Let's celebrate the strong women in Orange is the New Black

My name is Burcu and I am a major TV watcher. Binge watcher to be more exact. Which of course led me to binge watch the whole of season two of Orange is the New Black in two days. 

If you haven’t seen Orange is the New Black yet, then I judge you. So much. Stop reading and go and watch it! NOW!

Yes, the show is set in women prison, but it’s so much more than that. It celebrates real women. Each episode tells the background story of each character, as they all go through the emotional, physical, psychological journey of prison life. The show portrays survival. It portrays brave women. It portrays Stockholm syndrome. It portrays social issues that reflect real life. Orange is the New Black challenges everything, female relationships (with both women and men), religion, race, culture, sexual orientation, mental health, gender identity, ethnicity and drug abuse. Each character has its own battles.

One of the many things I love about the show is the appearance of the characters. They all look like normal women, no make-up, no hair extensions, all natural. Infact their appearances are the least of their worries! Also the women in the show are all different shape and sizes. Skinny women, curvy women, tall women, short women. The show does not shy away from showing what women’s bodies actually look like! And that it’s okay to not fit into the idealised image of the ‘perfect woman’ that the media creates.

So thank you Orange is the New Black for giving us a cast full of strong women, embracing womanhood, rather than the one-dimensional women you often see on television, who are simply written in to fulfil the role of the girlfriend or wife. Thank you television for finally representing real women and real women’s experiences!