THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF MINORITY GROUP REPRESENTATION IN
VARYING TELEVISION SHOW GENRES ON SOCIETAL PERCEPTION

By

Brianna Z. Carty, B. A.
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts in Communication
to the Office of Graduate and Extended Studies
of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

May 7, 2021

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ABSTRACT
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master
of Arts in Communication to the office of Graduate and Extended Studies of East
Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
Student’s Name: Brianna Carty, B. A.
Title: The Potential Impact of Minority Group Representation in Varying Television
Show Genres on Societal Perception
Date of Graduation: May 7, 2021
Thesis Chair: Victoria E. Thomas, Ph. D.
Thesis Member: Andrea McClanahan, Ph. D.
Thesis Member: Cem Zeytinoglu, Ph. D.

Abstract
Throughout all media, elements of culture are broadcast and absorbed for entire societies
to create their own perceptions regarding race. Within certain television genres, there are
many instances of stereotyping that are being portrayed that will inevitably influence how
society perceives and treats certain groups of people. By analyzing two television series
from two separate genres, the impact of particular representations can be predicted using
several communication theories. After the analysis, it was determined that society might
benefit from a balance of oppressed fictional representations, even if there is no way to
depict a completely accurate representation of an entire minority group. Even with this
balance, it is unclear if it is possible to fully eliminate the oppression in our society that is
partly influenced by the media we consume.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I ................................................................................................................................... 1
THESIS OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................... 1
THE INGRAINED OPPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS THROUGHOUT U.S. HISTORY .............. 3
THE SEXIST AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN AMERICAN CULTURE...................... 8
JUSTIFICATION OF THESIS .......................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER II ................................................................................................................................ 14
LITERATURE REVIEW ON MINORITY PORTRAYALS IN TELEVISION .................. 14
REPRESENTATIONS FOUND AT THE START OF TELEVISION ...................................................... 15
CULTURAL ANALYSIS OVERVIEW ............................................................................................. 20
CHAPTER III .............................................................................................................................. 29
MODERN TELEVISION SERIES ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 29
REPRESENTATIONS EMBEDDED IN ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK ................................................ 31
CHARACTER PORTRAYALS IN HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER ......................................... 39
CHAPTER IV .............................................................................................................................. 47
DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 47
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 53

IV

CHAPTER I
THESIS OVERVIEW

Throughout U.S. history, societies and cultures worldwide, such as Africa,
Europe, and Spain, have converged to create the diverse nation that exists today. While
the U.S. has several positive aspects such as freedom and diversity that make its culture
appealing to other countries that still experience dictatorship and severe inequality, it has
its share of deep-rooted issues that people constantly try to eradicate. One of these issues
is discrimination and how certain people are treated poorly simply because of their
appearance, background, and other identifiable elements. For instance, African
Americans were enslaved on plantations, being viewed as less than human (Owens). As
society developed, African Americans legally gained more rights and freedom to enable
them to vote, own land, and receive equal pay. However, racism is still a very common
and dangerous thing that we are still fighting against, resulting in hate crimes, job
discrimination, and death due to health discrimination.

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Along with inequality based on race, there is also discrimination based on gender.
Sexism is present in several cultures, as women are expected to fulfill the role and image
of a dependent housewife that takes care of her husband and children. The concept of
sexism is stereotyping or discriminating against individuals based on their gender, and
women are treated like fragile beings who are beneath men. After women started to fight
for their rights, laws were created that made it illegal to deny anyone the right to vote
based on their gender, such as the 19th Amendment, which brought them closer to
equality than ever before (National Women's History Alliance). However, they still are
mistreated and looked down upon by men. Furthermore, there are individuals who belong
to multiple minority groups, such as African American women, and they endured twice
the amount of mistreatment as they were enslaved on plantations and dealt with constant
sexual assault from plantation owners. This oversexualizing nature occurred targeting
African American women both while they were enslaved and when they were properly
integrated into traditional society (Owens).
As the United States continues to change its perception of race and gender, its
growth is documented and broadcast by the media we create to represent different groups
of individuals. Since it is impossible for anyone to fully experience every aspect of
American culture, the media allows people to see a glimpse of life inside America.
Looking at past representations of African Americans and women within the media, they
were mainly inaccurate and often emphasized stereotypes that developed over time.
Keeping in mind that all representations are inaccurate in some way, African Americans
and women tend to be presented differently based on the genre of media. Comedies tend
to emphasize African Americans and their struggles more often to make jokes about
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common stereotypes, while more serious and dramatic genres have more examples of
television shows that try to avoid emphasizing race, placing their focus on whatever issue
they are trying to solve (Squires). Looking specifically at television, the comedy show
Orange Is the New Black and the drama show How to Get Away with Murder takes a
different approach to how they present minority groups such as African Americans and
women, which impacts how the audience interprets it. Oftentimes, the media is seen as
our own reality, and people will tend to believe that what they see on television is what
happens within our real society (Mitu). Through analyzing the television shows Orange
Is the New Black and How to Get Away with Murder that include both African American
characters and female characters using media criticism theories, we can identify the
contrast of how these minority groups are being represented in different genres, which is
important because it could potentially have a lasting impact on how we perceive African
Americans and women within our society.

The Ingrained Oppression of African Americans throughout U.S. History
Chattel Slavery in America began in 1619, where Africans were first brought to
Virginia as the main source of free labor. The enslaved Africans would be contained
mostly on plantations, first working with physical labor related to the production of
tobacco and rice. As slavery began to spread rapidly, the U.S. Constitution decided to
recognize slavery as a social institution and deemed each enslaved individual as 3/5ths of
a citizen. This was known as the three-fifths compromise, which was passed in 1787 to
allow 3/5 of the enslaved population to be counted for tax purposes (“Constitution of the
United States,” Art. I, Sec. 4). Eventually, the cotton gin was created in 1793 that
removed the cotton seeds, and enslaved African Americans were forced to grow and pick
3

cotton from the fields. While slavery could be found throughout the U.S., it was more
commonly found in the South, where the land remained mostly rural, and the South
wanted to keep slavery around for the benefits of free labor for business owners
(Coclanis). Americans had their first interactions with Africans as buying them as
property, and once this perspective was created, it has been proven difficult to tear down
(Glass). There is no moment in U.S. history where African Americans are fully free of
discrimination; since their first encounter and existence in America, they were instantly
dehumanized as people.
Slavery was a debilitating system made to keep enslaved African Americans
trapped forever, unable to escape. Aside from being confined to labor fields, they were
not allowed to receive any form of education. Keeping them from learning how to read
and write was a tactic so that enslaved African Americans would not function on their
own in society. Several slave rebellions eventually led to the abolitionist movement,
which lasted until the 1860s. The abolitionist movement was led by a combination of
freed African Americans and white activists who demanded an end to slavery. “Never the
structured web of ‘stationmasters’ and safe houses portrayed in late 19th-century
abolitionist historiography, the Railroad did shelter and direct northbound runaways, who
generally had white help until they traveled well into free territory” (Goldstein 43). The
abolitionist movement caused events such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which dealt with the creation of free states. Eventually,
the Civil War began in 1861 that later adapted the end goal of abolishing slavery. In
1863, Abraham Lincoln officially granted enslaved African Americans their freedom, but
this would not be the end of the struggle for rights. Despite this official grant of freedom
4

for African Americans, many individuals remained enslaved until June 19, 1865. This
date is known as Juneteenth, which marked the official end of slavery (Jeffries).
Although slavery was abolished, African Americans were thrown into society
with little to no rights. Despite the end of slavery, racism and hatred towards African
Americans were still a constant problem, and many freed enslaved African Americans
were unable to accomplish a stable living. This led to the introduction of black codes,
which governed which jobs freed African Americans could get (Wallenstein). While
these codes allowed them to work for money, their wages were extremely low, and it
impacted where these individuals lived in terms of affordable housing. The Black Codes
was the first legal system established to control African Americans post-abolition, and it
was working to maintain control over their lives. Once African Americans started to
move into bigger cities, more laws were created to degrade and control them
continuously. The Jim Crow laws started in 1877 and forced African Americans to
remain separate from white people in public areas, and it was advertised as “separate but
equal” (Tischauser). Despite this claim, the public properties reserved for African
Americans were of lower quality and not taken care of regularly. The Jim Crow laws
acted as a tool to keep African Americans legally oppressed post-slavery. “Northern
cities became more susceptible to spatially segregated ‘ghettos,’ while southern cities
became more likely to evidence a street-front pattern of segregation, in which black
residents lived in dispersed clusters around alleyways and backyards and near railroad
lines” (Ruef 818). Slowly, African Americans started to protest against these laws,
hosting several peaceful sit-ins and sitting in the white-only section on a public bus.

