Handmaidens tale

So I'm watching handmaidens tale for the first time. And the thing I've noticed most is that yes its awful how the males dominate pretty much everything and women have no rights pretty much but it's the females in charge of stuff like the wives for example who are really cruel. The wives are so nasty to the handmaidens. So are the Martha's? And such. Obviously the becoming basically slaves is a pretty scary thought but do you guys think the women would react the same in today's world or would we be nicer? How would you treat a women who would hopefully carry your husbands child for you? Why do you think the wives treated them this way to begin with?