ENTRE A VISIBILIDADE E A SUBORDINAÇÃO: REPRESENTAÇÕES DE MULHERES EM SENSE8 (2015–2017)

Abstract

This thesis investigates the representations of femininity in the television series Sense8 (2015–2018), created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and produced by Netflix, aiming to analyze how these representations engage with debates in feminist literary criticism and gender studies. A qualitative approach is adopted, based on bibliographic review and interpretative analysis of the show’s two seasons. The theoretical framework draws on authors such as Judith Butler (2003, 2017), bell hooks (2019), Marie-France Hirigoyen (2006), Angela Davis (2016), Chandra Mohanty (1984), Gayatri Spivak (2010), Carol Gilligan (1982,2003), and Pierre Bourdieu (2017). The work is organized into four sections: the first discusses the emergence of streaming platforms, Netflix’s operating model, and the construction of Sense8’s narrative universe within this logic of production and circulation; the second analyzes the construction of the characters Nomi Marks (Jamie Clayton), Kala Dandekar (Tina Desai), and Sun Bak (Doona Bae), considering their trajectories marked by gender identity, family tradition, and sociocultural context, based on transfeminist readings and Asian feminisms in critical dialogue with the limitations of Western feminism; the third investigates the forms of gender-based violence portrayed in the series—both physical and psychological—and their impact on characters such as Nomi, Kala, Riley Blue (Tuppence Middleton), and Sun, highlighting the articulation between symbolic oppression and social structures; the fourth section examines the narrative roles assigned to women, focusing on the aesthetics of care embodied by characters like Riley and Sun, who appear as emotional caregivers to the men around them, especially Will Gorski (Brian J. Smith) and Joong-Ki (Ki-Chan Lee). The analysis also explores the instrumentalization of female characters as “narrative bait,” particularly in the case of Riley, whose vulnerability propels Will’s emotional development. The findings indicate that although Sense8 projects a discourse of empathy, connection, and diversity, its female characters remain embedded in narrative structures that limit their centrality, reinforcing patterns of emotional support and symbolic erasure. While the series engages with gender studies, it does so in a strained manner, exposing structural continuities beneath the appearance of innovation. It is concluded that Sense8 makes progress in terms of visibility, but avoids shifting narrative centers of power, which limits the critical potential of the discourse it seeks to mobilize.