5

These protests were among the many elements that started the civil rights movement, as
African Americans demanded to be treated equally (Clabough).
With certain laws in place during the 1800s, lawmakers could oppress African
Americans by restricting their rights. The 15th Amendment made it so African American
men could not be denied the right to vote based on their race or color, but they were
given literacy tests that were impossible for them to pass. While they could exist within
society, they remained segregated from decent quality public areas, forced to use poorly
built bathrooms and drink out of rusty water fountains (Tischauser). These laws were
implemented in Southern states, but African Americans still faced racism and
discrimination throughout America that made it difficult for them to live an enjoyable
life. One significant event that occurred towards the beginning of the civil rights
movement was Rosa Parks getting arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public
bus in Montgomery, Alabama (Clabough 320). There was also the case of Little Rock
Nine, where African American students attempted to attend an integrated public school in
1957. All of the constant protests and boycotts led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
ended segregation and banned discrimination in the workplace based on race, religion, or
gender. While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a huge stepping stone for African
Americans being viewed as equal by the rest of the country, there are still many issues in
our current society that threaten their lives daily (Hall).
While it is now possible for some African Americans to live a comfortable and
successful life of wealth and stability in our current society, there are still events that
occur that emphasize the racist roots that remain in America. The Black Lives Matter
movement started in 2013 and began after George Zimmerman was acquitted of a crime
6

that involved killing an unarmed African American teenager named Trayvon Martin
Borysovych). After Zimmerman’s acquittal was revealed to the public, the movement
began on social media as a hashtag that rapidly became viral. There is a website
dedicated to the organization associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. It has
expressed that the main goal of the movement is to eliminate white supremacy within
America and to take action against all of the violence that has occurred across many
black communities (BlackLivesMatter). The Black Lives Matter movement mainly
focuses on police brutality and attempts to get justice for the innocent lives lost due to
police brutality against the black community. While there have been hundreds of protests
since the Black Lives Matter movement started in 2013, it returned to the spotlight in
2020 after George Floyd, an unarmed African American male, was killed by a police
officer during an arrest. A viral video circulated the internet showing a white police
officer kneeling on Floyd's neck for eight minutes before he passed out (McCoy). The
protests in response to this tragic murder reached a global scale, and for several months’
protests occurred in many countries, including Japan, Denmark, United Kingdom, and
dozens more (McCoy). Protests and demonstrations often turned violent as police sprayed
protesters with mace and rubber bullets (National Lawyers Guild Review). This display
of police brutality being broadcast on all social media platforms increased the overall
demand for action against these crimes (Zhang). The Black Lives Matter movement’s
constant activity demonstrates how African Americans continue to be oppressed and
discriminated against in our current society (Bates).

7

The Sexist and Degrading Treatment of Women in American Culture

While there is little to no disagreement that African Americans suffered and
fought for their rights within America, they were not the only minority group that existed
and challenged societal norms. Before white women began to fight for more rights, they
were seen as individuals slightly above the status of African Americans. White women
were expected to fit into the role of the dutiful housewife that obeyed her husband and
took care of the house and children. While white men married white women, they viewed
them more as housemaids than as wives in the early 1800s. White women did not receive
the right to vote, and their education was not a top priority (Quanquin). The official mark
of the start of the Women’s Rights movement was in 1848 when a group of white
women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony began to question why
they had limited rights despite contributing to society as much as men did. For example,
during the American Revolution, women were at the same battleground, risking their
lives to tend to the wounds of injured soldiers. After this initial meeting, a Declaration of
Sentiments was created, which pointed out how white women were treated unequally to
men (Stanton 1848). This document included how married white women were considered
legally dead by the law and how married white women had no rights to own property. In
essence, men had complete power over white women, and the only roles that were
guaranteed for them were in the household. As white women began to hold conventions
to discuss these inequalities, men shamed them for trying to fight for equality. When the
15th Amendment was passed in 1870, white women were outraged that they were
8

excluded from gaining the right to vote (National Women's History Alliance). This
disregard for women’s voting rights contributed to their attempt to connect the Women's
Suffrage Movement with Civil Rights since their movement lost traction due to the
majority of the public focusing on African American rights.
The early Women’s Rights Movement was solely focused on the rights of white
women, and during this time period, African American women were focused on gaining
rights for both their race and gender, despite not being accepted by the white women in
the Women’s Rights Movement. While white women started to fight for a universal
suffrage amendment, this was not received well by some who were part of the civil rights
movement. During this time, white women fighting for their rights were racist towards
African Americans, which demonstrated how white women were not striving for equality
for all women. “Too often, the well-known episodes of turmoil of the 1860s - 1870s from
which an independent woman suffrage movement emerged have been reduced largely to
a story about the role of racist white women in the woman suffrage movement. Yes, there
were racist white women in the movement and certainly among the leadership, and yes,
that had a large impact on the history of the movement” (Sapiro 1559). After fighting for
the right to vote for years, the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, and white women
were finally allowed to vote (National Women's History Alliance).
This was only the beginning, as women strived for more rights to attempt to close
the gender gap. Women traditionally received a lower salary compared to men within the
same job position. Still, once men started to join the military during World War II in
1939, women started to take over civilian jobs. In 1945, the first mention of equal pay
was the Women’s Equal Pay Act, which determined equal pay for various jobs within a
9

single workplace based on difficulty. After bills failed to gain traction in the 1950s
regarding equal pay, The Equal Pay Act was eventually passed. In 1963, The Equal Pay
Act was passed that required jobs to give equal pay for equal work, regardless of the
gender performing the task (Equal Pay Act of 1963).
Even after fighting for their rights during the women’s suffrage movement,
women are still limited in some aspects of our current society. Along with discrimination,
being viewed as sexual objects, and still being underpaid, women are still fighting for
reproductive rights. Despite the case of Roe V. Wade in 1973 declaring that pregnant
women have the right to choose if they wanted an abortion, this topic is still regularly
debated and critiqued. “Abortion rights are controversial; on this we can all agree.
Emotions and opinions aside, constitutionally protected rights must be on those rights. A
woman has a constitutional right to an abortion. In 2012, the Arizona legislature
attempted to limit that right” (Breslin 53). Several states like Florida, Mississippi, and
Utah are currently trying to regulate women's bodies in terms of what procedures they are
allowed to get done (Ellmann). By taking away these affordable abortion options such as
Planned Parenthood, women will have no choice but to seek treatment elsewhere.
Women deserve to be in full control of their bodies, but misogyny and sexism are still
deeply rooted in American tradition. There are many reasons women may decide to get
an abortion, but that should not concern anyone else except the pregnant woman. These
laws are attempting to call a fetus a living being, which would classify an abortion
procedure as murder. However, many pieces of evidence suggest that a woman must be
pregnant for a particular amount of time before her fetus is deemed “alive” (Ellmann).
“In other words, the state may not interfere with a woman in accessing and obtaining an
10

abortion from a licensed physician. The point at which the state may interfere is viability,
when the fetus can survive outside the mother’s body” (Breslin 58).
While women have worked relentlessly to gain rights in our society, they are still
at a high risk during their daily lives dealing with sexual assault and harassment. Even
though sexual assault is not isolated to just women, a majority of the time, this crime is
targeted at women committed by men (Clancy et al.). Sexual harassment is a violation of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it is fairly common to experience some form of sexual
harassment at some point in life. Since sexual assault is already against the law, women
started the #MeToo movement in 2017 to raise awareness about the severity of the sexual
harassment that occurs on a daily basis (Kessler). Even though both women and African
Americans have gained legal rights, their fight is far from over. By having the context of
the history of African Americans and women in the United States, media criticism can be
utilized in discovering the impact television show portrayals have on our society.

RQ: How do portrayals of race and gender in television programs reveal societal views of
women/African American women? What can be revealed about society through the
creation of these media representations?

