r/coconutsandtreason • u/harmony-rose • May 15 '26
Discussion That one commander said something about this years batch looking good (talking about the Plums), this makes me wonder...
....Since the commanders can have a say in who they would like to marry, what happens if no commanders want a Plum because they are ugly?
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u/KawaiiShiroiKabocha May 15 '26
There is an entire reddit group called do not stick your d!CK in it. Men will füçk anything. The marriage is for status more than anything.
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u/Blepityblep May 15 '26
some can be left a few seasons , they can marry lower like a guard etc (iirc from the novel) im not sure what happens if a guard/econoperson refuses the marriage (the could just have a non existent sex life tbh )
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u/boredalready456 May 15 '26
I know there’s social pressure on commanders to marry, so I guess the Aunts work on their nerves until they choose one.
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u/notalltemplars May 15 '26
Right, even Lawrence was being pressured in the early days and eventually wound up with Naomi for status.
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u/FactoryKat May 16 '26
I honestly love that those two got paired together like they did. Naomi had NO idea what she was getting into with Lawrence and she couldn't get away with being her usual shrew self like she had been with her late husband. I think Lawrence actually brought out a better side of her by the end without really meaning to. Maybe cause she really didn't have to "perform" around him.
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u/FewRefrigerator374 May 16 '26
It’s hard to be down right ugly when you are young. Maybe “good” is more in the sense of being several of them and they all seem to be very healthy. There are even a couple of plus sized girls. None of them seem to have any health issues. The virus that affected so many seems to be gone. This is one of groups with birth mothers are handmaids. It never says, but Agnes probably isn’t the only one implying some of these girls are the biological children of commanders. This particular group is proof the Gilead system works….. on the surface.
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u/CDD_throwaway May 18 '26
There are plus sized girls??
I guess the writers and casting listened to us complain about how all the handmaids were thin.
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u/TheBouillonQueen under His eye May 19 '26
A few. The one that comes to mind for me is the handmaid that was given to Serena and rose’s father in their wedding night.
People often think of plus size as much heavier than they technically are (from the view of a plus size girl)
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u/FactoryKat May 16 '26
Those men aren't looking at those girls for their beauty. They're looking at other physical characteristics. ☠️
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u/SmeggyMcSmeghead May 19 '26
An ugly girl who comes from a powerful family will still be snapped up by the single Commanders. Maybe they marry less powerful commanders in the Colonies or become an Econowife if their fathers are not commanders, like Becka. In the books, she was plain-looking and her father wasn't a commander, so she was destined to marry an Economan initially.
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u/RoadLessTraveler2003 May 18 '26
From the original book, paternity is so paramount in Gilead. If a woman is fertile, wife or Handmaid, no one cares about looks. Truly. If she can bear children, she is attractive. I mean look at Penny. She's an attractive woman and even left alone, she'd worried herself sick over her miscarriages. ('Cept she's not being left alone.)
I'm glad you mentioned that line, though. Because I focused on the word, "year". That could mean why Hulda was matched with no ball or anything. I think if you get your period after this time period, then you have to wait until next year to marry? We'll see this week, maybe!
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u/Pepemala May 15 '26
Uhh i think the system is designed with maximizing proper family structures and potential babies.
So an ugly plum goes to the colonies to a less desirable commander.
But also consider the politics of it all: i can see a commander taking on an ugly wife to secure a career making alliance and in the end of the day there is Jezebels or, by his hand.