Unit C Blog #13

Britton writes that the media version of a correctional officer is popularized as a bug, hulking man. You imagine a tough guy who never cracks a smile and is ready to use violence against violence within the prison walls. Likewise when you imagine a jail, you imagine chaos and unruly men. The truth of the matter is that women are entering the prison workforce in large numbers and in the book it mentions in 1995, 19% of correctional officers were female. Considering that is almost 15 years ago, the numbers are probably much higher. When discussing this with a fellow student who spent some time in tent city he mentioned that a majority of his correctional officers were female. He even mentioned that one of them was a very attractive female. This struck me as interesting because it depicts how even if we are open to the idea of females in prisons, we think of them as being masculine and unattractive. This is a major problem facing many women who work in non traditional roles. Because they are entering places that are male dominated, they are considered to be "less feminine" and unattractive. I think that this is a leading problem with encouraging women to enter other job fields even if they are interested in the subject. Women do not want to be perceived as manly. I think that in male prisons, male officers are shown to be extremely tough and not likely to be very caring. In female prisons, the male officers are probably a little more soft but women can be just as dangerous so I do not imagine it is that different. As far as recruitment videos go, females are portrayed as being very physically fit and motivated to be at their job. They usually are attractive looking because it is still a media piece and they are advertising ideals of how women should look.