"The Handmaid's Tale" spends much of its runtime exploring the ways in which Gilead robs women of freedom, dignity, and meaningful control over their lives. Flashbacks to the pre-Gilead era reveal the political battles that preceded this autocracy: June's mother Holly (Cherry Jones) attended many feminist protests, for example, while Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) published books like "A Woman's Place," which extol the domesticity she comes to despise.
"Mrs. America" examines a similar clash — but this one actually happened. Largely set in the 1970s, this incisive series chronicles the feminist movement's attempt to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and the opposition that sprung up against it. That opposition is lead by Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), a conservative firebrand who realizes becoming an outspoken anti-feminist might be the only way she'll ever get anyone to take her seriously. She is, in many ways, Serena Joy's foremother, loudly touting the joys of homemaking while privately finding them unfulfilling and tedious.
While Schlafly looms large, "Mrs. America" is as much about June's real-world inspirations as Serena Joy's. Feminist luminaries like Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), and Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale) each get an episode to themselves, which explore the grinding work, personal sacrifice, and searing disappointment that go into changing the world. Like "The Handmaid's Tale," "Mrs. America" understands that progress for women is a fragile, hard-won, and potentially fleeting thing. But it also knows that fighting for it is eternally worthwhile.