Justification of Thesis

The Potential Impact of Minority Group Representation in Varying Television
Show Genres on Societal Perception focuses on cultural and feminist analysis to interpret
African American and female representations found in Orange Is the New Black and How
to Get Away with Murder. Specific scenes will be examined to determine how current
11

society perceives the minority groups of African Americans and women. This thesis takes
instances where oppression and sexism are shown to predict the potential impact these
media representations can have on the future of our society.
With a detailed history of African Americans and women combined with media
criticism, it can show how media is a large factor in how society perceives African
Americans and women as our culture continues to change. The analysis of television
shows like Orange Is the New Black, and How to Get Away with Murder highlights
elements such as stereotypes and sexism in an effort to predict the impact this media
could have on our future. This study seeks to answer the following research question:
What do media representations of African American men and women reveal about U.S.
ideologies of race and gender? The first step to answering this question is understanding
how to analyze television shows using media criticism. For the African American
stereotypes and oppression found within television shows, a cultural analysis will focus
on how the ideologies that exist can be further integrated through media and how the
media we consume shapes our culture. In terms of gender oppression, a feminist analysis
gives more insight into sexist ideologies that our culture traditionally accepts.
Focusing first on the comedy series of Orange Is the New Black, the series
portrays dozens of instances of racism, violence, sexism, and various forms of oppression
used towards African Americans and women. I analyze two episodes within the series to
have a narrowed focus on subtle interactions and dialogue that could have a lasting
impact on the treatment of African Americans and women within our reality. The next
analysis is conducted on the drama series How to Get Away with Murder to gather how
oppression is represented within this different genre. By comparing and contrasting two
12

different genres and their methods of representation, it can help determine how these
various portrayals influence and mold how American culture will perceive the minority
groups of African Americans and women that exist in our reality.

13

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW ON MINORITY PORTRAYALS IN
TELEVISION

Media comes in various mediums like radio, television, and films that broadcast
across cultures to create collective knowledge. There is first the category of non-fictional
media, which spreads and documents facts and events that occur both inside and outside
of a particular culture. Popular news channels like CNN and FOX offer daily updates of
significant events that happen like celebrity deaths, crimes committed, and global crises.
The category of fictional media focuses on content that either has been altered or created
through imaginary thinking. Examples of fictional media include books and films that
depict the existence of fairy tales or the creation of a reality that mirrors real life but is
not entirely factual (Mitu). Through the creation of these media artifacts, there also needs
to be a structure used to analyze and critique media to determine how it might impact
culture. “A.P. Korochensky notes that media criticism is a new, rapidly developing area
of modern journalism, carrying out critical knowledge and assessment of socially
significant, relevant cultural, creative, professional, ethical, legal, economic and
technological aspects of the social functioning of the media” (Hazanov 647).
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When looking at the media that exists throughout the world, it contains all society
elements in terms of how it is viewed and perceived. A major part of basic human life is
to create meaning out of everything, so there are certain tools and concepts that exist in
order to analyze culture and its elements properly. For looking at how African Americans
are portrayed in the media and what that means for our society as a whole, cultural
analysis can be used to look at the ideas that exist in America and how it is reflected in
the media. Cultural analysis allows us to identify the techniques behind developing
societal norms and how these norms reflect us as people. In terms of looking at how
women are portrayed in media representations, feminist analysis can be utilized to look at
how sexism is embedded into our society both in our daily lives and in the media being
broadcasted. Overall, both cultural and feminist analysis belong to media criticism, which
is utilized to have a guide in terms of finding connections and hidden meaning across all
media platforms (Ott & Mack).

Representations Found at the Start of Television

Among all media formats, television is a powerful element that could influence an
entire society with what it chooses to portray. Television has unique powers that, when
combined, can shape and shift how individuals perceive their own reality. Television’s
first power is how it can be classified as entertainment, bringing people a new method to
enjoy a fictional world instead of stressing about their lives. “Television is a prolific
provider of diversion, escape, and entertainment that requires no literacy, no mobility,
and no direct purchase” (R., Vande Berg Leah, et al. 4). The entertainment that television

15

provides requires no effort, and watching a sitcom can easily lift someone’s mood. Apart
from being entertaining, television is also used to socialize and educate others geared
towards kids and adults. Shows like Sesame Street and episodes on the History channel
present knowledge in a way where we are able to have fun while learning about various
facts and ideas.
On top of teaching us facts, television also shows us how we should react to
certain symbols mean within television (R., Vande Berg Leah, et al.). “We learn to read
musical soundtracks as signaling danger, suspense, humor, discovery, romance, or grief;
and we learn from laugh tracks what we are supposed to regard as funny and to anticipate
when something humorous is about to happen” (R., Vande Berg Leah, et al. 5). While
certain elements of television can sometimes be dangerous and misleading such as the
spread of inaccurate information, television also teaches society about the generally
accepted norms. Television has the power to create community and consensus by
showing us the history of certain elements within society. Lastly, television has the power
to inform society about the events occurring on a daily basis around the world (R., Vande
Berg Leah, et al.).
The earliest portrayals of African Americans in television shows reflect the racial
power dynamics that existed during that time. Amos’ n’ Andy was the second television
show to have African American leads in the 1920s, and it did not receive positive
feedback from the African Americans that watched the show. Despite the show hiring
African American lead actors, the writers and producers were all white individuals. The
actors were told how to dress and act to portray common stereotypes regarding African
Americans during that time. “Alvin Childress, the actor who played Amos, was told that
16

his skin tone was not dark enough and that he needed make-up to look ‘more distinctly
Negro.’ Childress told an interviewer that he protested this move to ‘black him up,’ and
eventually won the right to present his natural skin tone on camera” (Squires 213). While
the first problem with this was how white individuals believe that the darker the skin
tone, the blacker the individual, the terms used to label African Americans were also
inherently racist. “Black viewers did not have a positive response to the TV version of the
show. The NAACP declared that the show was rife with stereotypes and drafted a
resolution against it” (Squires 213).
Gender and race as identity categories are not mutually exclusive. As a result,
African American women dealt with intense racism and sexism from white audiences in
the early 1900s. African American women were not portrayed to have prominent
feminine or masculine qualities, and they fell into their own subcategory. “Negro women
are shown as cackling, screaming shrews, in big-mouth close-ups using street slang, just
short of vulgarity” (Smith-Shomade 11). The portrayal of the angry black woman is a
common stereotype where they are viewed as pure savages that are unable to be
integrated into society. Humor surrounding ethnicity is common, and the angry black
women stereotype became a common foundation for jokes within television. Early black
sitcoms were male-dominated such as Amos’ n’ Andy, and African American women
ended up receiving less significant roles that were overlooked. Eventually, African
American women had their narratives shift in the television shows like Scandal and
Insecure, as networks are attempting to portray them as strong independent women who
do not require a man (Smith-Shomade).

17

Along with shows that portrayed African Americans within society during the
mid-1900s, the Civil Rights Movement within the United States was also being broadcast
for the world to see. While the broadcasts did not alter the footage, the movement was
presented to showcase the bad and ignore the good. “However, in the process, the media
also framed their activities in ways that ignored or distorted many of the Panther’s goals.
Much attention was paid to their credo of armed self-defense, but little coverage of their
educational and nutrition programs for poor children ever surfaced” (Squires 216). The
Black Panthers was a political organization founded in 1966 to represent Black Power,
but the media chose to broadcast their violent events while simultaneously ignoring all of
the positive activities the Black Panthers were responsible for conducting (Squires).
It was typical for networks to take the safe route in limiting African American
characters’ appearance in television shows, having them have isolated appearances as
characters that provided comedic relief (Squires). The world of television changed in the
1980s when African American actors were given a chance to land more significant roles.
A new representation of African Americans emerged in the 1980s with The Cosby Show,
which showed a successful African American family with multiple positive aspects such
as being recognized as an upper-class family with the father being a doctor and the
mother as a lawyer. This positive portrayal was vital because it went against African
Americans’ mainstream media depiction and created a believable reality for a society
where the African American characters were not always poor or criminals. While it was a
nice change of pace to portray positive aspects, this did not mean that they were accurate.
“Many critics felt that the Huxtables were too much like all the other middle-class White
families on TV; the Huxtables seemed to live in a race-free bubble, untouched by
18

prejudice or inequality” (Squires 229). Overall, the depiction of African Americans
further embedded these positive and negative stereotypes into society.
While feminism has been a steady movement for decades, female representations
in comedy television portrayed sexist stereotypes. With men dominating society, most
humor for them will often poke fun at individuals of lower social statuses. “Those who
hold the power in a culture develop a preference for humor that victimizes the powerless,
while the powerless develop a preference for self-victimizing humor” (Bressler 50). It has
been normalized for women to be the main focus of humor, making fun of the stereotypes
that society created, like depicting women to be submissive, dependent, and overly
emotional. Even when individuals try to redirect the humor against men, they are still
being oppressed. “Bing remarked that humor that targets men ignores women and
particularly conceals their lived experiences. By focusing on men, they are still at the
forefront of the argument. Therefore, when women use men as the source of their humor,
they are conforming to societal norms” (Bressler 50).
While there have been many past television shows that have cast women in roles
that frame them as useless, helpless, and clumsy, the shows produced in the early 2000s
show that women were slowly attempting to reverse the ingrained system of sexism and
patriarchy. A show titled Two Broke Girls stars two female leads named Max and
Caroline that try to have successful and stable lives with their diner business. While these
characters attempt to represent female empowerment by becoming independent business
owners, the execution goes against the postfeminist goal of preventing any group from
being discriminated against within society. “Rather than presenting women to

