Blog # 13

Britton’s opening comments about images of prison guards/correctional officers has you seeing a large man in stature, tough, armed and able to go one on one with inmates. So how does this image compare to the image we see in the media? When I sat and thought of prison guards I instantly thought of a man, muscular, physically fit, intimidating, and his body language demanding respect. Britton goes on to show that media’s representation of bodyguards in such films as Penitentiary, ConAir, Cool Hand Look, and Brubaker co-inside with how the general population view prison guards. Often times in the movies listed above and other movies like them the roles played by women within the prison are often that of a secretary.
The number of female prison guards along with the number of female prisoners continues to grow yet still this is not being portrayed by the media. Even as the number of female prison guards grows there are still boundaries that they have yet to break through. “Women correctional officers make 83 percent of the wages their male counterparts, and they are more likely to be found in the state rather than federal prisons.” Chapter One
We read that the job of the correctional officer is the same in both settings; officers are responsible for enforcing institutional rules, dealing with inmate problems and complaints, supervising routine daily activities of inmates and maintaining security. Chapter One
So if an individual is qualified and is able to perform all the tasks listed above then why should the question of gender be an issue?
The objective in making a film is to make the film as realistic as possible so that you draw your audience into the movie. You want your audience to be able to relate to the realism of the movie and yet in some of the movies listed above had the guards been mainly women I feel although it may have empowered women it would have made the movie less appealing to the male audience.