Girls Behind Bars: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''Marshall:''' Spending ten months undercover in a women's prison? I can think of worse.
'''Mary:''' You do know it's not all lingerie and pillow fights?
'''Marshall:''' But it is sometimes, right?
|''[[In Plain Sight]]''}}
Women's prison is a setting that stands out for how unbelievably rare its depictions are... outside of porn that is. At most, only expect a vague allusion but the instances where the lives of female inmates are featured are vanishingly rare in comparison to that of male inmates. And the only thing that most people recall about women's prison is its [[Fetish Fuel]] potential.
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Still, an unfortunate effect of [[Most Writers Are Male]] is that most of them have never been to a women's prison, nor do they know how life is inside of it. It can be because men are not allowed inside, much like women in men's prisons. It may be because [[Double Standard|female offenders aren't considered as]] [[Badass]] [[Double Standard|as male offenders]] and thus less worthy of scrutiny. Or it may be because they just [[Did Not Do the Research]].
But, let's face it, it's mostly because most of them assume women's prisons are a [[Girl
Needless to say, the above description is purely fantasy and '''NOT''' [[Truth in Television]], except maybe for the shower scenes and the nudes searches, as can be seen in men's prisons. But the preponderance of the porn-friendly description is so deeply ingrained in pop-culture that realistic depictions of women's prison ''as a main setting'' that don't include these elements are exceptional.
In [[Real Life]], women's prisons are populated with the same ilk as men's prisons: criminals and lawbreakers. Thus, the laws of fight for dominance also apply there, and the [[Alpha Bitch
A case of [[Situational Sexuality]] taken [[Up to Eleven]] to [[Pandering to
Compare [[Prison Rape]].
See also: [[Chained Heat]], [[Forced Prize Fight]].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* Alluded to in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBrVLmLsHBQ this commercial] for [[Harley Quinn]]'s animated series. The commercial is SFW but Harley promises the series itself will ''not'' be...
** It isn't, but only a few episodes occur in Arkham.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In one chapter of the ''[[Excel Saga (
* The sixth story arc of ''
* ''[[
* ''[[
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Happens to [[Ms. Tree]] in the "Prisoner in Cell Block Hell" storyline.
* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' #82 has Gina Diggers doing time in a women's prison. The comic includes a shower scene and a fight with the head bitch, who happens to be a [[Shout
* ''[[Adventure Comics]]'' #394 features a [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] story with [[Supergirl]] in an alien women's prison. The story isn't really that good; however, and the comic is best remembered for [http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljhz6xBUsP1qbujox.jpg its cover] with the laughter inducing tagline "Heartbreak Prison! Where Every Girl's A Lifer!"
* ''[[Catwoman (
* O'Brien spends time in a women's prison during the ''[[Punisher]]'' arc where Frank is going after Nicky Cavella and his men for pissing on his family's remains. Being a ''[[Punisher]]'' story, O'Brien's arc is played for drama rather than titillation as she fights viciously to keep other convicts from raping her.
* Homaged in the ''[[Hack Slash]]'' story "Interdimensional Women's Prison Breakout", with [http://hackslashinc.com/1/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/hack_slash_11_a_web_72.jpg obligatory] [[Sexy Packaging]].
* In the mini-series ''[[G.I. Joe|G.I. Joe: America's Elite]]'', [[Ms. Fanservice| the Baroness]] was held prisoner at a "black site" for interrogation, and... well, [https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/G-I-Joe-2005/Issue-17?id=121568#26 see for yourself.]
== [[Film]] ==
* The zombie movie ''[[Grindhouse|Planet Terror]]'' has the two heroines behind bars for a scene in the third act.
** Also, {{
* The whole point of the 80's flick ''Reform School Girls.''
* ''Chained Heat'' is the classic series of movies in the late-night genre.
* Likewise, ''[[Caged Heat]]'' was another example of the genre from [[The Seventies|the 70's]].
* ''[[Tank Girl (
* ''And God Created Woman''
* [[Roger Corman]]'s ''[[Swamp Diamonds]]'' (as seen on ''[[
* ''[[Black Mama White Mama]]''
* ''The Big Doll House''
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* ''Bare Behind Bars'' is an especially brutal example of the genre.
* ''Girls in Prison,'' a 1994 film that is an example of the innocent woman in prison plotline.
* ''Under Lock and Key,'' a B-Movie with the classic undercover female cop plot.
