"The Handmaid’s Tale" is a feminist dystopian novel, combining the characteristics of dystopian fiction: "a genre that projects an imaginary society that differs from the author’s own, first, by being significantly worse in important respects and second by being worse "because" it attempts to reify some utopian ideal," with the feminist utopian ideal which: "sees men or masculine systems as the major cause of social and political problems (e.g. war), and presents women as not only at least the equals of men but also as the sole arbiters of their reproductive functions. "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" notes that dystopian images are almost invariably images of future society, "pointing fearfully at the way the world is supposedly going in order to provide urgent propaganda for a change in direction." Atwood's stated intent was indeed to dramatize potential consequences of current trends.