19

emulate and characters who demonstrate female empowerment, the show disparages the
characters that surround the two women in an effort to make Max and Caroline seem
superior. Their individual empowerment comes from the denigration of those around
them” (Bressler 51). Past sitcoms did not reach a level of understanding that elevated
women without degrading other groups or cultures.
Along with the discrimination found in situational comedies, there was a similar
experience occurring within drama shows where African Americans were mainly
portrayed by stereotypes. Drama shows were the first to give African Americans more
significant roles that were not all about dehumanizing them. Even though our society has
deemed racism as a negative and unacceptable concept, recently broadcasted television
series suggest that there are still struggles that minority groups must strive to resolve
(Smith-Shomade).

Cultural Analysis Overview

Cultural analysis theory looks at the different aspects of culture and how certain
elements reveal what we consider to be our reality. First, looking at what the concept of
culture is, there are various definitions that can begin to explain its meaning. “Culture is
simply what human beings produce and the means by which we preserve what we have
produced” (Ott & Mack 135).
The first element of culture is purely physical, regarding the artifacts that are
created that have a shared meaning within society. Television shows would fall into this
category, along with books, cars, maps, and other objects that we have created. The next
element of culture is the social aspect, related to how we look at these created artifacts in
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search of some type of meaning. This is needed during the creation of social norms and
traditions, as the social aspect forms a structure that we are all able to recognize, such as
movies that are regarded as timeless classics. The last element of culture is attitudinal,
which explains the traditions and customs that are adapted by our society. This relates to
how it is known in American culture to always be early to job interviews. This element
lets people within our society understand which topics are controversial or what is
considered acceptable behavior to function on a daily basis.
Culture involves a collective experience. “While individuals may be a part of a
particular culture, they can never inhabit a culture on their own. Culture must be shared
among a group of people” (Ott & Mack 136). We share culture by having conversations,
spreading knowledge, and absorbing the same type of content. Culture is also rhetorical,
meaning that since culture is a symbolic concept, society should be able to share
meanings, interpretations, and perspectives with each other. Culture is historical as it
evolves and changes over time as each generation alters and modifies the common social
norms. The last major quality of culture is that it is ideological, which is a key factor
influencing how each individual perceives the world they live in.
Looking more in-depth at the qualities of ideology, it is an important factor and
contributes to how elements such as minority groups are perceived and portrayed in the
media. “Ideology is a system of ideas that unconsciously shapes and constrains both our
beliefs and behaviors” (Ott & Mack 138). Our ideology allows us to create our own
version of reality, and it can both expand and limit how we experience life. The limits of
an ideology are that it restricts the range of ideas that are socially acceptable, only giving
individuals a few options to choose from. One example could be the traditional social
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view regarding gender and how there are only two genders that can exist. Staying within
the boundaries of this ideology excludes all of the individuals that consider themselves a
part of the LGBTQ+ community in some way. Along with creating these restrictions,
ideology continues to normalize these social norms and taboo topics so that it becomes
embedded into society.
There is the concept of interpellation, which is another function of ideology
related to a scholar named Louis Althusser. “He claims that ideology is so infused into
the social structure that it actually serves as the force to interpellate us, or the force that
calls us into existence as social objects” (Ott & Mack 140). For further explanation, doxa
and hegemony center on how ideologies fit into our culture. Doxa is another process that
creates and maintains any social conventions that exist in a culture. “In other words, doxa
refers to any constructed aspects of a culture that its members do not really challenge or
critically reflect upon” (Ott & Mack 141). These social conventions are viewed as ideas
that should be recognized and followed without hesitation or resistance. An example of
doxa would be regarding the collective opinion that a public figure is racist as a
permanent fact. Lastly, hegemony involves one ideology dominating other ideologies.
While there are many different claims and arguments about one idea, a majority of
society will generally accept one idea over the rest. This concept can be seen in television
news, where certain networks will only broadcast specific news stories that align with
their dominating ideology.
For scholars that focus on cultural studies, ideologies and representations related
to race and ethnicity are key. “Through media representations, social organizations, and
even everyday objects, ‘white’ becomes an overarching norm, a privileged non-race
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against which all other races are measured and compared” (Ott & Mack 151). This
explains the dominance of white individuals seen throughout history and how the success
of other ethnicities and races are determined the standard for white individuals. The first
major concept related to race and ethnicity is exclusion or under-representation in
society. This could be seen in earlier television shows and films, as media content lacked
diversity and inclusion of other cultures. Even if a cultural group is prominent with a
large population in society, exclusion can occur when documenting and representing an
entire culture through media. The concept of stereotyping is extremely common within
the media, as it simplifies the representation of minority groups by only a few
characteristics. This is dangerous since it allows people to perceive an entire group of
people with a few characteristics that are both inaccurate and do not represent the group
as a whole. A common example of this is the constant portrayal of African American
males as dangerous criminals in television shows like Empire or Power. Because this
representation is being broadcast across the culture, it is typical to see people of other
races automatically assume that African American males are scary and dangerous in real
life (Tukachinsky).
Cultural assimilation is a concept where media outlets portray a particular
minority group in a positive way while removing their cultural identities at the same time.
“These groups are often shown to possess equal or better socio-economic standings than
their white counterparts, but issues of past or continued political struggles for that
equality are virtually absent” (Ott & Mack 153). The concept of assimilation is a negative
type of stereotype, where minority groups like African Americans and women are
stripped of their identities and struggles. Assimilation is the product of white privilege,
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where all other cultures are reconstructed to follow the standard format of a white
middle-class lifestyle (Ott & Matt).
The concept of cultural identity is another major aspect of Cultural Studies since
it examines how our culture influences how we identify ourselves. “Within the terms of
this definition, our cultural identities reflect the common historical experiences and
shared cultural codes which provide us, as ‘one people,’ with stable, unchanging and
continuous frames of reference and meaning, beneath the shifting divisions and
vicissitudes of our actual history” (Hall 223). The societal norms of each culture
contribute to how we view ourselves as individuals, and the media that we absorb
contains these shared cultural codes that we all accept and adapt. While cultural identity
contains the elements that our culture shares, it also contains the unique traits that make
people different within one culture. “This second position recognises that, as well as the
many points of similarity, there are also critical points of deep and significant difference
which constitute ‘what we have become’” (Hall 225). The emphasis on these differences
is one of the many contributing factors that lead to the imbalance of power for African
Americans and women.
Cultural studies are constantly evolving, and what is important or socially
acceptable changes on a daily basis. "For cultural studies has no guarantees about what
questions are important to ask within given contexts or how to answer them; hence no
methodology can be privileged or even temporarily employed with total security and
confidence, yet none can be eliminated out of hand" (Nelson 2).

