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Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany plays a host of the show's main characters, all clones of an illegal experiment. The mighty heroines save one another and destroy the patriarchy while subverting gender expectations.
The feminist clones are Sarah, who clashes with her radical feminist foster-mother; Alison, the quintessential post-feminist housewife; Cosima, a second-wave feminist lesbian; Beth, a third-wave feminist bogged down by addiction; and M.K., a fourth-wave feminist who tackles the hardships of disability through the Internet. The book explores the women's war against corporate power and how it relates to the science and ethics surrounding cloning.
List of contents
Table of ContentsIntroduction delete
Season Themes
Season One: Rejection and Self-Hatred
Season Two: Autonomy
Season Three: We'd Do Anything for Family
Season Four: Strange Bedfellows
Season Five: Self Definition
Literature, Games, Symbols and Allusions
Metafiction, Roleplay and Gender-Flipping
Games as Metaphors
Inside the Credits
Thoughts on Genre
Literature Behind the Season Titles
Allusions and Inspirations
The Science, Real and Emblematic
Inside Neolution
Cloning Ethics
Science versus Religion
Characters as Feminist Embodiments
Sarah the Punk
Sarah's Matrifocal Family
Felix and Art: Cultural Feminists
Vic the Bully
Helena: From Cultist to Pagan Guide
Amelia and Kendra: Black Feminism
Alison: Back to the Gothic Home
Donnie: New Man or Family Joke?
Cosima: Classic Second Wave
Beth Goes Third Wave
Siobhan the Rebel
Castors: Military Hierarchy
Paul the Macho Man
Cal Goes Off the Grid
Rachel the Gender Traitor
Tony's Trans Struggle
Gracie the Victim
Kendall the Matriarch
Krystal Goderitch: Girl Power
Scott and Hell Wizard: Sidekicks
Delphine: Dead Lesbian?
False Prince Ferdinand
Mika: Cyber-Anarchist
Susan and Coady: Ruling Man's World
Ira the Emasculated Assistant
Leekie and Westmorland: The Patriarchy
The Next Generation: Kira and the Girls
Katja to Camilla: Global Feminism
Looking to the Future delete
Episodes delete
Works Cited delete
Index delete
About the author
Valerie Estelle Frankel teaches English at Mission College and San Jose City College. The author of 90 popular culture books and more than 100 stories and essays, she lives in Sunnyvale, California.
