OITNB

Orange is the New Black is highly inappropriate, hilarious, and a huge step towards feminism. It’s an amazing show. It’s so important in today’s media because the show is about primarily women: how often can you say that? The majority of the cast are female, in a society where everything is male dominant. Not only that, but the few male characters that are featured are great representatives of how flawed men can be. I’m not saying women are perfect; the show represents that too. There are plenty of ladies in that prison that are messed up and brutal. But this isn’t a “hero’s story” featuring a man saving the day. It’s all about the ladies.

                To be honest, most of the men in there are jerks. Most of the commanding officers or men in charge abuse their power to the extreme. They use the inmates for sex. They smuggle in and sell drugs. They threaten the inmates with rape. They’re cruel. And even when not in a prison setting, some men are like this in real life. They see women as inferior to them, and they use them to get what they want. It’s an important to show how corrupted men can be in a society that still features rape culture predominantly.

                The show also does a nice job of showing that convicts are people too. Everyone has a reason for why they are in there. Most of them did some bad things, made a mistake or two in their life, but it doesn’t mean that they’re horrible people. It just drives home the fact that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

                But back to the ladies. HELLO, REPRESENTATION. There are so many kickass, devious women in there that I respect and enjoy watching on screen. They’ve got sass, and they aren’t afraid to stand up to people in their way. And there are women of color that feature a ton of screen time. We so need more of that. Every big blockbuster movie is full of white people, and oh, that one black best friend that has ten minutes of screen time by themselves. Not in OITNB. Women like Tastee and Claudette are fierce and have stories all their own. It’s just fantastic.

                And one of the main characters is transgender! THIS IS SO AMAZING BECAUSE THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO. THEY EXIST AND THEY’RE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST. But the show addresses the struggle of being a trans-woman and how people view her because of it. It shows how it affects her family, and how everything changes after she became who she was meant to be. Sophia is confident and fabulous, and she is one of my favorites.

                This show is such a huge step forward for representing everyone who deserves it.