Identities in Prison

As I discussed in my last post, the maintaining identity in a prison is a difficult prospect with COs and other prison staff controlling most aspects of life. Inmates act out in order to maintain some semblance of their person-hood. In the prison drama this is often manifest in the form of grouping together with others the inmates perceive as being like them. They latch onto some aspect of their personal identity and gather around. Sometimes this is a religious identity, sexual orientation, or often a racial identity.

Season 1 of Oz ends with after racial and sexual tensions rise and the prisoners riot. The man who runs Em City believes the cause of the riot was unequal representations -- both in terms of numbers and treatment -- of different inmate factions. A new policy is instituted that identifies 10 groups within Emerald City and the numbers of each group will be maintained at 4 people, and a council will be formed with a representative from each group. One of the representatives is Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), a white supremacist who has been a constant tormentor of Beecher. Another is Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), an African man and leader of the African American Homeboys. This event, and the members of the council serve as catalysts for the physical, psychological, and sexual violence based on racism and homophobia for which the show is so well known. There are some who admonish the show for it's depiction of "race and class-based discrimination in incarceration (Yousman)"

Muslim leader Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker)

threatening another inmate

There is a slightly different take on identity in Orange is the New Black. While inmates certainly do group together based on race, it is not as at the forefront of the tension's as it is in Oz. When Chapman is first given a cell at Litchfield another inmate tells her, "we take care of our own," but insists, "it's tribal, not racist." There are characters like Tiffany 'Pennsatucky' Doggett (Taryn Manning) who form their identity, that is not the norm for OitNB. Oz has garnered a lot criticism for it ostensibly being a show about people from many walks of life, but having a lead who is white and middle class (Enck & Morrissey). Orange is the New Black, while it still has a primary focus on a white middle-class character in the beginning, quickly branches out to integrate nonwhite characters into the main cast. Where Oz offers a color blind approach, where all inmates are functionally the same, but all of these underclass inmates will revert to their savagery.

Likewise, sex, and occasionally sexual violence, are often depicted, but it is most often a consensual act. The performance of sex and gender in OitNB is handled in a way that vastly differs from Oz, and most other mainstream media (Trier-Bieniek). Piper Chapman identified as bisexual before going to prison, in contrast with Tobias Beecher who begins a same gender relationship after spending months in prison. For Chapman, her orientation is simply part of her identity. Beecher changes only as a reaction to feelings of loneliness. In Oz, of the factions is "The Gays", and they are often only seen on the fringe. Most of them are portrayed as makeup wearing prostitutes, and seen only as a freak-show. One of the few male characters of OitNB warns Chapman to watch out for lesbians, because they are dangerous. In Oz, a similar warning would come off as a warning against rape because that is the general nature of homosexual relations in Oz, but here we can laugh at the warning because we already know that Chapman herself is bisexual. OitNB paints a picture where pushing against compulsory heterosexually not only acceptable, but heroic (Trier-Bieniek). An all female prison allows the show to explore a feminist perspective that is inclusive of non-noremative sexual and gender performance. It dedicates entire story arcs to same sex couples, and has a supporting character who is transgender, and her story shows a struggle. They are all in the same place, and struggle to deal with their different identities. OitNB is praised for the way it has portrayed gender and sexuality by many orginizations who have given it awards like "'the 2014 Television Critics Association Award for 'Outstanding New Program,' the 2014 Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA)’s Dorian Award for both 'TV Drama of the Year' and 'LGBT TV Show of the Year,' and the 2014 AFI Award for 'TV Program of the Year (Trier-Bieniek).'" It has done a wonderful job of breaking mainstream conventions in creating an inclusive show about women in prison.

Piper and Sophia bond over their homemade shower shoes,

one used sanitary pads, the other used duct tape.