Abstract
From Orange is the New Black to Oz to Prison Wives, there is no shortage of media depictions of prison. Although, despite the plethora of portrayals, the prison system and those impacted by it are often shown through a narrowed lens. In Katherine A. Foss’s edited volume, Demystifying the Big House: Exploring Prison Experience and Media Representations, contributors from a wide variety of disciplines, from sociology to communication to journalism to criminology, shed light on the ways in which the incarcerated and their loved ones have been depicted on-screen. In doing so, the contributors critically engage with media texts to examine how these on-screen portrayals compare to their realities, as it’s argued that current media depictions provide a limited understanding of the prison experience, while simultaneously excluding some of the most marginalized voices. Thus, this volume plays an important role in that it showcases diverse messages and experiences that are typically not shown on-screen.
Section one, Media Representations of Prison, examines how the media depict the incarcerated. L. Clare Bratten sets the stage for the volume by providing an historical overview of the “women-in-prison” film genre, noting that few media programs have historically focused on women prisoners. When women are represented, they are often reduced to their archetypes.
Rebecca Kern’s analysis focuses on two lead characters, Dayanara and Pennsatucky, from the Netflix television series Orange is the New Black to explore how the female body is subjected to social control in prison through a “gaze” that emphasizes sex and sexuality.
The issues presented in Orange is the New Black are further considered by Joy Jenkins and J. David Wolfgang, as they employ critical discourse analysis to observe the relationship between religion and gender in the series. Through their analysis, they show how religion serves an important function for the women in prison.
Foss examines how health in prison is portrayed in the media. She notes that health problems affecting prisoners are relatively absent in film and television, which is ironic given that the incarcerated face more chronic health problems than the nonincarcerated. When issues pertaining to health and health care are presented on-screen, inmates struggle to receive care; the struggle to receive care serves as another form of social control.
S. Lenise Wallace’s analysis focuses on the families of the incarcerated, a group rarely depicted in media. In analyzing the reality-based television show Prison Wives, Wallace notes several themes in the show: the nature of incarceration leaves the wives of inmates with financial hardship, loneliness, and a lack of intimacy. Additionally, the wives inadvertently serve as legal advocates on behalf of their incarcerated spouses, while doing their best to remain optimistic.
Adina Schneeweis considers the contradictory nature of the television show Oz by exploring how Black masculinity is represented in the show. On one hand, Oz presents Black male inmates as hypersexualized and hyperviolent. At the same time, Oz offers a competing narrative one that portrays gender roles as fluid, while also showcasing a diversity of sexualities.
In section two, Connecting Media to Experience, the contributors provide a comparative approach between media portrayals and their respective realities. Emily Plec brings to light narratives from those on death row by focusing on her interactions with a death row inmate. In talking with this inmate, she compares his experiences with those discussed on the television show Death Row Stories.
Kalen Churcher’s work touches on what it means to be masculine in Louisiana’s Angola Prison, a maximum-security men’s prison. Churcher notes that while the Angola prison culture is often depicted as hypermasculine, for inmates working in the media outlets at Angola, such as the prison magazine, television station, and radio station, masculinity becomes redefined, as the inmates understand the importance of not resorting to violence and aggression because of their unique jobs in the Angola media outlets.
Meredith Huey Dye uses survey data from three women’s prisons to explore the experiences of women serving life sentences. Huey Dye notes that media often depict this unique group of women with a “throw away the key” mentality; however, she argues that these women are different from the general population of women inmates, as 95% of the women in the study had no prior incarceration experience before receiving their life sentences.
Kathryn M. Whiteley relies on interviews she conducted with women currently incarcerated on violent charges. In conversations with the women, it became clear that the women were frustrated by the media coverage that they received, as they wanted to be known as “more than their crimes.” News stories about the women tended to focus on their crimes rather than the more personal aspects of their identities, such as their roles as mothers.
Section three, Forgotten Voices in Media, highlights individuals who are typically overlooked in traditional media depictions of prison. Amanda Barnes Cook notes that there are a number of breastfeeding mothers incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails. Yet correctional centers have been slow to accommodate the unique needs of breastfeeding mothers. Barnes Cook profiles three progressive policies that accommodate breastfeeding mothers: prison nursery programs, pumping programs in prisons and jails, and community-based correctional programs that allow women to remain with their children while serving their time in the community.
Valerie Jenness and Sarah Fenstermaker’s work focuses on interviews they conducted with transgender inmates in California. Jenness and Fenstermaker argue that transgender women inmates incarcerated in men’s prisons experience unique struggles in that they are “clocked as male” in prison. Still, despite these struggles, some inmates noted that being transgender also comes with benefits in prison, as some of the other inmates gave them special respect, like allowing them to line up first at mealtimes.
Le’Brian A. Patrick explores how formerly incarcerated Black men conceptualize their gender postincarceration. Patrick argues that reentry often involves a need to reconsider and redefine what it means to be masculine by reimagining masculinity into a positive self-concept, which is often in stark contrast to the messages typically presented in media that depict Black men inmates as inhumane.
Pauline Matthey ends the volume by sharing her own experiences as a prison volunteer. Through her experiences, she notes how volunteers are socialized into the prison and discusses the challenges that accompany being a prison volunteer.
Demystifying the Big House: Exploring Prison Experience and Media Representations provides an important contribution to the field by examining the role that the media plays in our constructions of life behind bars. The strength of this volume centers on its accessibility and ability to connect with diverse audiences, as prior knowledge of the prison system is not required for reading. Undergraduate and graduate students and researchers studying crime and media, as well as consumers of crime programming will find this book informative and eye-opening, as it allows readers to reimagine prison life through a different, more critical lens.