Il controllo dei corpi. The Handmaid's Tale dalla narrazione seriale all'attivismo = Controlling Bodies: The Handmaid's Tale from Serialized Narrative to Political Activism

Abstract

In every political regime, the body is never merely biological matter; it is a point of intersection between knowledge, norms, and power. The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu, 2017–2025, created by Bruce Miller and based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel) radicalizes this insight by depicting a dystopian society in which sexuality is serially produced as an instrument of governance. In recent years, the series has permeated contemporary political debate, becoming a laboratory of words and images made available to international activism across a wide constellation of gender-related issues. Its public reception confirms the pervasiveness of television seriality in shaping the social imaginary. The red dresses of the Handmaids have become a tool of widespread performance: protests have transformed an image of discipline and subjugation into an emancipatory icon, overturning the logic of power through the very aesthetics of repetition. This essay investigates the relationship between the series and the forms of activism inspired by it, beginning with a theoretical reflection on the disciplining of bodies and moving toward a sociological analysis that reconstructs the trajectory from imaginary oppression to real-world protest, drawing on analytical frameworks developed in the study of the hybridization of politics, spectacle, and popular culture.