u/sa_ostrich

This has been brought up a few times in different posts and reading others' comments has been so interesting regarding why there seems to be a huge number of commanders looking for wives, and few girls for them to marry. I've collated the reasons below - most of them were points brought up by other Redditors. If you can think of more reasons, please add them 😊

1. When Gilead was formed, some women (like June) saw the writing on the wall and fled - some successfully, some not. So fewer women in Gilead to begin with.

2. Commanders are not just marrying any female in Gilead. The eligible girls have to be from a decently good family (we didn't see any econo-daughters in "wife school" in TT). They have to also have had their periods, which is relatively rare, even though it is more common in Gilead than in the outside world, due to their so-called "healthy" lifestyle.

3. Women age out of the wife system, men don't age out of being commanders. After a certain age, women won't be eligible for marriage anymore, whereas no matter how old a commander gets, he can still request a wife.

4. Gilead has a high percentage of peadophiles and creeps. Due to the nature of their system, Gilead is the perfect haven for men who want child brides. In the book, Commander Judd kills his wives when they get "too old" so that he can get a new child bride. He's probably not the only one. So a small number of high-ranking creeps can "use up" several wives in an already strained system.

5. High-ranking women are judged by harsher standards than high-ranking men. Even a fertile girl like Becka nearly got sent to the wall. While many lower-class men do end up on the wall, few powerful men are held to account for crimes against women. Becka's dad is a rare example and we see how long Gilead let him get away with his crimes, despite knowing about his peadophilia (the aunts and the Eyes - at a minimum - were well aware).

What do you think? Are there more reasons?

I have a theory about why Aunt Estée apologised so profusely to Daisy for her experience. It's a book-influenced theory, so I may be wrong, but she did seem extra distraught about this, whereas the aunts previously simply gaslit the girls while knowing their stories were true.

Aunt Lydia already hinted to Agnes that Dr. Grove would be dealt with. My theory is that Aunt Estée was supposed to go for an appointment and falsely accuse him, but Daisy did it first. Aunt Estée naturally realises that this will harm Daisy's prospects in Gilead, where women are blamed for the abuse they experience through "tempting" men. No self-respecting commander will want a girl that has been "sullied", so I think there's a chance they'll marry her off to Commander Maddox (seeing as he was mentioned as being upset that he didn't get a match at the beginning of the episode). All of which Aunt Estée will be aware of.

What do you think? Does anyone else see it this way?

So the black and white passport copy of a family member has been leaked to scammers and is probably on the dark web. I know of at least two scam attempts that were made with it. What do I do to safeguard them and prevent identity theft? Online I see it says I should report it to the SAPS and the SAFPS (South African Fraud Prevention Services). Has anyone had experience with this? Should they actually do this? What else can they do?

So the black and white passport copy of a family member has been leaked to scammers and is probably on the dark web. I know of at least two scam attempts that were made with it. What do I do to safeguard them and prevent identity theft? Online I see it says I should report it to the SAPS and the SAFPS (South African Fraud Prevention Services). Has anyone had experience with this? Should they actually do this? What else can they do?