Netlfix and Chill - The Cultural Politics of Sex in the #MeToo 'Moment'

This thesis explores the queer feminist potential of the #MeToo ‘moment’. Drawing on themes prevalent in previous cultural moments of the ‘Sex Wars’ and ‘Raunch Culture’, I argue that the rise of the #MeToo hashtag and concomitant disclosures, trials, apologies, and cultural discussion has led to a significant shaking up of sexual politics within Anglo-US feminism and – more broadly – the sexual discourses in these societies, beyond individual exposures. I position the #MeToo ‘moment’ within another controversial chronological concept, ‘fourth-wave feminism’, drawing attention to the latter’s efficacy for understanding aspects of Anglo-US feminist theory and practice and extending the meaning of feminist ‘waves’. My investigation is located in the entertainment media of our time, Netflix, and focusses on two shows: Orange is the New Black and Sense8. I ask, primarily: how can this new era of sexual politics be conceptualised?, while also assessing the potentialities for sexual mores reflected in, and influenced by their textual depictions. Through close readings of these representations I seek to identify the subtle, radical discourses at play, to assess how these accrue meaning within their cultures, and to offer a glimpse of a contemporary queer feminist liberatory sexual politics. This analysis coalesces around four themes: embodied feminism, (toxic) masculinities, identity politics (and particularly trans aesthetics), and utopian queer possibilities. I conclude by briefly locating my analysis within current pandemic cultures as experienced in the UK and US, with the (alleged) rise in the consumption of online media and non-contact intimacies alongside very troubling domestic and societal discord, wondering if and how my arguments might help understand sexual cultures in this emergent Corona ‘moment’.