* ''Werewolf in a Women's Prison.'' Nuff said.
* ''[[
* ''[[Gothika]]'' is a notable aversion, despite being an asylum for the criminally insane, featuring an all female prison with NO porn-like scene. The [[Shower Scene]], for instance, features a bunch of inmates in which some are unattractive or old, like a [[Real Life]] women's prison would feature. Scenes in recreation rooms consist of those women often sobbing, staring blankly, or gabbling to themselves.
* Played with in ''[[Freeway]]''. On one side, you have the typical lesbian inmate Rhonda (Brittany Murphy) who hits on Vanessa ([[Reese Witherspoon]]) and on the other hand, the dominant Mesquita (Alanna Ubach) who immediately provokes Vanessa to a physical fight over who's the baddest bitch, thus the one in command.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[
** This series liked the women's prison plot enough to use it a second time, albeit with only one Angel actually imprisoned in "Caged Angel."
** The 2011 remake also had an episode where the Angels went to prison, titled "Angels in Chains" in homage of the original series episode. There are some notable differences; however, such as the prison being located in Cuba and the absence of a [[Shower Scene]].
* Occurs in an episode of ''[[La Femme Nikita]]''.
* ''[[
* [[Subverted Trope]] in a ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode where George goes on a tour of a women's prison, and is disappointed to discover it's a peaceful, minimum-security institution without a shower fight to be seen.
* ''[[The Bill]]'' has done this several times.
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* The ''[[Prison Break]]'' [[Made for TV Movie]] revolved around breaking Sarah out of a women's prison.
* An otherwise best forgotten episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' had Carter lampshade this trope.
{{quote|
* ''[[Pacific Blue]]'' had an episode that guest starred [[WWE
* German TV series ''Hinter Gittern - der Frauenknast'' (English: "Behind bars - The Women's Prison")
* One episode of ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' has her sent to a women's prison island for murdering a woman who turns out to be the {{spoiler|very-much-alive commandant of the prison}}. It is, however, played entirely for drama rather than sex appeal.
* On ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', Olivia goes undercover at a women's prison in one episode. However, it is definitely not played for prurient amusement; in fact she's sexually assaulted by a guard and several later episodes show her dealing with the trauma.
* ''[[Lexx]]'' had an episode where Xev went to prison, complete with a shower scene.
* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' has a two-part episode where Lois Lane is framed for murder and sent to a women's prison.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The fifth season of ''[[The L Word]]'' sees Helena incarcerated in a women's prison. Scenes include a strip search and shower.
** Not to mention sex with her cellmate, who is very butch. Trope played absolutely [[Incredibly Lame Pun|straight]].
* ''[[Coronation Street]]'' has Fizz falsely in jail for murders committed by her husband John Stape.
* ''[[Prisoner Cell Block H]]'' was set in a women's prison.
* In the ''[[CSI]]'' episode "XX", the CSI team investigate a murder inside a women's prison.
* In ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'', Joy frets about going to prison, because she is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know that it's ''not'' lingerie and pillow fights. (Randy tries to convince her that it won't be so bad, because of this trope.)
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Orange is the New Black]]'' is likely the most famous work about a women's prison, as the basis for a popular [[Netflix]]-original TV series which ran for seven seasons (2013-2019). Author Piper Kerman served hard time at FCI Danbury, a minimum-security federal prison in Connecticut, before writing the memoir ''Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' (2010) about her experiences.
== [[Music]] ==
* [[
* [[Pam Grier]]'s song "Long Time Woman" from ''The Big Doll House.''
* Parodied with the [[Go-Go Dancing|go-go dancer]] in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXnoLAEUSQ this old video] starring the [[Bobby Fuller Four]].
== [[Theater]] ==
* "When You're Good to Mama" from most versions of ''[[Chicago]]''.
* Mo'Nique in her routine ''I Coulda Been You Cellmate'', that is set in a women's institution, playfully toys with this trope about its implausibility.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* One of the storylines in the Japanese RPG ''[[
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* Mentioned briefly in ''[[Homestar Runner]]''. In the Strong Bad Email [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail193.html rated], Strong Bad makes reference to the "triple-R rated" ''Women's Penitentiary Bakesale Nightmare''.
