“The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel” is another book found in various Iowa school libraries. The book is rated 4 and considered not for minors.
The book contains alcohol use, explicit sexual activities, sexual nudity, mild profanity, explicit violence and inflammatory gender ideologies. It is about young women who are used by the totalitarian State for procreation and other menial jobs.
The book was found in the following school libraries:
Valley Southwood
Johnston
Carlisle
Valley High School
Dallas Center-Grimes
Pleasant Valley
Van Meter
Iowa City High
Davis County High School
Linn-Mar
Iowa City West
Fairfield High School
Spirit Lake
Winterset High School
Mt. Pleasant High School
North Tama Secondary
South Tama High School
Waukee High School
Dubuque High School
Cedar Rapids Washington
Waukee Northwest
West Liberty High School
Thomas Jefferson Council Bluffs
Keokuk High School
Central High School (Davenport)
Here is one excerpt from the book:
“Open up now honey.”
…”I could help you.”
“What?”
“Shh. I could help you. I’ve helped others.”
“Help me how?”
“How do you think?”
The illustration on the top of the page depicts the same woman as described
above. A male doctor is pulling the pink blanket up.
An illustration on the middle right of the page depicts a gloved hand grasping an
exposed breast.
The illustration on the bottom of the page depicts the woman described above
from a bird’s-eye view. Her breasts are exposed, and the pink blanket is pulled up
to her pelvis. The doctor is standing between her thighs, leaning into her pelvis.
“The door’s locked. No one will come in. They’ll never know it isn’t his. Most of
those old guys can’t make it anymore. Or they’re sterile.”
He’s said a forbidden word. Sterile. There’s no such thing as a sterile man
anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who
are barren, that’s the law.
“Lots of women do it. You want a baby, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Give me children or else I die.
There’s more than one meaning to it.
“You’re soft. It’s time. Today or tomorrow would do it, why waste it? It’ll only take
a minute, honey. I hate to see what they put you through.”
“It’s too dangerous. No, I can’t.”
The penalty is death.
“Think about it. I’ve seen your chart. Third posting, isn’t it? You don’t have a lot of
time left. But it’s your life.”
An illustration on the middle right of the page depicts a gloved hand on the upper
thigh of the woman described above.
The illustration on the bottom of the page depicts the same woman described
above, in the background, behind a zoomed in view of the doctor’s mouth and
torso. He is removing a glove from his left hand. The woman’s buttocks are
exposed with her feet still resting on the stirrups.
Here are some images from the book (warning, they are not appropriate for children):
For a full report on the book, visit this link.
On Monday, there is an Iowa House Government Oversight Committee hearing on obscene materials in Iowa school libraries. If you wish to submit a public comment, you can do so here.
