Orphan Black Essay

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The ensemble cast of BBC America’s science-fiction original series Orphan Black, notably consists of a majority of women, along with a plethora of subplots which all revolve around female characters. In brief overview, Orphan Black tells the story of multiple women who are being persecuted as failed scientific cloning experiments, as they fight for their livelihood and reproductive rights. Except for two, the twenty-five other clones were created barren, as this becomes a constant source of detachment to society and great strife amongst all the characters. Television programming which weigh heavily on female protagonists are deemed feminist franchises to the masses. Orphan Black is an international, popular television franchise with a hardcore …show more content…

The first wave began during the time period where women were protesting for equal rights to vote or own land. The second wave was determined through the subsequent surge of women starting to provide for their families instead of men, taking on more masculine characteristics. Lastly, the third wave is the current era of social construct where women now desire to retrieve traditional gender roles while still being the breadwinner or other forms of female independence. The concept of this era, postfeminism, is the key point of Orphan Black. Deviating from the surface prospect of the second wave of feminism, Orphan Black assesses the despotism of the patriarchal government while also illustrating the misery of a profusion of characters who long for traditional perspective of motherhood and bliss in femininity. Orphan Black’s participation in postfeminism, will be examined through intertextual analysis and articles, “Television, Representation, and Gender”, written by Julie D’Acci and “Sex and The City: Carrie Bradshaw’s Queer Postfeminism”, written by Jane Gerard. The showcase of multiple strong, diverse women are paralleled with their individual struggles which boil down to their languish for the ability to bear their own children and domestic

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