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Feminist Analysis Overview

The concept of feminism looks at the power dynamics between men and women
within society and the media. “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist
exploitation, and oppression” (hooks). The basic definition of sexism is to discriminate
against someone solely based on their gender (Ott & Mack 194). A large factor of sexism
in our society stems from the concept of patriarchy, which defines the power dynamics
between men and women that prioritizes men’s interests over women’s. “More recently,
DeKeserdey and Schwatz differentiate between social patriarchy involving men’s
domination at the societal level and familial patriarchy which refers to men’s control of
women in domestic settings” (Pease 50). While society may believe that this patriarchal
system negatively impacts only women, several scholars disagree. “The gendered
expectations that patriarchy places on women also exert pressure on men, often
demanding that men show little emotions, avoid certain occupations, or act as the
breadwinner for their families” (Ott & Mack 195).
There are specific gendered stereotypes that exist within our media that reflect the
nation's sexist roots. These are portrayed as binaries, splitting men and women into two
opposing categories to show how different they are represented in the media. “Men” and
“women,” we now know, are not simple descriptions of biological persons, but
representations that secure their meanings through interdependent contrasts: strong/weak,
active/passive, reasonable/emotional, public/private, political/domestic, mind/body”
(Scott 5) The stereotypical binary of logical vs. emotional is present in various aspects of
society, where the belief is that men use logic to create solutions while women think with
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their feelings. As seen in television shows and films, men typically approach their
problems void of any emotion and oftentimes cannot react with emotion even if they tried
to. On the other hand, women are portrayed as overly emotional beings, where their
feelings cloud their judgment and logic while making decisions. The last stereotypical
binary is sexual subject vs. sexual object, where men are seen as the pursuers while
women are submissive objects. "To be feminine is to be available, responsive, and open
to male sexual advances" (Ott & Mack 202). This binary is so common that instead of
trying to suppress this sexist idea, it is used to promote media to each sex. While these
examples are portrayed by various media platforms, this could influence the opportunities
men and women are presented with by their society.
While it is a misconception that feminism has the goal to lower the social status of
men, its actual goal is to eliminate this embedded concept of sexism so that no one is
discriminated against within society. While sex is the biological difference of men and
women based on organs and anatomy, gender contains all of the cultural differences that
fall both within and outside of the two sexes. While not every woman shares the exact
same gendered qualities, essentialism assets that each woman is naturally born with these
characteristics (Martin). For example, Ott & Mack argue that "It is a biological fact that
only women can give birth to children, but the tendency to view women as nurturing and
mothering is a gendered quality" (194). However, the claim that only women can give
birth is inaccurate as it is possible for transgender men to give birth as well. There was a
specific instance where a transgender man named Evan gave birth to a healthy baby boy
in 2016, which is one of several examples that demonstrates how the definition of gender
is always changing (Hempel).
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The goals of mainstream feminism have evolved throughout the history of the
United States. During the first three waves of feminism, the main goals were to achieve
voting, workplace, and reproductive rights for women. The first wave of feminism started
with the fight for voting and workplace rights that started with the ideas of Elizabeth
Cady Stanton. The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s that focused on gained
reproductive rights and social equality, with the third wave attempted to redefine the
social constructs of womanhood (Haaken). Now that women have these rights in some
way due to the creation of the 19th Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment and the
Equal Pay Act, the movement has shifted to eliminate the deep-rooted problem of
patriarchy that started these issues in the first place. “Although difficult to clearly define,
post feminism broadly refers to a conceptual shift within the popular understanding of
feminism: an evolution in feminist emphasis from the systemic oppression of all women
to the empowerment of individual women” (Ott & Mack 206). This lack of clarity could
cause potential problems with how feminism is interpreted since everyone in society
needs to be involved in the elimination of sexism. If men feel as though feminism means
that they will lose their higher status and power, it would be unlikely for men to gain the
desire for change. “There is no inclusiveness without exclusion, no universal without a
rejected particular, no neutrality that doesn’t privilege an interested point of view, and
power is always at issue in the articulation of these relationships” (Scott 6) Since this
patriarchy mainly benefits men in terms of the collective definition of success, men may
not want to stop the oppression of women (Ott & Mack).
By studying modern television shows like Orange Is the New Black and How to
Get Away with Murder, modern shows can portray new realities with some traditional
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forms of stereotypes that remain ingrained in our society. African Americans are still
portrayed as criminals, and women are presented as overly emotional within these
modern television shows, suggesting that the real forms of oppression, sexism and
discrimination still exist in our reality. Orange Is the New Black reveals life inside of an
all-female prison, where women make impulsive decisions with their emotions while
being oppressed by a corrupt prison system. The show How to Get Away with Murder
creates a reality where a powerful African American woman uses her logic and
intelligence to dominate her career as a defense attorney. While both television series
depict different situations of oppression and power, they contain elements that could
influence how we continue to treat African Americans and women within our society.

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CHAPTER III
MODERN TELEVISION SERIES ANALYSIS

Using the depictions found within Orange Is the New Black and How to Get Away
with Murder, media criticism theories are utilized to examine how specific portrayals
contribute to the oppression of African Americans and women in the United States. This
qualitative approach can help predict the future behavior of our culture based on the
artifacts that are currently being created. Two episodes from each series will be
scrutinized to highlight (1) situational examples of oppression and (2) situational
examples of sexism. The main purpose of gathering all instances of oppression is to
connect them with media criticism theories to predict the impact of these representations
on our culture.
Each genre of television portrays African Americans in different ways, where
comedies may use their stereotypes to make a joke, while thrillers have multiple
television series that try not to emphasize them at all. Within Orange Is the New Black,
the guards regularly use race as the center of the jokes made during the series, while How
to Get Away with Murder only discusses race based on the situation, and it is typically

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a serious conversation. Starting the focus on a comedy television series, a Netflix show
titled Orange Is the New Black became an extremely popular comedy after the premiere
of its first season, and the series lasted until its season finale in 2019. This show portrays
life inside of a women's prison, and it mainly follows the life of Piper Chapman, a
woman who has to serve time because of being involved in a drug-smuggling incident
when she was younger. She lives a normal upper-class life and feels unprepared as she is
thrown into an environment full of female prisoners that she has to adjust to quickly. The
show introduces the structure of Litchfield Penitentiary and how each residential section
is divided and labeled by race, which includes Hispanics, African Americans, and white
women. Piper eventually gets used to prison life by making friends and staying busy, and
she regularly experiences violence, drug abuse, misconduct, and riots during her time at
Litchfield. She eventually finds herself indulging in the majority of the criminal activity
and ends up getting in trouble throughout the series (Kohan).
The main focus on Orange Is the New Black as a whole is the corruption found
within the prison system and how easily it can be overlooked and disregarded. There are
several instances where guards abuse their power, serious situations are ignored, and
neglect of all prisoners is seen. While this current television show tries to be progressive
in terms of exposing the corrupt prison system within America, it also portrays
stereotypes surrounding African Americans and women that may impact how certain they
are viewed in real life (Kohan).

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Representations Embedded in Orange Is the New Black
Orange Is the New Black was created by Jenji Kohan based on the real-life
memoir of Piper Kerman, a woman who wrote about her experience in prison. The series
was produced by Neri Kyle Tannenbaum and is comprised of seven seasons in total that
stream only on Netflix (Kohan). The main character Piper Chapman is played by actress
Taylor Schilling, who is the series’ primary focus at the beginning of the first season. Her
prison sentence is mainly due to her ex-girlfriend Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon,
who introduced Piper to the drug smuggling business. There are various characters
introduced within Litchfield Penitentiary, including Red, the cook played by Kate
Mulgrew, the Spanish Harlem leader Gloria played by Selenis Leyva, and Vee played by
Lorraine Toussaint (Kohan). The prison system is already corrupt on its own as it is full
of neglect and misconduct, but this series shows what life is like for a female prisoner
and how they are dominated and overly sexualized by prison guards ("F**ksgiving").
In conjunction with the constant race wars and tension between cell blocks, there
are numerous examples of sexism found inside the prison and the prison administration.
Since the main prison is all-female, there are only a few instances of sexism between
prisoners, and a majority of their problems focus on race, drugs, or power. Despite this,
the correctional officers are mainly male, which is where a majority of the abuse of
power occurs. “There are also several scenes where Piper and other inmates are forced to
shower and/or urinate in front of male officers. These are just a few of the many reported
inappropriate comments and behaviors displayed by the prison staff in OITNB” (Terry).

