Analysis Of Orange Is The New Black

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Orange Is the New Black; three years ago that statement would have been met with laughing. How could someone possibly think that a colour like orange could even remotely come close to the classic, chic, colour that is black? But now if one were to say that phrase, most people go crazy. Orange Is the New Black is a television show sweeping the world. It has everything we love and are fascinated by: sex, drugs, rule breakers, and personal narratives that keep you on edge. The most interesting part of the show however, is Lavern Cox’s character, Sophia Burset. Sophia is a trans woman, who found herself in prison for fraud charges- using the money to pay for her hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. Cox’s character brings forth an issue …show more content…

It is no surprise that trans people face many obstacles in their lives; therapy, hormones, possible surgeries and then dealing with the overall public and the discrimination that is soon to follow. Transgendered people know from a young age that they are not comfortable in their body, sometimes there is even a double life that is lead to help deal with the constant feeling that something is wrong (Alegria & Reisch, 2013, pg. 59). So imagine for a moment that you spend your entire life trying to come out to those around you, and then when you do, you are forced to relive it all, and ultimately go back to given sex. That is what many transgendered inmates are experiencing. The first element of their safety comes from mental health and the risks involved with sever depression, and risk of suicide. Prison is already a community in which you are being deprived of all your self worth and control, so that added to having no say about your medical treatment is extremely unsafe. Next the amount of harassment from inmates and guards can lead to serious injury, and potentially …show more content…

So what can we, as a society, do about these issues? First and foremost there needs to be a change in who screens inmates, this needs to be done by a health care professional, not guards. Second a change in the segregation we see in prisons needs to be changed. While it is vital to have a safe space for those in the LGBTQ community who will be targeted more, having these inmates wear different colour is discriminatory, and oppressive. Finally there needs to be a new law passed that trans inmates receive their hormones and any other medications necessary. These three minor changes could help prolong the life and wellbeing of so many trans inmates. While society is solely making waves with acceptance, there is still a lot of work to be done. The treatment of trans inmates is degrading, inhumane, and oppressive, and the prison system needs to alter the way they screen and treat trans inmates before anymore are raped, beaten or

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