The Unacknowledged Legacy of 19 th Century Slave Narratives
inist organizations and actively protests the changing government . A scene from their college years shows Moira as sexually open with a woman (“ Offred ” 17:00-17:27 ). Living in Gilead , after an escape gone wrong , Moira works at Jezebels , a secret club and love hotel where Commanders go to have sex outside of the constraints of the Ceremony . Moira is forced into sex work , losing the autonomy to even choose a sexual partner ; the other queer character is Emily ( played by Alexis Bledel ), a white woman , who is caught having a consensual relationship with a Martha . Amy Boyle ’ s criticism notes that “ while the series makes a strong attempt to explore the discrimination experienced by LGBT + persons , despite having a racially diverse cast it has underexplored black histories of sexual and domestic slavery and the forced separation of families ” ( 863 ). Moira , then — as the Black queer woman — has survival sex , or forced sex work , rather than consensual sex or sex work as a chosen profession , engaging in self-preservation until June finds her . June lectures Moira on the importance of escaping , prompting Moira ’ s movement in the season finale that leads to her triumph — reunion with June ’ s husband , Luke , in Canada . Moira ’ s escape , the series suggests , would have been impossible without June , the outraged mother of The Handmaid ’ s Tale , insisting that Moira “ keep [ her ] fucking shit together ” (“ The Bridge ” 32:00- 32:03 ) and flee . Again , the outraged mother and the sexual deviant are linked , but the showrunners made a conscious choice to cast the outraged mother as a white woman and the sexual deviant as a Black woman — and to have the outraged mother condescend to the sexual deviant to propel her narrative movement .
Westworld is an intriguing case because , like 19 th century slave narratives , a Black woman is both the outraged mother and the sexual deviant : Maeve ( played by Thandie Newton ).
17