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While the correctional officers are shown throughout the season to accept sexual favors
from prisoners, the ninth episode in the first season shows how easy it is for them to
overpower the women. During the start of the episode, the Russian kitchen cook named
Red discovers drugs inside of the food shipment and flushes them down the toilet. It is
soon revealed that the drug smuggling business belongs to Officer Mendez, and he has
been using the delivery supply to sell drugs to prisoners. Since he is unable to report her
for flushing the drugs that are connected to his illegal drug smuggling business, he
decides to punish her in other ways. He messes up her kitchen, urinates in the dinner
gravy, and threatens to kill her if she messes with his drugs again. Red has no choice but
to be complicit, and she visibly looks scared, which goes against her normally brave and
tough character (“F**ksgiving”).
Later in the same episode, F**kingving, Piper and her ex-girlfriend Alex
are dancing at a party when the male prisoner counselor named Healy announces that
Piper is attempting to rape Alex and sends her to an isolation cell. This is just one of the
multiple instances where the female prisoners are overly sexualized while doing activities
like dancing. Healy visits Piper in isolation and reveals that he put her in isolation to
think about what she has done. Piper states that she should not be punished because of
him having a “weird lesbian obsession” (“F**ksgiving”). Even after she stands up for
herself, she soon realizes that Healy is responsible for her life, and it is his decision if she
is released from isolation. To be released from her room, she promises to herself that she
will be on her best behavior, to do as the guards say, and serve her time quietly. This is a
prime example of a female being submissive because of a system that constantly allows
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her to have no power.
There are also moments that happen outside of the prison that show the progress
of women’s rights in regard to what women are able to do with their own bodies. There is
one prisoner who receives constant abortions before prison life, and there is always a
crowd of people outside of the clinics demanding to end the right to have an abortion.
The concept of abortion is normalized and regularly mentioned within the series, and it
might be an attempt to show the audience why women should always have the right to an
abortion in real life (“Fool Me Once”).
It is also worthy to point out the lack of instances where African American
women are sexualized within the show, which could be related to the common stereotype
that African American women have savage and unattractive features. They are not seen
as delicate and fragile beings, and in return, they often receive harsher treatment by the
correctional officers. Within the episode titled Fool Me Once, an elderly white prisoner is
given special treatment from a correctional officer when she asks to take food outside of
the cafeteria. Even though taking food into the cell blocks is against the rules, the
correctional officer feels sympathy for the prisoner and gives her permission. Later in this
episode, the same correctional officer aggressively targets an elderly African American
prisoner, continuing to agitate her for wearing unregulated nail polish before an alteration
begins (“Fool Me Once”). There are several progressive elements like the exposure of our
corrupt prison system, but there are stereotypes such as the poor, uneducated African
American characters that come from broken homes. At the end of F**kingving, an
African American prisoner named Taystee is released from jail after serving her sentence.

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It is soon revealed that she has no family to return to and that her only option is to stay in
a stranger’s house, forced to sleep in a corner on the floor. (F**kingving).
Orange Is the New Black deals with the topic of race early in the first season
when Piper is sent to prison. The three main sections of the prison are named after the
ethnicity of the inmates, and Piper first gets placed in “The Suburbs” with other white
prisoners. Other sections of the prison are “Spanish Harlem” for the Hispanic and
Spanish speaking prisoners, while “The Ghetto” houses all African American prisoners
(“Low Self Esteem City”). One episode that includes elements regarding the race
dynamics is the fifth episode in the second season titled “Low Self Esteem City.” At the
beginning of the episode, the showers in Spanish Harlem start to overflow with backup
drainage, and the women quickly leave the dirty showers. Gloria, the current leader of
Spanish Harlem due to her seniority, makes the decision to take over The Ghetto
showers. This instance is the start of the conflict between these two prison blocks, and it
escalates throughout the episode. The African American cell block agrees to give up their
showers, but their leader Vee has alternate motives in order to get revenge for having
their showers controlled by Spanish Harlem. Vee decides to start a side business within
the prison that makes them dominate the custodial department (“Low Self Esteem City”).
Vee wants to begin a side business of selling contraband such as cigarettes by
forcing prisoners in the Ghetto cell block to all acquire jobs in the custodial department,
which is located in an isolated area in Litchfield Penitentiary. Vee quickly runs into an
issue when two prisoners from Spanish Harlem are still assigned to custodial duties. Once
Vee sees an opportunity when dealing with Gloria trying to negotiate the showers, she
gives up The Ghetto showers so Gloria can reassign the Hispanic prisoners out of
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custodial. Once there are only African Americans working in the custodial department,
Vee is able to collect and sell contraband without other cell blocks interfering to gain
more power at Litchfield (“Low Self Esteem City”).
This episode highlights the segregation within the prison and how opposed these
different cell blocks are. While Red, a prisoner who previously had a friendship with
Vee, sees that Vee is trying to take advantage of Gloria and her cell block, Gloria does
nothing and enjoys some of the perks she is given after being put in charge of the kitchen.
It was a common theme that the cell block in charge of the kitchen is put in a leadership
position because they control the food supply (“Low Self Esteem City”). For example,
when Piper first arrives at the prison, she insults the cook by calling the food disgusting.
Since Red is the main cook during this episode, Red starves Piper until she apologizes
and gives a peace offering of medicated lotion to Red (“I Wasn’t Ready”). This
perception of Gloria being tricked by Vee and her cell block can be seen as insulting to
both African Americans and Hispanic individuals since African Americans are seen as
sneaky and manipulative, whereas Hispanics are being portrayed as naive.
Throughout the episode, The Ghetto cell block pranks and inconveniences the
Hispanic women by tying their shoelaces together, while Gloria sabotages their food.
After Gloria tries to confront Vee by slamming her against the bathroom wall physically,
she is quickly manipulated as Vee starts to cry and asks for the African American girls
that work for Gloria to be sent to custodial. This tactic is to allow “The Ghetto” cell block
to gain full control of custodial so they can fully operate their illegal trading business.
(“Low Self Esteem City”).

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Focusing on these examples found in Orange Is the New Black, the show portrays
different races that are typically oppressed in real life living in a fictional prison. While
this basic portrayal might seem harmless, constantly broadcasting these images can
further normalize these representations, and it may influence people to see these races as
criminals naturally. “Such an attitude, however, protects an ongoing system of racial
inequality and stands in contrast to the insidiousness of white micro-aggressions that
continue to associate negative characteristics with people of color” (Enck and Morrissey
306). By portraying both African American stereotypes and white privilege through
scenes found in Orange Is the New Black, it aligns and maintains the inequalities that
African Americans and women deal with in U.S. culture.
The series shows several African American prisoners being trapped inside of the
prison system, while the main focus generally remains on the white female prisoners.
This scenario is the result of white privilege dominating American culture and how
African Americans tend to be overlooked. Despite other races and ethnicities being
featured throughout the series, their roles are always centered around white privilege.
“Rather than merely reaffirming middle-class whiteness, though, the series interrogates
this subject position, making its presumed centrality and internalized privilege visible,
through encounters with other characters” (Schwan) Even with a series full of racial
stereotypes about African Americans, these instances are used to serve the dominating
white presence both in the show and in our society.
Another characteristic of culture is collective meaning and how there are some
ideas that are spread and accepted by a majority of society. By the series showing how
normal it is to separate the race groups in prison, it could normalize the segregation of
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racial groups in our own reality. While this is not an idea held up with laws, there are
actual neighborhoods that are nicknamed “the ghetto,” which holds communities that are
predominantly African American. “Some viewers might read the show’s tribes as support
for naturalized racial divisions that deny social constructions of race and systemic racism.
However, because viewers see race on the bodies of the various groups/tribes, veiled
color blind remarks demonstrate how the structural inequities embedded in racial
divisions are often willfully ignored in society” (Enck and Morrissey 309).
The concept of doxa is shown since several of the stereotypes and ideologies in
the show were not challenged by a majority of viewers who watched the show. Instead,
there have been mainly positive reviews on how it exposes the corrupt prison system.
“Much of the response to OITNB has been favorable, with critics applauding the show’s
representation of incarcerated women from a wide range of life’s paths. As one critic
notes, ‘The buzz has been increasing about the show’s varied portrayals on-screen,
ranging from racial and sexual diversity to trans characters and beyond’” (Enck and
Morrissey 304). It is common for comedies to be seen as harmless fun, but most of the
humor is created through the oppression of others. Even though the public audience
mainly enjoyed the series with the exception of a few critics, these depictions could
potentially have a negative impact on how society treats African Americans and women.

