The Power Behind Bars

The podcast explores how "Orange is the New Black" reveals power structures in the US prison system, focusing on gender performativity and intersectionality. Gender performativity is shown through Sophia's struggle for hormone treatment, highlighting how prisons control identities. Intersectionality is illustrated by Casey's challenges post-release, showing how race, gender, and class intersect to create disadvantages. Privilege is discussed through Piper's experience, showcasing how whiteness and class protect certain inmates. Violence and intersectionality are depicted in Poussey's tragic death, reflecting how systems fail to value certain identities. The podcast provides a critical analysis of the power dynamics behind bars and challenges viewers to see the show in a new light. Hey guys! Welcome back to my podcast, The Power Behind Bars, hosted by Ayanne. Today we're going to be diving into how Orange is the New Black exposes the power structures shaping gender, race, and identity inside the U.S. prison system. Our theme today is how Orange is the New Black reveals gender performativity and intersectionality through storytelling and its characters. Specifically, we'll be breaking down four important episodes. Season 1, Episode 3, Lesbian Request Denied. Season 1, Episode 12, Fool Me Once. Season 2, Episode 1, Thirsty Bird. And lastly, Season 4, Episode 12, The Animals. And today joining me is one of my closest friends, Janaya, who's here to ask any questions that she may have or the viewers may have. Hey everyone! I'm Janaya here. Super duper excited to be a part of this podcast today. This show is really intense and I feel like there's so much going on that people don't always catch, you know, myself included, which is why I'm really excited to be here. So I'll just jump in whenever I have any questions. Perfect. Let's get right into it. So our first topic today is gender performativity. Specifically, Season 1, Episode 3, Lesbian Request Denied. This episode dives into Sofia Barrett's life, especially her fight for proper hormone treatment. One thing this episode does very well is show how gender performativity, which is Judith Butler's theory, plays out when under punishment. Sofia arrives in prison already established in her own identity. She does hair, she moves confidently, she dresses with style, and she speaks in her own way that expresses her femininity. All of these are examples of how gender is performed. But then the prison steps in. Her hormone dosage is cut. She's pulled for, it's because of budgeting reasons. But the episode makes it so clear that it's really just about control and deciding what kind of woman is acceptable. So, sorry, but what exactly does gender performativity mean? Is it like acting? No, it's not acting. More like repeating behaviors that create the kind of idea of what gender is. Butler says gender isn't something natural, it's something biological. It's something we repeatedly do, kind of like what kind of clothes we wear, the gestures we do, our voice, our body language. They're all social signals. And society kind of rewards or punishes you depending on how well you fit in their expectations. So, like, when Sophia loses access to her hormones, it's not just medical, but it's taking away her ability to perform her gender? Through, like, you know, how she does her hair and all that? Yeah, exactly. The prison is basically kind of telling her, like, we're going to decide which gender you're going to be. The episode even shows her wife explaining that she even stole credit cards just to pay for her transition because her wife states, you need the body you feel you deserve. Crystal Barrett. So the prison cutting off her hormones isn't just cruelty, it's bio-power, which means controlling bodies to enforce certain norms. The more the prison rejects her, the harder she pushes to maintain her femininity. It shows that people will fight for their identity even when institutions try to erase them. It's so messed up how she's being punished just for trying to live as herself. Yep, or live as herself. Exactly. That's the point. The episode's trying to use Sophia's storyline to show us that gender is political, especially in institutions that police bond with. Yep. So now our next topic is intersectionality. Season 1, episode 12, film me once. We're going to look into intersectionality through Casey. This episode reveals Casey's backstory and the moment she gets released and gets ultimately sent back to prison. Intersectionality from Kimberly Crenshaw shows how race, gender, and class overlap to produce unique forms of disadvantages. Casey is a black woman who grew up in poverty, bounced around in foster care, prevented from building a stable support system, and heavily surveilled by police. Once he gets out, he's expected to find a job immediately, find stable housing, avoid any criminal activity, pay