Blog 13

Not until Britton’s opening descriptions of the ways that prisons have been portrayed in the media had I really realized the discrepancies or stereotypes that are being ingrained into our society. It is so true that despite my best efforts, the first images of prison that pop into my mind when the word prison is mentioned are of commanding military type men trying to keep guard over the constant violence that is started among the hugely deviant male inmates. While I have never been in a prison, I have done a lot of research into them thus I know that violence is rare and that the internal environment is not shrouded in darkness yet it still does not affect the immediate images and thoughts that flood into my mind when the word “prison” is mentioned. The stereotypes of prisons, the inmates and the everyday activities in that environment has so been altered in its portrayal in the media and everyday life that we have been socialized to think of prisons in such ways and to combat the true views of prisons even when they are factual presented to us. It is hard for many to believe the truth about the prison environment due to not only the media but also the perception that prisons are supposed to be a place of punishment for criminals so we inherently think of them as places of violence and male-dominance. When women are portrayed in prisons as inmates or correctional officers they are seen as possessing masculine traits since prisons are seen as being male-dominated thus in order for women to “fit” into prisons they need to be able to fit into the male stereotype that prisons are given. When jobs in such areas as prisons or other male-dominated fields try to recruit women they also enforce the male stereotype by hiring women that they see as possessing masculine traits in order to continue the gender segregation in the workplace. Women must therefore compromise their femininity in order to be hired into these jobs yet that is still not enough to have them fully accepted in such jobs for they are still seen as an outcast because they are not a man.