Feminist Analysis in Relation to Orange Is the New Black

Focusing on the examples that can be examined with feminist analysis gives a
glimpse of how our society regularly perceives women. Within Orange Is the New Black,
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there are several examples of sexism that occurred within the prison. The noticeably
frequent instances are the over-sexualization of women by the male guards and how this
sometimes leads to male guards taking advantage. With the scene where Piper was
thrown into isolation for dancing with another woman, this was mainly due to the male
officer perceiving the dance as sexual where Alex and Piper were hugging and dancing
close to each other. While to most women, the dancing is just two girls having fun
together, the male officer only saw the sexual nature based on how he normally views
women.
After Piper is thrown into isolation, Piper attempts to stand up to the male officer
but quickly realizes that he determines her life while she remains in prison. She decides
to listen to what he says to get through her sentence, but this is a common dynamic
between men and women. Even as women try to stand up against the advances of men,
the rigid sexist system is not easy to erase. With the male guards like Officer Mendez
taking advantage of Red for his own selfish gain, Officer Mendez is using the benefits of
the sexism they know exists.
The binary of logical vs. emotional is a more frequent occurrence, where the
women in prison make impulsive and sometimes dangerous decisions based on their
emotions. When Piper is in isolation after dancing with Alex, she becomes overwhelmed
with anger once Officer Healy comes to talk to her about the incident. Piper begins to
yell, scream, and curse at Officer Healy, not realizing the more logical solution to her
dilemma after she has calmed down. Due to her outburst, she is given additional time in
isolation before she is allowed to return to her cell block (F**kingving). Another scene
within the episode titled Low Self Esteem City shows Vee take advantage of being overly
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emotional to secure her illegal side business. Since being emotional ties into being
illogical, Gloria automatically assumes that Vee is making a rash decision that she will
regret in the future (“Low Self Esteem City”).
The binary of sexual subject vs. sexual object is mainly seen with the
relationships between the male guards and the women prisoners. Other than the occasions
where male guards would ask for sexual favors from the prisoners, like Officer Mendez
allowing prisoners to have drugs for oral sex, there have been multiple occasions where
women are mistreated due to the over-sexualization of situations. “Viewed in the context
of the season and series as a whole, then, sexualized scenes emerge as one way in which
the show generates a critical meta-commentary on what is regarded as salable to the
media and popular audiences, although the series’ creators, of course, remain implicated
in this process of commercialization” (Schwan).
Based on past studies conducted on television shows, it is common for comedies
to use minority groups to make jokes, and factors like race and gender are emphasized
more frequently. The first genre to introduce integrated television was drama, which was
the first step to normalizing minority groups within the media. A recent popular drama
television show is How to Get Away with Murder, which is a series that follows a small
but powerful law firm that encounters various challenges involving murder (Nowalk).

Character Portrayals in How to Get Away with Murder

How to Get Away with Murder was written by Peter Nowalk and produced by
Shonda Rhimes on the ABC Studios network. The series contains six seasons, and the

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main character of Annalise Keating is played by Viola Davis. The series features the law
firm run by Keating, where she hires five college students to help her with some highprofile cases as a defense attorney. Wes Gibbins is played by Alfred Enoch, Connor
Walsh is played by Jack Falahee, Michaela Pratt is played by Aja Naomi King, and Asher
Millstone is played by Matt McGorry. This cast of the Keating 5 quickly become
involved with Annalise and the many complications of her life (Nowalk).
The story centers around Annalise Keating, who is a criminal defense attorney
and professor at a Philadelphia university. Throughout the duration of the series, she
encounters various legal and personal problems that she attempts to solve using
unorthodox methods. The series is full of twists and turns, where Annalise and a group of
her university students narrowly solve the various issues they encounter while handling
high-profile legal cases.
There are numerous LGBTQ characters, characters of various ethnicities, but
these elements are not emphasized or mentioned. The few occasions where issues related
to minority groups are discussed are with particular cases, pointing out the corrupt justice
system. When Nate gets arrested, Michela becomes increasingly doubtful of his release
due to how African Americans are treated within the criminal justice system. Since the
characters believe that the criminal justice system is inherently racist, Nate being arrested
reveals how much an innocent man can be in danger due to his race.
Almost all of the main female characters portray themselves as strong, capable,
and possess the ability to make decisions without emotion getting in the way. In episode
twelve in the first season is when the police find the body of Annalise’s husband, and she
is quickly accused of murder. Instead of letting her emotions overwhelm her to the point
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of tears from the news, she powers through her feelings and continues to go to work,
focusing on doing what it takes to be perceived as innocent. Annalise does her best to
protect her students, but at the end of the episode, she is overwhelmed with emotion and
decides to call her mother for help. This episode depicts the stereotype of a strong black
woman, and it shows how Annalise can push aside her emotions to logically solve her
issues before focusing on her suppressed emotions by herself when the job is done
(“She’s a Murderer”).
The thirteen episode in the first season portrays one of the first instances where
racial inequality is recognized by the main characters. During this time, the police are
looking for suspects in the murder of Annalise Keating’s husband, who was killed by a
group of students. One suspect named Rebecca, who is involved in another murder, lies
and tells police that an African American police officer named Nate threatened to hurt
her. Along with placing Nate’s fingerprints on the deceased husband's belongings, this
was enough to have Nate arrested for his murder. Even though the law group has various
other problems, they express their concerns for Nate, saying how difficult it will be for
him since he is African American. Even as Nate is found innocent and released from
prison, there is mention of how problematic it is for African American males to exist
within the justice system (“Mama’s Here Now”).
Another instance in the series that demonstrates how there are numerous powerful
women in the law field is within the thirteenth episode of the fourth season when
Annalise is bringing one case to the Supreme Court with the help of a powerful female
government aid from another popular drama show titled Scandal. The purpose of this
hearing is for Annalise to attempt to reform the criminal justice system, trying to
41

highlight cases that deserve a mistrial. It is also notable to point out that the main
argument in Annalise’s case is how race influences the mistreatment of individuals in
several civil cases and how racism needs to be removed from the criminal justice system
(“Lahey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”). In terms of looking at instances where
African American women are emphasized, there are little to no examples of the common
racial and sexist stereotypes within this show. The women of color are portrayed as
intelligent, brave, logical, and powerful, all without having to constantly mention their
struggles related to their race or gender.
One specific, powerful moment in the series that focuses on race is in the last
episode, where Annalise reveals all of the struggles that she has endured throughout her
life. She mentions being called racial slurs as a kid at school, and how despite all of her
struggles, she is a fierce, strong black woman with countless accomplishments. While
there are few depictions of racial stereotypes besides the strong Black woman, this
television series offers a break from the constant broadcasted media that overemphasis
the struggles of African Americans and gender. There is no constant emphasis on their
race, but they still suffer from discrimination in ways that may not always be publicly
announced (“Stay”).
With the application of cultural analysis on How to Get Away with Murder, the
elements and ideologies paint an entirely different reality. The show goes against most
common societal norms, where there are several examples of typically oppressed
individuals having powerful and dominating roles. There were new and challenging
portrayals within the series, such as Annalise being married to a white male, which was
illegal until 1967 with the case Loving v. Virginia (“Loving v. Virginia). This could show
42

how there is some assimilation in this series, where there is little to no mention of the
racial struggles that the characters experience. There are a few instances that mention
struggles related to African Americans, but the main focus of the show remains on the
legal cases.
One possible ideology would be related to the justice system and how it can be
manipulated by both the prosecutors and the defense. Within the episode titled She’s a
Murderer, Annalise is handed a case involving the mob having a shipment of drugs being
confiscated after an anonymous tip was given to the police. After Annalise was able to
track down the man that found the shipment, he reveals that the prosecutor on this case
paid him to find the drugs for the police. This specific example portrays how a prosecutor
can manipulate a case to their advantage by gathering the right kinds of evidence needed
for a conviction (“She’s a Murderer”). With the depiction of this example within this
episode, it points out how society is aware that these types of deception exist within our
legal system and how often it is overlooked.
In terms of the concept of doxa, almost everything and everyone is challenged in
the show to the point where it does not seem realistic, even in regard to taboo topics at
times. Within the episode titled Mama’s Here Now, both the featured legal case and
Annalise’s childhood deals with sexual assault; Annalise reveals to her mother that she
was sexually assaulted by a family member when she was a child, leaving her with a
lifetime of trauma. While this sensitive topic is difficult to discuss, the series does an
effective job at raising awareness for this topic and creating an open discussion.
There is some exclusion in terms of culture since the show chooses not to focus
on the background of all races depicted. While this may seem like a negative aspect, it is
43

refreshing to see a show that does not emphasize race to integrate it into the plot. With
the characters featured in How to Get Away with Murder, it is structured in a way that any
character can be replaced without the plot being damaged. Each character is defined by
their personalities, their power dynamic, and everything else exclusive of race, gender, or
even sexual orientation. If Connor is replaced by a woman, the only potential changes
would be sexual orientation while being able to maintain Connor’s characteristics of
having anxiety, a snarky attitude, and emotional outbreaks. Almost all of the characters in
Orange Is the New Black are defined by their race, and each character is exposed to
different privileges or abuse based on their ethnic background. The main character Piper
has to be a white individual since, at some point during the season, she finds herself at the
head of a white power organization. The same can be said about other characters, such as
Taystee or Gloria, as there are major events that are connected to them solely due to their
race.
As the examples found in Orange Is the New Black mirror the existing stereotypes
and sexist qualities in our society, How to Get Away with Murder goes against some of
our existing ideologies regarding race and gender. Many of the main characters are
women who hold powerful positions that dominate their fields, such as Wendy Parks,
Emily Sinclair, and Tegan Price. Annalise is the leader of the law group and is in a
powerful role that involves trying to solve everyone’s problems.
There are some cases where men say sexist remarks against the women
characters, but with each instance, the women quickly stand their ground and end up on
top. Whenever Asher or Connor would try to overpower Michaela at gaining evidence,
she manages to contribute important discoveries directly to Annalise. Even with the
44

