ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 is a case study of three serials that treat another unresolved but relevant second wave feminist concern, in an intersectional manner, namely the legal system’s failure to protect women from rape and domestic violence. Specifically, the disproportionately harsh treatment of women who kill to protect themselves or to avenge male violence is addressed in two prison narratives with intersectional concerns– Orange is the New Black and Wentworth – and a more hegemonic drama ¬– Big Little Lies. In Orange is the New Black this plotline revolves around a Black woman, in Wentworth a white woman, and in Big Little Lies a number of wealthy (mostly white) women who use their class privilege to avoid incarceration. What they share is a thematic concern with the criminal justice system’s propensity to mete out not only severe punishment to women who kill abusers, but harsher punishment when women kill their partners than when men do. Big Little Lies demonstrates the cross-class, cross-race reach of this social justice gender gap. All three serials are produced by women, and two, OITNB and Big Little Lies, are adapted from books written by women.
