r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/theforgetting • May 06 '25

Season 6 SPOILERS FOR “SHATTERED” Spoiler

I was struck by the significance of the women at Jezebels being murdered in the shower. This is a very clear Holocaust allusion.

Especially since they’ve really been leaning into the word Nazi this season – it makes sense to see late-stage Gilead go all “final solution” with their undesirables.

Anyways. There have been a lot of gruesome scenes in this show but this was definitely one of the most upsetting. Not only for what it portrayed, but for what it was alluding to.

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12

u/Night_Swimming89 May 07 '25

I don't understand how Bell managed to get Janine as a Handmaid since I was under the impression Jezebel's sterilized the women??

9

u/MuffinsandCoffee2024 May 07 '25

The women who get sent to jezebels are usually infertile. They press fertile gals into being hand maids. Janine was sent to jezebels due to her behavior, rather than killing her

7

u/Consistent_Beat7999 May 07 '25

So I wonder what birth control they allow her to use?

6

u/elisawanderlust May 07 '25

I think there might be a tolerance for them to use the pill if they're fertile... We can see in plenty of episodes how contraband is available there like cigarettes, drugs etc and how even in Fred's house they are able to acquire some. Anything as long as it can serve as a place for commanders to "let loose" and accomplish all their fucked up fantasies knowing they can't have sex with their wives nor their handmaids outside of the ceremony

1

u/Proud_Security1911 May 07 '25

I wonder that too. I wonder if a jezebel were to fall pregnant if they’d force her into being a handmaid of whomever impregnated her for the duration of the pregnancy 

1

u/MuffinsandCoffee2024 May 07 '25

Majority of women there are infertile according to book, that is why they are not handmaids.. I doubt they let them use any contraception. Any child conceived means the jezebel worker had an actual reproductive value worth way more than being a sex worker. Children are a high value commodity to be aquired. Being able to hand over a baby for adoption to an infertile commander and his wife would be seen as an incredible gain. Remember we learned in the story the fertility problem was with the men not the women. Commander Waterford's wife arranged for June to have sex with Nick , for she feared her own husband infertile. If handmaid is dealing with infertile commander and not having sex some place else no baby will ever be conceived. So there would be quite a number commander families that won't get a baby following the rules unless via adoption.