Final answer:
The ominous decrease in the number of widows signifies a societal shift towards a patriarchal order in Gilead, which is a response to the chaos caused by a lack of conventional family structures and men. Gilead yearns for a return to traditional gender roles, partially fueled by historic perspectives on women's independence and contributions as seen through conservative literature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of widows diminishing is seen as ominous because it reflects the high mortality rate among men due to wars and conflicts, leading to a shortage of partners for women who are expected to fulfill the traditional role of a wife and homemaker. This situation underlies the rationale for founding Gilead in the referenced passage, which seeks to reinstate a strict patriarchal society where women's roles are confined to the home and motherhood, largely due to the perceived social instability created by the absence of traditional family structures.
In Gilead's ideology, the shortage of men is seen as upsetting the perceived natural order, thereby justifying the regime's repressive measures to control and define women's roles strictly. This is in response to the social and legal gains women had made, which allowed for more independence but did not fully translate into equal rights, especially given that many women were left to face economic hardships alone after the loss of male family members in warfare.
Moreover, Gilead's approach is partly a reaction against the growing autonomy and challenge of women to the conventional division of labor and gender roles. Books like Helen Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood reinforced the Gilead ideology by advocating for a return to a mythical past where women were subservient to men, an idea that some parts of society yearned for amidst the social upheavals.