US Feminism In Orange Is The New Black

Throughout the 2016 presidential election, feminism and its influence on politics was a driving force for men and women alike in support of the first female presidential nomination Hillary Clinton; however, the election of Donald Trump has inspired a new wave of feminism in response to the administration of those in office, particularly seen during the International Women’s March.

Piper Kerman, a freelance producer living in New York City with her boyfriend, was incarcerated in 2004 for money laundering and drug trafficking. She tells this story in her memoir, Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. Kerman tells her audience about her escapades in her twenties, and her normal life afterwards. But one day she is greeted with two police officers at her door, and things go downhill from there. Kerman is later arrested after a very lengthy court case and taken to federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Kerman makes light of her year spent in prison, writing about the different people she met and the experiences she had. Overall, Kerman’s memoir is an easy and fun read

In “Orange Is the New Black,” Piper Kerman, inmate number 11187-424 is textually illustrating the love, compassion and the personalities that

Piper Kerman offers to her readers an interesting story about life in prison in her book Orange is the New Black. One might be confused with such statement, as there is not much exciting happens in prison and to write an interesting book based on one year of confinement seems to be an impossible task. However, Kerman’s work appeals to much deeper topics than just a physical process of imprisonment or everyday routine of convicts. Being a memoir, Orange is the New Black provides personal insights of the author concerning the prison system in the United States, freedom, and experiences of women who happened to be behind the bars. Kerman seeks to encourage people to think about the necessity of criminal justice reform, particularly in respect

“Prison is not an isolated institution, it is part of a continuum in the control of women, whether by our lack of access to economic independence, violence, racism or specific laws that target women such as prostitution and social security. The society that condemns the behavior of women it imprisons, yet accepts the treatment prisoners are given inside is at best hypocritical, but perhaps more correctly, sadistic” (Amanda George). The prison system takes people away from their families and communities, for petty crimes and then give harsh sentences that doesn’t match the crime that was committed. Women are placed in an oppressive and controlling environment which subjects them to be treated in a manner which society looks down on but accept and sadly, does nothing about. Correspondingly, Piper Kerman wrote a memoir “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison”

Orange is the New Black, a show airing Netflix, screens five seasons of what occurs within the Litchfield prison system, an all-female prison, surrounding the character Piper Chapman and the injustices of the criminal justice system. Throughout the five seasons of Orange is the New Black, the show presents many recurring viewpoints on various social commentaries including, but not limited to racial, criminal justice system, and Lesbian Gay Bi Transsexual Queer Two Spirited Intersex Asexual plus (LGBTQ2SIA+) rights. To understand the show’s stances on these issues one must first understand the issues Orange is the New Black commentates on.

Piper Kerman, a young women that was in a relationship with a women by the name Nora. Nora and Piper had a loving relationship, but in no way normal, as far as most relationships go. Nora was in a special business that involved smuggling drugs into the country, and getting paid big bucks to do so without getting caught. Piper was asked to perform a small task to help out the business, which then lead her to her future problem. Ten years later Piper was happily engaged to a man named Larry, they started out as great friend but then advanced to more. In 1998 it was to her surprise that two officers by the names of Maloney and Wong, came to her house in New York to deliver the news that she'd been indicted in federal court of drug smuggling

Orange is the new black is a Netflix original television show, which follows the journey and experiences in the correctional system of Piper Chapman who is played by Taylor Schilling. Chapman is a bisexual women who gets sent to Litchfield correctional Institution to serve a 15 month sentence for transporting a suitcase full of drug money to her former girlfriend Alex Vause, portrayed by Laura Prepon.Vause is an international drug smuggler and dealer. Chapman was charged with criminal conspiracy. The occurrence for this charge happened ten years prior to getting caught which gave her time to move forward in life and become a law abiding citizen in New York’s middle class. When Chapman began serving her sentence she was reunited with Vause who originally called her out in trial which resulted in her arrest. The show follows not only Chapman’s fight to survive the prison lifestyle and culture but also follows the life of other inmates and the prison guards.

In 2013, Orange Is The New Black premiered as an original Netflix series based off the real life story of Piper Kerman and her time spent in a women's prison. The show which has gained much popularity in recent years, breaks the normal standards of female characters on a television series. Instead of trying to stick with this glorified idea of a lesbian character the show portrays various characters that actual lesbians can relate to on some level. Michael Gold, of The Baltimore Sun talks about the show and how it, “offers some of the most nuanced, thorough portrayals of queer women on television.” What is most fascinating about this show is how it incorporates a new look into the life of these women not only in prison, but what their lives outside of the prison walls were once like.

Piper Kerman, the main character, gains privileges such as being granted furlough over the other inmates. This is significant because even if the audience doesn’t agree with the relevance of white privilege they are still being educated on what it

Orange is The New Black is a new and innovative series aired on Netflix that follows the life of Piper Chapman, played by Taylor Schilling. Chapman was sentenced to fifteen months and serves her prison term at Litchfield Correctional Facility. She acquired the charge of criminal conspiracy after transporting a suitcase full of drug money to her then drug-running girlfriend Alex Vause, who is portrayed by Laura Prepon. Piper’s decade-old crime finally caught up to her. She has to give up her upper-class routine and her fiancé Larry, portrayed by Jason Biggs, for an orange jumpsuit and the new prison environment she was hoping to elude. The series follows Chapman’s unique experiences inside the prison, explores her interactions with other inmates and shows her animosity towards her ex-girlfriend Alex who happens to be in the same prison.

The show is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name, and documents the experiences of a privileged Connecticut WASP named Piper Chapman who spends 15 months in a woman’s prison because she transported money for the head of a drug cartel, who happened to be her lesbian lover. Some of the show’s primary themes involve this clash of worlds, between the upper class white background of Piper, and the lower class, mainly nonwhite world of the prison.

Known best for her Emmy-winning performance in Netflix’s hit series “Orange is the New Black,” Laverne Cox is the first transgender woman to receive an Emmy Award. Since her rise

Orange is the New Black by Jenji Kohan has been streaming on Netflix since July 2013 by the production company Lionsgate Television. The television show is about the main character Piper Chapman who just got in jail. She is serving time at Litchfield Penitentiary, a federal prison for women in upstate New York, for drug smuggling with her ex-girlfriend (Alex) a couple of years ago. When Chapman goes to prison she is reunited with Alex, even though their relationship goes through ups and downs as the time goes by. The main focus of the television show is to present a public discourse about the criminal justice system, particularly incarceration in the United States. Through the social cognitive theory and the agenda setting theory one is able to see how Orange is the New Black draws attention to different issues within our incarceration system, specially imprisonment of women. From the social cognitive theory aspect,the filmmaker has communicated an acceptance towards distinctive identities by having a variety of characters in the show. Apart from this, agenda setting theory comes into play when particular issues within imprisonment are presented, like solitary confinement was throughout many episodes. These can be further examined and analyzed looking at all the elements Jenji Kohan implements in her scripts to open up a public discussions about social issues.

It is the idea what the male will always be the dominant character and will always be in charge of the important decision. Women are treated almost equal to children. “Women are conditioned to a passive sexual role” (Heywood 242), Radical feminists seek to abolish the sexual roles which have been assigned to women; they seek to exterminate that image of the dominance of men over women in rap videos and movies. The main issues of radical feminism are women's liberation, patriarchy, gender equality and sexual politics. The progress in which feminists occur to achieve is set back daily by the media and individuals such as Lana Del Rey.