The Women of Orphan Black: Faces of the Feminist Spectrum
Author: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: April 2018
Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany plays a host of the show's main characters, all clones of an illegal experiment. The mighty heroines save one another and destroy the patriarchy – with the aid of supportive yet bumbling males – while subverting gender expectations and celebrating the many facets of feminism.
Sarah, the punk feminist clashing with her radical feminist foster-mother; Alison, the quintessential post-feminist housewife; Cosima, a herald of second-wave lesbian feminism in Birkenstocks and dreads; Beth, a third-wave feminist bogged down by drug and relationship problems; and M.K. a fourth-wave feminist who tackles the hardships of disability through the Internet. This book explores these portrayals and how they relate to the science and ethics surrounding cloning through an emphasis on the women's war against corporate power.
“Frankel takes a deep dive into the sci-fi cult hit Orphan Black... explor[es] how the show challenged female stereotypes and the often-limiting categories women are put into on screen by creating female characters who were radically different despite having the same DNA... examines each character in depth... Frankel also illuminates the science at the heart of the show, along with the many literary allusions referenced each season... smart analysis” — Booklist