Silent, heads bowed, the activists in crimson robes and white bonnets have been appearing at demonstrations against gender discrimination and the infringement of reproductive and civil rights.

The outfits are inspired by the characters in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood. The 1985 novel, which was made into a series on Hulu this year, tells the story of a religious coup that gives rise to a theocracy called Gilead, where women are stripped of rights and forced to bear children for the society’s elite.

Some have drawn comparisons between the show and the current political climate. In Vanity Fair, one critic explored whether it was an allegory for the Trump era. In The New Yorker, a reviewer discussed its “grotesque timeliness”; another at the same publication said that already “we live in the reproductive dystopia” the show presents.

As symbols of a repressive patriarchy, the crimson robes and caps — handmade, repurposed or ordered online — have become an emblem of women’s solidarity and collaboration on rights issues, similar to the pink knitted hats worn during the Women’s March after President Trump’s inauguration.