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What Are They Afraid Of?

What Are They Afraid Of?

Leads to: We Were Warned — a 6-week project exploring The Handmaid’s Tale

Your Challenge

Read a story about a woman’s one hour of freedom — then discover how recently women gained the rights you take for granted.

In 1894, Kate Chopin wrote a story so controversial that magazines refused to publish it. A woman learns her husband has died. For one hour, she feels something unexpected.

You’ll read it. You’ll ask why she felt that way. Then you’ll investigate how much has really changed — and ask what they were so afraid of.

What You’ll Experience

In 35-40 minutes, you’ll:

  • Read a story that was considered dangerous when it was written
  • Understand what freedom meant when women didn’t have it
  • Discover how recently women gained rights you assumed were ancient
  • Learn that the timeline is even more recent for women of color
  • Ask the question no one wants to answer: What threat do women pose?

The Investigation

Step 1: The Whisper (2 minutes)

Before you read anything, sit with this line:

“Free! Body and soul free!”

A woman whispers this when she believes her husband is dead.

Write down: What would make someone feel this way?

Step 2: Read the Story (5-7 minutes)

Read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin.

The full text is available here — it’s in the public domain

It’s approximately 1,000 words. Read it slowly. Pay attention to what Mrs. Mallard feels — and what she can’t say out loud.

Step 3: Why Did She Feel Relief? (5 minutes)

Mrs. Mallard’s reaction might seem extreme. It wasn’t.

Ask AI:

In 1894 America, what legal rights did a married woman lose
when she got married? What couldn't she do, own, or decide
for herself? What options did an unhappy wife have?

After AI responds, write down:

  • What surprised you most?
  • What did marriage actually cost women in 1894?

Then write one sentence: Why might Mrs. Mallard have felt trapped — even in a marriage with a kind husband?

Step 4: The Pivot — What’s Changed? (3 minutes)

That was 130 years ago.

Today, women can:

  • Own property in their own names
  • Divorce without proving fault
  • Have their own bank accounts and credit cards
  • Vote
  • Work in any profession

But when did these rights actually arrive?

Before you investigate, guess:

  1. When could women vote?
  2. When could a married woman own property?
  3. When could a woman get a credit card without a man’s signature?
  4. When could a woman divorce without proving abuse?

Write down your guesses. Then find out how wrong you are.

Step 5: Ask AI — The Real Timeline (8 minutes)

Prompt 1:

When could women in the United States legally:
- Vote
- Own property while married
- Open a credit card in their own name
- Get a no-fault divorce (divorce without proving abuse or adultery)

Give me the years and briefly explain what it was like before
these rights existed.

After AI responds, write down:

  • What year surprised you most?
  • What was life like before that right existed?

Prompt 2:

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920.
When could Black women actually vote without facing poll taxes,
literacy tests, and violence? What changed?

After AI responds, write down:

  • What’s the gap between the legal right and the ability to use it?
  • What does this tell you about how rights actually work?

Prompt 3:

Did women of color face additional barriers to property ownership,
credit, and financial independence beyond what white women faced?
Give me specific examples.

After AI responds, write down:

  • What additional barriers existed?
  • When did they end — or did they?

Step 6: Verify One Thing (3 minutes)

AI can be wrong. Pick ONE claim that surprised you and verify it independently.

Search for it yourself. Find a source. Does AI’s answer hold up?

Write down: What you verified and whether it was accurate.

This is a skill. AI is a starting point, not an authority.

Step 7: The Real Question (5 minutes)

You started with Mrs. Mallard whispering “Free!” in 1894.

You now know: Credit cards in your own name — 1974. No-fault divorce in some states — 2010. Black women voting without barriers — 1965.

This isn’t ancient history. Your mother or grandmother lived through some of this.

Now ask the harder question:

Why have women historically been denied the right to own property,
control money, leave marriages, and make decisions about their own bodies?

What threat do women pose that required this level of control?

Give me different perspectives — historical, economic, religious,
and feminist interpretations. I want to understand the reasoning,
not just be told it was wrong.

After AI responds:

  • Which explanation makes the most sense to you?
  • Which explanations are still used today?
  • What do YOU think they were afraid of?

Step 8: Your Response (3 minutes)

Write a short response (a few sentences to a paragraph) to ONE of these questions:

  1. What are they afraid of? What threat do women pose?

  2. Mrs. Mallard felt trapped in 1894. Could a woman feel trapped today? How?

  3. What’s the difference between having a right on paper and actually being able to use it?

  4. “Progress is not permanent.” What does that mean to you after this investigation?

Check Yourself

After 35-40 minutes:

  • Did you read “The Story of an Hour” completely?
  • Did you understand why Mrs. Mallard felt relief?
  • Did you discover at least one date that surprised you?
  • Did you investigate the different timeline for women of color?
  • Did you verify at least one AI claim independently?
  • Did you sit with the question of WHY — not just WHEN?
  • Did you write your own response?

Want to Go Deeper?

You started with one woman’s whispered relief in 1894. You ended with a question: What are they afraid of?

Margaret Atwood asked the same question. Then she wrote a novel.

The Handmaid’s Tale imagines a society where all of these rights are stripped away — systematically, legally, completely. Women can’t own property. Can’t have bank accounts. Can’t read. Can’t leave. Can’t choose.

Mrs. Mallard’s trap becomes every woman’s reality.

Atwood made herself one rule: include nothing that hadn’t happened somewhere in history.

In “We Were Warned,” you’ll:

  • Read The Handmaid’s Tale while tracking what’s fiction and what’s historical fact
  • Research real events: forced pregnancy policies, religious law, the swift erasure of rights
  • Investigate how quickly societies can change
  • Create something that helps others recognize warning signs
  • Continue asking: What are they afraid of?

The novel has been banned. It’s been called paranoid and prophetic. Whatever you conclude, you’ll reach that conclusion through your own investigation.

This is not a book report. It’s an investigation into how control works — and why.

Start We Were Warned →

Why This Mini-Project Matters

For Young Women: The rights you have are not ancient. They’re not guaranteed. Understanding where they came from — and why they were denied — isn’t paranoia. It’s awareness. You are not here to be convenient for anyone.

For Everyone: History doesn’t just happen to other people. The controls placed on women throughout history had reasons behind them — economic, religious, political. Understanding those reasons helps you recognize when similar arguments appear today.

The question remains: What are they afraid of?

This mini-project takes 35-40 minutes. The full project explores what happens when the warnings go unheeded — over 6 weeks with The Handmaid’s Tale.