Gazing at “It”: An Intersectional Analysis of Transnormativity and Black Womanhood in Orange is the New Black

Abstract

Transgender representations are predominantly negative and represent trans identities in dehumanizing tropes. I analyze the sole Black. transgender character on Orange is the New Black, Sophia Burset, to theorize a framework for transgender subjectivity that interrupts dehumanizing tropes. Sophia’s narrative on the show constructs transgender subjectivity through Sophia’s medical transformation, relationship with a Catholic nun, and lack of community with Black, cisgender women in prison. I employ theory from Black feminism and transgender media studies to analyze Sophia’s medical transition, interpersonal relationships, and political ideologies. Ultimately, Sophia Burset’s narrative functions as a non-threatening trans woman to alleviate transphobia and render Blackness invisible in Laverne Cox’s embodiment of Sophia Burset.