Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) is a Netflix original series which took the whole nation by storm. It is captured under the comedy /drama genres and focuses on a lot of important themes throughout. The apparent protagonist in the series is a thirty two year old, middle class, white woman - Piper Chapman. This character is based on Piper Kerman – whose memoir of drug trafficking provided the shows outline. We see from the very start of the series that Piper has the ideal set up, she lived a privileged life – had a good job, steady income, handsome husband and loving family – what more could she want? Piper lives in New York City and was sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary (which was a minimum security, all-women’s prison in upstate
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This is an idea whereby a person does not identify themselves as one gender, instead they are ‘fluid’ between both – they have aspects which make them more masculine but at the same time, they also have feminine traits. From a non-biological and non-subjective view gender is more fluid, it is not a strict separation between males and females. Gender fluidity is good for when a person does not feel like they are at one end of the spectrum or the other. This idea of gender fluidity was coined by post-modern gender theorist – Judith Butler. She expressed in her book ‘Gender Trouble’ her support for “those historical and anthropological positions that understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts”. This approach suggests that gender should not be fixed within a person, instead it should be a fluid variable which shifts and alters depending on the time and context. In her book Gender Trouble, she criticises feminists for trying to claim that all ‘women’ were a group with common characteristics. Butler did not identify with this binary view of gender relations where a group of human beings can be so methodically be put into two clear cut groups - men and women. She claimed that this approach performed “an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations”. In Butler’s distinction, sex is biological while gender is culturally constructed. Gender fluidity …show more content…
Sex is the biological distinction between two males and females, for example – our reproductive organs and external genitals are what separates both sexes as well as secondary characteristics for example having a beard/ having breasts. However, a person’s sexual identity doesn’t follow any guidelines. Williams and Stein describe a person’s sexual identity as being “A person’s preferred sexual partner; a man; a woman; or either” (2002).
Orange is the New Black focuses on the importance of sexuality – most of the inmates in Litchfield are looking for emotional support and not physical pleasure. In the very first episode we can see clear the sexuality of main protagonist, Piper – she is bi-sexual, we are shown various relationships of hers, with both males and females. However, Piper is never referred to as being bi-sexual, instead she is referred to as being an “ex-lesbian”. This term gives undeserved invisibility to bisexuality and is criticised widely among the LGBT community.
Sexuality can often be described as being a cultural construction – there is no link between anatomy and sexual identity/ gender. Ken Plummer (1975) suggested that nothing is sexual, but naming it makes it
This is an idea whereby a person does not identify themselves as one gender, instead they are ‘fluid’ between both – they have aspects which make them more masculine but at the same time, they also have feminine traits. From a non-biological and non-subjective view gender is more fluid, it is not a strict separation between males and females. Gender fluidity is good for when a person does not feel like they are at one end of the spectrum or the other. This idea of gender fluidity was coined by post-modern gender theorist – Judith Butler. She expressed in her book ‘Gender Trouble’ her support for “those historical and anthropological positions that understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts”. This approach suggests that gender should not be fixed within a person, instead it should be a fluid variable which shifts and alters depending on the time and context. In her book Gender Trouble, she criticises feminists for trying to claim that all ‘women’ were a group with common characteristics. Butler did not identify with this binary view of gender relations where a group of human beings can be so methodically be put into two clear cut groups - men and women. She claimed that this approach performed “an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations”. In Butler’s distinction, sex is biological while gender is culturally constructed. Gender fluidity …show more content…
Sex is the biological distinction between two males and females, for example – our reproductive organs and external genitals are what separates both sexes as well as secondary characteristics for example having a beard/ having breasts. However, a person’s sexual identity doesn’t follow any guidelines. Williams and Stein describe a person’s sexual identity as being “A person’s preferred sexual partner; a man; a woman; or either” (2002).
Orange is the New Black focuses on the importance of sexuality – most of the inmates in Litchfield are looking for emotional support and not physical pleasure. In the very first episode we can see clear the sexuality of main protagonist, Piper – she is bi-sexual, we are shown various relationships of hers, with both males and females. However, Piper is never referred to as being bi-sexual, instead she is referred to as being an “ex-lesbian”. This term gives undeserved invisibility to bisexuality and is criticised widely among the LGBT community.
Sexuality can often be described as being a cultural construction – there is no link between anatomy and sexual identity/ gender. Ken Plummer (1975) suggested that nothing is sexual, but naming it makes it