Orange Is The New Black Character Analysis

Orange Is The New Black is a comedy-drama netflix series that takes place in a women's federal prison. Based on a memoir by Piper Kerman who was sentenced to federal prison for involvement in a drug organization and transporting drug money. Throughout the series topics and issues such as of race, ethnicity, neofamily structures. Social class, and gender inequality. The show allows viewers to feel compassion and see the human side of inmates. These women all have a story, all have a name, they're more than just a number and certainly more than just “felons”.

The federal prison was divided into cell blocks almost like little communities and most did not socialize with others outside these communities. “The Suburbs” which generally housed the

white woman, “The Ghetto” generally housed the African Americans, and “Spanish Harlem” which housed the latina woman. They were each categorized into these groups to maintain order in the prison and to minimize altercations. People tend to behave and just overall feel more comfortable with what they know and with those they have most in common with. Other than race and groups that were assigned to them they also were in their own groups that they've chosen for themselves. The Red family is a group led by the cook of the prison nicknamed Red. She is a powerful figure in the prison as she is the head cook and is capable of making your stay at the prison more miserable than you can imagine. She is known to be a mother figure to the girls in the prison, a very strict, not to be messed with mom to say the least. All the girls obey her and are loyal. Other examples include the Norma-Worshippers where they all worshipped an inmate named Norma, and the white power group which bonded over the thought of whites being the superior race.
This show has challenged gender norms. In one scene a butch lesbian character named “Big Boo” is shown masturbating. Sex has always been a thing men want and woman give to them. Women are often represented as helpless submissive angels who don't want sex. This scene where a woman masturbating for her own pleasure broke that norm. The women in this show do not conform to gender norms. An inmate named Stella Carlin is gender fluid. She does not identify with any gender. She doesn't necessarily like women but would not want to be with a man either. Men typically are seen as the stronger sex and powerful etc but these woman have shown nothing but strength throughout the series. These inmates backstories become revealed and all that pain and sorrow they've suffered through and shown their strength to endure it. These women don't identify themselves with makeup or jewelry as the prison has stripped them of all accessories which leaves them nothing but their personalities to identify with. The transformation of character Sophia who is transgender is what truly broke all gender roles. She was a man and now is a woman but she is the same person and gender has no effect on who she is at all. This show provided an inside view on womanhood. There is not one thing they do not do or can not do. There's no task that is designed for one particular gender.
Sophia Burset represents multiple examples of deviance behavior.

She is a criminal and a transgender woman. She violates social norms being transgender, 6 foot tall woman. She enjoys doing her makeup and fixing inmates hair. She is one of the girls but isn't accepted as one quite yet. She has suffered a lot of transphobic abuse from her coworkers and even her own son. Before transitioning Sophia was Marcus a firefighter who stole credit cards from fire victims to pay for her surgeries. She is the only transgender woman in the prison resulting in some discrimination and even outside the prison her son was embarrassed to be seen with her in public. When she was a firefighter she was seen often changing in the bathroom to avoid making her coworkers uncomfortable and to prevent any

issues.
Maria Ruiz is an example of the impact race and ethnicity has on a person.

Her father obsessed with Dominican pride and he often pushed that pride onto her. Ruiz ends up hooking up with a mexican boy which results her betraying her dad and him kicking her out. She questions why this inter-ethnic boundaries are so important to him. Season four episode two “Power suit” provides an insight on Marias Dominican background and her rejecting the dominican nationalism. Throughout the episode between her flashbacks and present the shift in the differences and how now in prison she no longer rejects her ethnicity. During season five Maria is so worked up on Dominican pride that she has completely taken over “Spanish Harlem”. She has learned to accept her ethnicity and love it. Race and ethnicity is shown throughout the show the prison population is segregated by race at Litchfield and the impact race has for inmates. In the first episodes of season one piper is made perfectly aware she is white. When looking for a place to sit she sits with the white people as they are more welcoming to her. Dayanara who also got their when piper did was housed in the same cell and then once she was viewed and identified as latina was moved to “Spanish Harlem”. She is later scolded for not being able to speak spanish and is often harshly criticized by the other latinas. Dayas race impacts the space and locations that she has access to. Her race allows her to be placed in “Spanish Harlem” and to sit

with other latina women at meals etc.