"Fraternize means to behave like a brother. Luke told me that. He said there was no corresponding word that meant to behave like a sister. Sororize, it would have to be, he said." Chapter 2; page 11
The ownership of women by men is implied throughout the first four chapters of The Handmaid's Tale. In this dystopia, each Handmaid is assigned a name according to their individual husband, they are not allowed to read, and they are monitored by male dominated officials, such as the Guardians and the men in black vans. Succinctly, Offred's quote of the meaning of "fraternize" implies the social order of Gilead.
Throughout The Handmaid's Tale, women, from the secured Handmaid's to the working Econowives, are clearly not allowed to socialize with one another; this parallels with the fact that sororize doesn't exist. The only existing word for sororize is sisterhood, but its "s" sound is passive in comparison to the clear sound of the "f" and "b" in fraternize and brother. Sororize doesn't have a position in dictionaries, just as every wife in Gilead cannot form friendships, but their guardians can fraternize. This quote illustrates through word denotation and connotation, the rift between the men and women in Gilead.
Image courtesy of ISP - Handmaid's Tale
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