fees, attend check-ins, and also survive without money or even support. That quite literally sounds impossible, eh? Like, if she grew up with nothing, how is she supposed to magically have all these things in place? Exactly. And that's what the episode's trying to make up for. When Casey breaks parole and comes back, the guards even laugh in her face, like she didn't even try. But in reality, she really did try. It's the system. The system was designed without considering the reality of someone who's black, poor, and a woman. Thinking about all these things, like... So, basically, intersectionality explains that all these identities collide, and that makes the situation worse, right? Exactly, like, right. Crenshaw says discrimination doesn't happen in one direction. Casey isn't just disadvantaged because she's black. Or even because she's just a woman. She's disadvantaged because these identities overlap. This episode, it really exposes the world outside is just as controlling as it is in prison. And sometimes can even be worse. Yeah, literally. In our next topic, we'll be talking about intersectionality and how it can also give you privilege. We'll be talking about Piper Chapman in example. Season 2 opens with Piper being transported in the middle of the night. Because of all her control, confused, and thrown into a new prison where no one explains anything to her. But, even in this moment, she still gets certain benefits with her privilege. Even though she's terrified, officers treat her with more patience, respect, than they treat women of color around her. Her whiteness makes her appear less threatening. Her education makes some officers assume she's not like the other ones. Yeah, I noticed that. Even in some episodes when she gets violent or freaks out, the officers don't punish her as harshly as they do the other inmates. That's for sure. That's exactly what I mean. Intersectionality isn't only about oppression, it's also about understanding who benefits from it. Piper's whiteness and class, backgrounds, and also cushions her punishment. The episode contrasts her experience with women who face harsher treatments, less sympathy, and even more suspicion. Even though they behave the same. It's interesting because Piper thinks prison is equal, but it's not. Exactly. Prison is supposed to treat everyone the same, but identities follow people inside, no matter what. Race, class, don't matter. Privilege still matters. Piper's storyline shows how power can protect certain people, even in the harshest environment. Yep. And now, in our next topic, is intersectionality and violence that comes with it. This is one of the most devastating episodes, to be honest. The prison is falling apart, it's understaffed, overcrowded, taking on military-style guards, and a protest breaks out, and guards lose control. So much is going on in this. And I forgot to mention, this is season 4, episode 12, The Animals. But let's get back into it. The strongest part of this episode is Poussey Washington's death. Poussey is a peaceful, soft-spoken, and harmless girl. She is literally smiling in her last moments of life, because she didn't expect any type of danger. But the guards are in panic. She was around a chaotic scene, and because she was black. It's so heartbreaking, though, because she didn't even do anything! Exactly, that's the point. Intersectionality explains why violence targets some bodies more easily. Black women face a specific type of invisibility. They're not protected as women, they're not protected as black people. Poussey's death reflects Crenshaw's argument exactly. When identities overlap, the system fails to see your humanity. And the prison's reaction proves it even more. Instead of caring for her, they focus on damage control. Her death becomes public strategy instead of tragedy. That is so true, oh my goodness. And like, it's so powerful because it feels like it could be real. Yup, and it can be. It really mirrors the real death of black people in the hands of police officers. And this is why it hits so many viewers hard. Myself included. It shows how systems value some lives, and they really devalue some others. And so today, we explored gender performativity through Sophia, whose identity was controlled through bio-power. Intersectionality through Tacey, Piper, and Poussey, showing how race, gender, and class shape who gets punished, who gets supported, and who gets ignored. And how Orange is the New Black isn't just entertainment, it's a critique of the real power systems behind bars. Wow. I really enjoyed my time, but this podcast today, I am, just gave me a whole new way of seeing the show genuinely, and I feel like every episode means something bigger now. Yup, and that's the goal. Thank you for joining me, Janaya, and thanks to everyone that is listening to The Power Behind Bars. I hope to see you next episode. Thank you so much. Thank you.