Sexism Experienced by The Main Characters in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments

Abstract

The phenomenon of sexism still exists in society. Sexism comes from the negative stereotypes that assumes, one gender is more valuable than the other. In this research, sexism is manifested in the literary work, one of them Margaret Atwood's The Testaments. This research aims to describe the form of sexism experienced and it’s effects by the main characters in Margaret Atwood's The Testaments. It will be focuses on Agnes and Nicole. Then, it uses feminist literary criticism method with feminism approach. This research seeks to solve the research problems based on applying library research techniques by reading repeatedly and then taking a note. Then, the data has been obtained were analyzed using the ambivalent sexism theory proposed by Glick and Fiske. The data analysis technique uses content analysis. Content analysis is an in-depth analysis of the messages contained in a text. Furthermore, the finding data revealed sexism experienced by the main characters, including: not being allowed to read and write, obligation to cover their body, arranged marriage, women constructed in domestic roles, and living in limited freedom. Then, the effect of sexism was revealed, including sexual harassment, objectification, internalized sexism, and alienation. Furthermore, the main characters' resistance is liberation and taking a mission.