Aunt Lydia

Not having seen The Handmaid's Tale, I was appreciative of this explainer of Michelle Wolf's joke about Sarah Sanders at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. I was surprised at all the backlash accusing Wolf of making jokes about Sanders' looks, as I didn't interpret any of her harsh Sanders snark to be about the beast-woman's looks. (I, myself, have a hard time not remarking on her looks - she looks just like what I would offer as a German death camp matron.)

Though the Aunt Lydia joke was sharp, it was not a reference to Sander’s looks, unless you think Ann Dowd, who plays the character, is unattractive (she’s not). The Aunt Lydia jab was a direct reference to how Sanders is used as a tool by Trump and, arguably, the entire patriarchy to keep women down. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the Aunts are a class of women assigned to brainwash new Handmaids with the government’s beliefs and mores, and help the women accept their fates as birth vessels. Aunt Lydia uses torture, such as shocking Handmaids with cattle prods, whipping them, and partially blinding one divergent Handmaid in an effort to gain complete obedience. “I’m sorry, Aunt Lydia,” is one of the first phrases that a new Handmaid learns.

In season 2, which gets even more bleak (warning, spoilers ahead!), Aunt Lydia has the women rounded up and brought to an out of use sports field, where they are nearly hanged for not following her orders. Aunt Lydia is given a lot of power by the leaders of Gilead; as women who are beyond the childbearing age and sympathetic to the cause, Aunts control the destiny of enslaved women. They literally hold the lives of Handmaids in their grip. They actively strip away both the rights of other women and their control over their bodies, all while convincing them it is in their best interest.

Sanders is used as a mouthpiece to protect those in the Trump administration. Much like Aunt Lydia, she lies to Americans who are having their rights stripped away.

  Megan Wood

Also, I especially liked this Sanders joke: "“I think she’s very resourceful. But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye." That's also not about her looks.  (And if you're going to say it is, then it's a compliment to her eye makeup.)

To all those pearl-clutchers scandalized because they thought Wolf's jokes were about Sanders' looks - look to yourself: you're obviously reading something in because Sanders' looks are on your mind. Oh, and, look to your president, who has time and again insulted women (or praised them) over their looks. It's the only thing about a woman he seems to deem worth noting.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The perfect smokey eye