school board recently banished my novel The Handmaid’s Tale from the shelves of the high-school library. I have been rendered “unacceptable.” Governor Glenn Youngkin enabled such censorship last year when he signed legislation allowing parents to veto teaching materials they perceive as se*ually explicit.”

Hence, traditionally, The Handmaid’s Tale has undergone bans in various countries and states due to the very nature of the story and the characters. However, the recent move in Virginia appears to be a direct result of parents deeming the novel as ‘se*ually explicit.’

Hence, while Atwood certainly has a point in deeming the ban ‘unacceptable,’ the move in itself is not a direct result of a political idealogy or general legislation. Rather, it is a result of the state allowing parents to deem various works as 'se*ually explicit,’ which has led to the recent action against The Handmaid’s Tale.

Of course, that is not something Atwood herself wishes to be concerned about. The 84-year-old Canadian storyteller even stated that her book was less se*ually explicit than the Bible, which might seem justified to a range of fans.