A Better Future Is in Your Hands”: Transhumanism and Feminism in The Power (TV Series 2023)

Abstract

The Power is a TV series released in 2023 for Amazon Prime, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman of the same name (published in 2016) that tells the story of how teenage girls in the world progressively develop an inborn new organ that allows them to electrocute people, empowering women and eventually reversing patriarchal societies. Young women gain the power to reverse structural injustices and get control of the world precisely because they have their bodies naturally enhanced. The transhumanist idea of enhancing and transforming our bodies to evolve as humans and have better societies in the future can be said to apply to the oppressed ones in The Power. As it will be argued, the series offers a critical perspective of the present, highlighting current debates on feminism, transhumanism, and the future of humanity with the purpose of encouraging viewers to reflect upon the oppressive effects of patriarchy and to consider the ideas of critical posthumanism in the search of more inclusive paths for our societies. By means of gender reversal, the show succeeds in offering a picture of how patriarchy has worked to oppress women over the years. Considering contemporary theories proposed by transhumanism (Bostrom, More, Hughes) and critical and philosophical feminist posthumanism (Braidotti, Ferrando), this contribution deals with the enhanced body as depicted in the TV series The Power, considering it as something superior that resists against patriarchal structures of power and that ultimately urges spectators to reconsider our current societies for the better.