Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which takes place in a world where women aren’t allowed to read or write, survived yet another challenge this week, and will remain on the curriculum at an Ohio high school.
A school board in Marietta, Ohio, decided to allow the book to be taught to high school juniors and seniors. Three board members voted to preserve it; two voted in favor of the ban, the Marietta Times reports.
Atwood’s dystopian novel, about a future version of the U.S. where women are subjugated and controlled by the government, has been one of the most frequently challenged books in America. The book has appeared on the American Library Association’s lists of the most frequently banned books of the 1990s and 2000s.
Students at Marietta High aren’t obligated to read the book; they can also opt for classes where they would study the work of Bruce Springsteen or Stephen King.
The board members who sought to ban The Handmaid’s Tale in Marietta said they wanted the book removed because of its “vulgarity and profane language.”
“Profanity isn’t needed to make people think,” board member Mark Duckworth argued.
Another board member, Stacey Hall, disagreed. “My feeling is that suppressing this would be censorship,” she said.
The Handmaid’s Tale has seen renewed popularity in recent years, due to a political climate that is seen as threatening to women’s rights, and to the Hulu streaming service’s popular adaptation of the novel.
Atwood’s sequel to the novel, The Testaments, is due for publication on Sept. 10.
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
