I think it is interesting that Sarena Joy was a leading voice for Gilead expecting it to be a utopia type of society. In the flashbacks when June had to go to the hospital to collect her daughter, Hannah, because she had a temperature in school, the attitude and questioning of the person (nurse? Admin?) in the hospital was very judgemental. The lady's view was in line with those of Gilead - women shouldn't work, that children should be the focus of everything etc.
In one of the early episodes a Handmaid tells June that she doesn't want to rock the boat because her life was actually better as a Handmaid.
Nik's young wife, Eden, is someone who innocently embraces the whole culture.
When female bank accounts were closed and money transferred over to male guardians, there did not appear to be too many objections from the men.
As has been said many times - power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and when you see how Fred beats his wife with a belt because he saw that as his right and compare that with how he was with Sarena Joy before the coup it makes you wonder how society had come to accept the changes in the male / female balance.
In one episode a Handmaid comments that the male guardian is probably in his early twenties and yet he has the right to break her jaw if he felt like.
It is interesting that it is the Aunt Lydia's who keep the Handmaids in check and that it was the Sarena Joys who fought so hard to actually bring Gilead into being.
I'm just rambling. Don't you love it when there is so much to get your teeth into!
