In America, women's rights have always been fought for, never granted. Campaigns to make both sexes equal have faced criticism from people of all socioeconomic levels, but politics has usually moved in the right direction. Other countries, such as Iran, became aware of women's rights in the second half of the 20th century, but the Iranian Revolution of 1979 brought back some of their pre-Western ideals, such as socially and politically disadvantaged women. In her novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses parallels between the real-world consequences after the Iranian Revolution and the Republic of Gilead to convey that a society based on strict moral codes can be fostered by those who are religiously devout, but for everyone else, it led to a desperate struggle to live day to day and was a regression from what came before. The brutal and rigidly enforced ethics imposed on the citizens of Gilead share similarities with those of the post-1979 Iranian revolution to reveal how such a strange world can exist in real life. The most recognizable social ethic imposed on women in these “strange worlds” concerns their clothing. In Gilead, handmaids are forced to wear red gloves and “ankle-length skirts, gathered completely over a flat yoke that extends over the breast… White wings are an overly prescribed matter, they serve to prevent us from seeing , but also from being seen.” (Atwood 8) This modest attire shares similarities with the hijab or burqa worn by Muslim women in some countries. The hijab covers a woman's head and chest, while the burqa takes a more extreme approach as it covers a woman's entire face and body. This similarity in clothing was made to explain that a woman must remain modest, as she is the creator of...... middle of paper ......ye have seen the lives of independent women die. Through the government's use of deindividuation and, in a sense, dehumanization, those who longed for what life was like before both revolutions saw no escape from trudging through life without engaging in forced theocracy. Taking inspiration from the then current affairs of the Iranian government Revolution, Margaret Atwood created similar injustices in her dystopian Republic of Gilead. This culture, founded on hard ethical values, has been supported by a minority while the rest of the population slowly begins to detest the rules imposed on them more and more, in the hope of returning to the lifestyle that was once permitted. Parity between these two conflicting ideologies has existed for a long time, but attempts to free authoritarian governments from their power have always succeeded in overthrowing them, even if it takes time..