overall society depicted, some of the top lawyers that are tough competition for Annalise
are also women. With the remarkably powerful positions being occupied by women, the
lower assistant roles are populated by men, which shows how it is possible for women to
hold roles in careers that are typically dominated by men.
In terms of logical vs. emotional, it is proven multiple times throughout the series
that women have the capacity to control their emotions in order to solve their problems
logically. After Annalise finds out that her law students murdered her husband, she
quickly creates a solution without letting her love for her husband get in the way.
Annalise dealt with constant accusations in public and in private, and she is able to
remain calm and fully utilize her intelligence at all times. There were even situations
where Michaela forces herself to remain calm in stressful instances to ensure that she
remains fully in control.
Finally, with the binary of sexual subject vs. sexual object, there are little to no
examples where the men in the series sexualize the women. Connor is only interested in
men, and Asher and Wes are often too focused on their issues to have time to sexualize
the women. In actuality, both Asher and Wes took their time building a romantic
relationship with their partners. The women were mainly seen for the power they have,
their intelligence, and their many accomplishments. Annalise is a well-known powerful
defense attorney, and her reputation overshadows everything else she is known for within
her field.
Based on the analysis on Orange Is the New Black and How to Get Away with
Murder, there are both positive and negative stereotypes found in several episodes that
could have a lasting impact on how African Americans and women are perceived and
45

treated within our society. Taking everything into consideration, predictions and
precautions can be made regarding how television shows should represent minority
groups in the future. The various examples of sexism and oppression suggest that
perceptions reflect real-life attitudes towards African Americans and women.

46

CHAPTER IV
DISCUSSION

The application of communication theories can show how these portrayals can
influence our society and what these portrayals mean regarding the current state of our
society. In general, all television shows are the artifacts of our society, and social norms
and traditions are spread through the media to integrate into society. While it is common
to have family norms and traditions, the media is the main way that practically all
individuals are exposed to what is considered socially acceptable. This study focused on
the following research question: What do media representations of African American
men and women reveal about U.S. ideologies of race and gender? The portrayal of race
and gender in television programs has potentially positive and negative impacts on how
society views these groups in real life. First, looking at the positive aspects of these
portrayals of oppression could help bring awareness to other cultures about what minority
groups encounter on a daily basis (Enck and Morrissey).
When African Americans were first portrayed in television shows, it only showed
the stereotypes of them, leaving out the struggles that they endured during those time

47

like constant discrimination and a lack of civil rights. African Americans still deal with
discrimination, and television shows try to show these struggles to validate the constant
oppression minority groups deal with in our U.S. culture. While it does help raise
awareness about these issues, the frequent portrayals of stereotypes and sexism could
normalize these issues even further. If our society consumes these portrayals across
various forms of media, there is the potential that people may view this as how minority
groups normally act, which could impact how minority groups are perceived in real life.
These constant portrayals also offer a glimpse of how we currently function as a
society in terms of how we collectively view certain groups of people. If television show
creators always include and point out the differences and stereotypes, this could represent
that this is all society perceives when looking at minority groups. Our U.S. society was
created through oppression, so it is already a concept that is fully integrated into our
culture. By creating various television shows that use oppression as the plot or the center
of jokes, it shows how society has already accepted these representations as some version
of our reality.
While this overuse of portrayal of oppression within television shows comes with
some negative impacts on society, there needs to be a balance with media representations.
Looking at How to Get Away with Murder, there were only a few examples of oppression
tied to race and gender, which meant few stereotypes or generalizations. While this is
initially interpreted as a positive, there was also the negative concept of assimilation
within the show, where any cultural struggles were not included. With less emphasis on
the oppression found in our society being portrayed in fictional television, there is the
added risk of underrepresentation. There should always be a balance of representations
48

within fictional shows, where oppression is shown due to its existence in our society, but
it should not be the main element that makes up the characters.
Both television shows analyzed are on opposite ends of a spectrum, where
Orange Is the New Black overuses common racist and sexist stereotypes, whereas How to
Get Away with Murder hardly mentions race and gender at all. A balance should be
established where oppression is validated without impacting how society views certain
minority groups. This dilemma relates to the issue of general equality and if our society
has ever experienced true equality. If our society has always had an imbalance of power
between race and gender, then it may not even be possible to eliminate oppression fully.
While it remains unclear if these minority groups will ever be able to escape societal
oppression, the next steps the media can take is to find a balance to represent these
inequalities properly.
Looking solely at Orange Is the New Black, the overused scenarios of racist and
sexist stereotypes could imply that our society naturally perceives African Americans and
women as non-dominant groups, which could imprint this idea in later generations. Our
media becomes part of our history and will be used as a guide to the societal norms that
exist in current American society. While the depiction of the struggles certain individuals
have to endure is educational and validating, the constant storyline of the oppressed
African American could potentially alter the perception of certain minority groups by the
public. The more media we consume that involve these storylines, the more likely it is for
society to normalize and accept these ideas in their own reality. While Orange Is the New
Black might have been effective in exposing the harsh reality of the corrupt prison
system, it was ineffective at creating representations that work towards eliminating the
49

oppression of African Americans and women. The series normalizes portraying certain
minority characters in a negative light, which could lead to this perception spreading
throughout the culture.
In terms of How to Get Away with Murder, while there is a lack of stereotypes
regarding race and gender, it simultaneously invalidates the struggles these minority
groups have to face on a daily basis. In the context of the overuse of stereotypes
regarding African Americans and women in the media, this series offers its audience a
chance to be entertained by the plot without including racial or sexist elements. Despite
this aspect, this series is still ineffective at portraying the most accurate portrayal of
African Americans and women. There needs to be a balance of portrayals, where the
forms of oppression are mentioned without becoming the core foundations of a particular
character. If all media were to adopt this assimilation format, the existing oppression
within our culture would only be further invalidated. This series is the first step at
creating media not centered around oppression, but oppression does need to be accurately
acknowledged in some way.
This study was an opportunity to explore modern television series to analyze how
new depictions impact society. There has been in-depth research conducted on the first
television broadcasts when American society was more accepting of hateful depictions of
African Americans and women. In recent years, our society has attempted to be more
inclusive and open-minded in terms of what we deem to be respectful. With our societal
norms changing, media must learn how to adapt to the shift of cultural perspectives and
how we view African Americans and women. Our media is full of representations
containing oppression, so moving forward, our creators should focus more on the traits
50

and characteristics that are not directly connected to oppression. For future studies, there
will need to be more studies conducted on the new emerging forms of media like
streaming networks and social media television shows and how it is a reflection of this
new generation. By reviewing recent events and movements related to African Americans
and women, future media will enter new territory in terms of how these forms of media
can influence our society. Now that individuals can access almost all forms of media at
all hours of the day, this increase of absorption might indicate a bigger influence on how
societal norms develop.
With every study, there are multiple limitations that impact the validity of a
proper analysis. The first major limitation would be the classification of genres and how
many television shows belong to two different genres. Orange Is the New Black is
classified as a comedy-drama since there are many serious episodes that focus on intense
topics. With shows that fit into two genre categories, there would need to be methods that
focus on the different components of genres to understand how differently they influence
society. There is also the limitation related to where we access television shows since
there has been an increase in streaming series. Orange Is the New Black is available on
the streaming service Netflix, while How to Get Away with Murder is available on cable
television. Since each platform has different forms of access, it impacts how each
television show circulates through society. The availability of each television show
should be accounted for with its own specific analysis method.
Through the analysis of the comedy show Orange Is the New Black and the drama
series How to Get Away with Murder, it can be concluded that the stereotypes related to
African Americans and women have a potential strong connection to how society
51

perceives these minority groups in our own reality. Although these different genres have
two approaches to depicting African Americans and women, a balance needs to be
established in order to validate oppression without overusing it. As the societal norms
within American culture continue to change, our depictions of African Americans and
women within media need to evolve to contribute to the goal of ending oppression.

52

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