How does The Handmaid's Tale transform the notion of "utopia"?

The Handmaid’s Tale transforms the notion of a “utopia” by vividly depicting a dystopia. The ruling class has attempted to create a utopia in which family is paramount, at the expense of women’s rights.
The ruling class, made up of the commanders and their obedient wives, blame Gilead’s plummeting birth rates on women. The issue of fertility is placed squarely on women’s lives outside their homes: on their jobs, on having multiple partners and other “sins.” Their idea of a utopia includes women who don’t read, don’t work and have no interests outside their home. Gilead solves the fertility issues of high ranking couples by having the commander impregnate an unwilling handmaid and then ripping her child from her in the name of family.
Gilead is, of course, a dystopia. Most of the women in the novel are miserable; they’ve lost their jobs, their families, their interests and their lives as they knew it. The definition of a utopia is a world where everything is perfect. While Gilead appears perfect from the outside, it is a facade. The veneer of perfection barely covers the simmering backlash and rebellion forming beneath the surface. By creating a dystopia masquerading as a utopia, Atwell transforms the notion of utopia.

Most readers refer to this novel as an example of dystopia: this is usually a fictional example of a society that, by design, is oppressive, cruel, or destructive. The nation of Gilead came to power because those in charge killed or ousted the people who were running the previous form of government. The new leaders of Gilead (which was previously the United States) have achieved what they wanted (a society where women are subservient to men and made to be reproductive slaves). Because this "new world" represents the goals and desires of those who seized power, to them it is a utopia, or an ideal society.
But most readers' notions of what makes a society function in a heathy way would be at odds with how Gilead is run. Some subtle signs point to difficulty with this new, oppressive system, like food shortages and an apparent reconfiguration of basic commerce. The constant presence of armed guards and surveillance point to a tyrannical situation.
The only way this new leadership can maintain their "utopia" is by using force, violence, torture, and punishment. For those living under this rulership, the world is a dystopia. This calls into question the very notion of how one defines a utopia versus a dystopia: it seems that the definition is in the eyes of the beholder and depends on who is being oppressed and who is in charge.