Queen versus Pawn: Female Genius in The Queen’s Gambit Dama contra peón: la genialidad femenina en Gambito de dama

Abstract

The miniseries The Queen’s Gambit, whose protagonist is an orphaned chess player with emotional problems and a dependence on drugs and alcohol, was the most watched fictional drama in the history of the Netflix platform in 2020. This article develops a feminist analysis thereof with an interpretive approach and a qualitative methodology, in order to elucidate to what extent it disrupts the mainstream paradigm of female representation, which is characterized by sexist stereotyping, an emphasis on the body and beauty, or the instrumentalization of sexual violence. Our study reveals that the series displays an imperfect heroine who disrupts gender stereotypes, yet is not wholly free of problems, such as the description of the concept of genius, which is trapped between the male pattern and a mental deviation typically seen as feminine.