In The Handmaid's Tale, author Margaret Atwood writes that "Pen is envy," which is a pun on the well-known term “penis envy.” In the book, Atwood separates the word “penis” into two words, “pen" and "is.” This emphasizes the dual meaning that Atwood intends.

First, taken literally, pen is envy. In other words, people who can freely use and control the pen are envied by others who are controlled and restricted from using the pen. The use of pen here should be extrapolated to include freedom to read and write and to communicate via speaking, as well.

The phrase underscores a level of authority that is open only to men; hence, the second implied meaning in the book is that pen is envy equals penis envy. In Gilead, women are primarily merely vessels to conceive and incubate children in a world that has been so damaged by toxins that conceiving children is difficult for many, if not most, women. The women who are wives or aunts enjoy a higher status than the women who are handmaids, but even they have no authority and are subservient to men.

Thus, women envy men's greater freedoms and ability to read, write, and communicate openly. Penis envy is a Freudian concept that posits that women envy men their genitalia. Interpreted at a deeper level, women envy men their ability to penetrate every strata of society when, by comparison, so many levels of achievement have historically been closed to women. In Gilead, women are prohibited from penetrating most every level of achievement and/or power and hence envy men their control and authority.