* [[Played for Laughs]] in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iql76IKT59Q&list=RDCMUCg4tuyRcwZeTfK650jPrkHQ&start_radio=1&rv=Iql76IKT59Q&t=1 this parody clip] where [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Twilight Sparkle's]] punishment for using dark magic is more severe, obviously a reference to ''[[Orange is the New Black]]''. With Sparkle in Piper's role.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Subverted in ''[[The Japanese Beetle]]'' when Kremlina goes to jail. The "top dog" tries to make her her bitch, only to get downed in one punch - which makes Kremlina the new top dog, complete with another inmate asking very politely to be her bitch.
* Averted in ''[[Last
* Ace in ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' remorsefully admits he [http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/beat_up_in_the_shower liked to watch this sort of films once]. It's the only case when even Maria apparently doesn't know what to say on that.
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150623025040/http://dozerfleet.wikia.com/wiki/Sodality_(series) Sodality]'', Candi is constantly getting arrested, often for really petty crimes, even though [[Selective Enforcement|there are plenty of far more serious things she could be charged with]].
** Her first time was for failure to appear - for a ''medical exam''. (It's complicated.) She spent two weeks in jail, but got regular visits from her boyfriend and her godfather. Her sisters, somehow, never found out. When Islamic terrorists [[Alternate History|take over a quarter of the country]], Candi is captured and sent to a concentration camp, simply for not being Arab or Muslim. She escapes. Border patrol at Toklisana [[Crapsack World|is run by corrupt agents]]. That take her in because [[Off With His Head|they want her head]]. ''Another'' near-death experience. She is then mistaken for Julia Milagro. She gets out after finally convincing the zealous police force in Houston to actually ''check her ID''. They still keep her in for as long as they can get away with. Found a joint in the grass? It ''must'' have been hers! Then there's the Earwig theft affair (which she didn't do.) And at one point, she gets taken into protective custody when a senator tries to assassinate her for identifying his secretary as being involved in a bank robbery.
** Stephanie, Dolly, Miriam, Laurie, and Celia have similar bad luck. All of them have done ''some'' time in jail throughout the series. By contrast, SCALLOP personnel have a lot of difficulty apprehending male members of the Sodality - even though many of them have done ''far'' worse things!
** Season Five takes this [[Up to Eleven]]. Nearly ''all'' the women (and five of the men) get sent to the SCALLOP prison system. Which is [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|run by none-to-bright staff]]. The [[Super Registration Act|Kirby Act]] is reason for this. After a month, the ones that aren't ruled "safe" and free to let go, are put under house arrest for varying lengths. The girls that are this time around wanted for more serious offenses (four of them total) are eventually transferred to more realistic prisons. Marge spends her days pretty quietly in minimum security, and is paroled afterward. Tabby gets three years in a juvenile system for attempting to sell an [[Artifact of Doom]] to avoid the terrorists chasing her from getting their hands on it. (She's lucky she didn't get 30.) Mingmei is given death row given she's also an MSS agent. She plays the "Big Sister" role to Celia, a thief who is actually quite petite and vulnerable.
*** Instead of the lesbian angle, a (slightly) [[Lighter and Softer]] fantasy that's a tad less pornographic ensues, where the girls begin to go crazy in various ways; and the [[Hidden Depths]] of more than a few of them are revealed. Candi and Dolly begin having flashbacks to all the times they were raped or almost killed in previous seasons. Letting their husbands visit them seems to alleviate these problems a little, although the state isn't too fond of SCALLOP allowing them to have sex with their husbands. Mingmei begins suffering visions of [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|Hell]], and has to seek counseling from Rev. Wilbur. She feels she deserves it for [[Sex Is Evil|all her dirty work as a]] [[Honey Trap]] in the past. Stephanie...starts inventing things that freak out the guards. Emily gets lost in her science work. Hea becomes the Karaoke Queen, and Pam the Foosball Queen. Celia begins reverting mentally to her childhood. Miranda begins imagining that the treadmills have personalities of their own. Tiffany goes into a catatonic state for a time. Michelle begins knitting, etc.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In one episode of ''[[
** And referenced in another episode, where Quagmire frets that what Peter is doing could land him in jail- "And not the good kind of jail, like on Cinemax! The man jail!"
** In the episode "Dial Meg for Murder," Meg goes to prison and becomes a hardened criminal.
* Averted entirely on ''[[The Simpsons (
* The ''[[
* ''[[Tripping the Rift]]'' has a women's prison themed episode. It contains skimpy prison dresses, a shower scene, and a catfight during said shower scene.
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[[Category:Prison Tropes]]
[[Category:Plots]]
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