Rosen 1

Ben Rosen
Natalie Byers
ENG 110
9th December 2013
A Females Life in Prison, Oh My!
A maximum security all female prison, may seem like any other building on the
outside, but take a vigilant glance inside and a whole new cultural lifestyle takes form.
Within the confines of the Metro State Prison in Atlanta Georgia, reporter Diane Sawyer
dressed as an inmate for a twenty-four hours to delve within the history inside these cell
walls (Primetime Live).
The most apparent and notable environmental changes within The Metro State
Prison are relationships. The article, Inside a Maximum Security Womens Prison states
that, 90% of prisoners say they have had intercourse with another female inmate while
imprisoned. Sex, in prison terms, brings violence and intimidation. These two aspects can
spring a domino effect of jealously and possessiveness. To add another layer of
complexity, the prisoners at Metro have studs. Studs are viewed as beautiful to other
females because these women serve as a masculine substitute for a man. The queen of all
studs at The Metro is Shanterelle. Who receives gifts and is placed in the F Dorm (used
for inmates who have disciplinary, anger management or violence problems). She has a
wife and is admired by a majority of the women serving time. Females at Metro will
bring family roles to their fellow inmates where they recreate, family support and
obligations. Twice a month at the Metro, inmates granted the opportunity to visit their
children.
This prison has some of the wildest deserts imaginable and they are all made in the

Rosen 2
name of love. This was shocking to hear, but understandable for someone who has very
little to do with their time. Other, not so legal, time killers are gathering contraband to
assemble handcrafted weapons.
This ABC report broadened my knowledge of female prisons and how a change of
living can have a significant impact on the affected society. This article should be housed
within Perspective for its informative and brutally honest message about the way an all
female prison could operate.
Women in Prison is a savage read that shows how years behind bars changed four
women at the maximum-security female prison in New York City. A person by the name
of PT interviewed these individuals looking for honest answers behind their reason for
imprisonment. The first woman to questioned was C.J. who had been found guilty of
robbery and murder. Her life before jail time was a nightmare, her husband brutally beat
her and even sent her into shock. After she was nearly beaten to death inside a hospital,
CJ decided to set herself up other men and brutally beat them if they agreed to have sex
with her. Sharon Smolick (director of the prisons Family Violence program) believes,
that a great many of the women here, like her, had their sense of right and wrong badly
distorted from an early age. Another convict by the name of Donna was charged with
kidnapping even though a group of men said they would kill her if she failed to comply
with their orders. Donna described the prison in NYC as a place without mirrors and a
life of endless waiting. The last two women, Theresa and Andrea, suffered from serious
drug addictions and were charged with several severe crimes.
Women in Prison, must be included in the book Perspective for the reality check
it bestows to people who have never experienced such tragedy. There is quite a

Rosen 3
uniqueness and truth that could help bring fourth change to flawed trials and bring these
cold cases back for questioning.
The factual journal Women in Jail: Unequal Justice characterizes the differences
between male and female interactions in prison. Women in Jail starts by detailing a
California jail called The Campus and a New York City jail known as the Rose M. Singer.
This lockup was compared to a dorm in regards to a lack of privacy and a stark smell of
disinfectant. On the other side of America, The Campus occupies over 2,500 females at
any moment and is famous for roaches in their food. A common problem for these prisons
is a definite overcrowding and lack of understanding for male and female diversity. Over
half of all women in the federal system were imprisoned for drug charges. And based off
a Massachusetts study of 400 prisoners, 35% of females were HIV(+) versus only 13% of
the men. Experts of the penal system find that some females depend upon psychological
counseling because of a separation from their children. To add fuel to these contrasting
measures, women are more prone to verbal over physical abuse and have been subject to
far more strip searches than a male inmate would receive.
Women in Jail: Unequal Justice is an informative yet it lacks emotion and
persuasion. For these reasons it should not be included in Perspective. This journal
brought together many statistics and threw it at the reader all at once. This type of
literature is good for a research assignment, but not for a renewed perspective on the
prison system.

Rosen 4
Works Cited

"Inside a Maximum Security Women's Prison." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d.
Web. 05 Sept. 2013.
Scanlon, Matthew. "Women in Prison." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness Find
a Therapist. Psychology Today, 1 Nov. 1993. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.
Salholz, Eloise, Lynda Wright, Clara Bingham, Tony Clifton, Ginny Carroll,
Spencer Reiss, and Farai Chideya. "Women in Jail: Unequal Justice Newsweek June 4,
1990 , UNITED STATES EDITION." Newsweek, n.d. Web.