The main motivation behind this study is to examine how audiences engage with popular culture in ways that forge political awareness and civic engagement. Through exploring the various levels of engagement of Hungarian women with the 2017-2020 television adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, this study answers the following research questions how do Hungarian female audiences engage with topics raised in The Handmaid’s Tale; how do they react to the dystopian patriarchy portrayed in series; and also how does their engagement with the show encourage cultural citizenship? Based on in-depth interviews with twenty-two Hungarian women, this qualitative research aims to shed light on the role of popular culture, more specifically television drama series in facilitating cultural citizenship. The thesis finds that respondents display a wide variety of different modes of engagement described in relation to having watched the series, ranging from attending demonstrations and signing petitions, through encouraging the next generation to rebel, to having online and offline informal discussions with friends or family members. Yet, respondents also give account of factors preventing them from active participation and engagement. These include: political fear for oneself along with one’s family, and binding gender norms. Thus, the participants’ attempts to define themselves against the issues raised in the series, and to position themselves as members of their social-political context while also probing its prevailing norms delineate patterns of cultural citizenship “as a domain in which we may question how we belong to society” (Hermes & Stello, 2000 p. 230).