If 2016 was the year of realizing things, then 2017 is the year of trying things.
Honest efforts of understanding and engaging intersectionality are rarely publicized through the media, especially social media. Instead we are more likely to hear about instances where ignorance prevails over equality. The fictional stories of most characters of a particular Netflix show reflect real circumstances. To better inform yourself on dangerous circumstances where inequality and injustice are the norm, catch up with the rest of a community that allows a show to make them sit down and listen.
“Orange Is the New Black,” a popular Netflix series, shows a reality. The show takes place in a prison — a place known to have systemic flaws — and spotlights struggles that women from different backgrounds experience in comparison to others in the U.S. who have their achievements laid out ahead of them.
The characters openly discuss race, among other identities, as reasons for where they rank among their peers in the prison cells. The women of Litchfield Penitentiary question whether they would be treated the same way if they were men. If they were perceived as heftier and more intimidating, would they be neglected and demeaned as they are?
If someone feels they don’t understand the feminist movement, it may be for one of two reasons.
First, they may refute everything feminists stand for by arguing that it is illogical to be so radical, and believe that being radical never progressed anywhere. In “Orange Is the New Black,” the oppression these female inmates face (from the guards, the law, other prisoners, nonprisoners and men, specifically) is symbolic of what women go through in everyday life. The show is dramatized, but it feeds the fire that calls for the inmates to stand up for themselves.
The second reason the feminist movement is often confused as a negative notion is because there is an inconsistency in its definition. There is no such thing as “bad” feminism; there is such a thing as privileged feminism. “Orange Is the New Black” calls out the often unspoken truth that not all feminists support each other because one has status over another, and they use it to their advantage. Without giving away spoilers to the new season, I can confidently say that race is a defining theme of every season. If the writers haven’t pushed stereotypes on different kinds of generalized American women, they haven’t made their point, which is that different identities in a woman (or any other person, for that matter) play a part in the volume of their voice. Feminists don’t look down on others for their lack of immediate participation in the movement or the way they express their support, but rather, they look down on others for their silence in the movement and failure to understand perspectives and/or experiences that differ from theirs. It’s the resounding truth that has been around for a long time, and it hasn’t gone away.
The importance of this show, in the name of intersectionality, is the way that it defines feminism, something that is often misunderstood.
It is a power and it has a responsibility to educate people that there are problems to address. One identity is not better than the other, but it remains a truth that people from multiple backgrounds can experience, have experienced and will continue to experience. The inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary reveal the basic treatment and mistreatment that women face on a regular basis, and they make a point to say there is not one type of woman; intersectional feminism acknowledges different walks of life.
Karla Arboleda is a journalism and international studies senior. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
