Alex's Experience of Gender-based Oppression and Navigation Toward Independence in Maid: A Liberal Feminist Analysis

Abstract

This thesis examined psychological abuse, economic abuse, and institutional failure experienced by Alex, the main character in Netflix's Maid (2021), and analyzed how she navigated these forms of gender-based oppression to achieve independence. This thesis employed qualitative research design with textual analysis approach, using Susan Moller Okin's Liberal Feminist Theory as the theoretical framework. The primary data consisted of dialogues, scenes, and narrative developments from the first season of Maid (2021), comprising 10 episodes. The findings revealed that Alex experienced psychological abuse through emotional manipulation and gaslighting, economic abuse through Sean's financial control and dependency creation, and institutional failure through systemic barriers from police, social services, courts, and daycare centers that reinforced rather than remedied gender inequality. The study found that Alex navigated these oppressions by resisting emotional control through confrontation and boundary-setting, pursuing financial autonomy through employment despite exploitative conditions, and challenging systemic barriers through persistent advocacy and strategic compliance. The analysis confirmed Okin's (1989) predictions that gender-structured relationships created interconnected forms of oppression, while also revealing that existing institutional responses remained inadequate. The study concluded that while individual resistance demonstrated possibilities for achieving limited independence, the broader goal of gender equality required comprehensive institutional transformation including workplace policies accommodating caregiving responsibilities, legal reforms recognizing non-physical abuse, and economic arrangements ensuring adequate compensation for women's work. This thesis contributed to Liberal Feminist scholarship by demonstrating the continued relevance of Okin's theoretical framework for analyzing contemporary media representations of gender-based oppression and women's pursuit of independence.