"Direct Discrimination -- Sexual Harassment and Racism"

The author shares her experience of being a black, female working at a prison.   She mentions the issues of strength determining who is accepted into which position.   This article could indirectly be intended for her coworkers who are not black or female.   She mentions the racist white older male supervisor who is stuck in his ways and the black male prisoners who give women a hard time to prove themselves to other males around them.   I recommend this reading to the type of men she describes in this article.   A black woman sees much oppression being that she is not in a privileged position.   Through a black woman's perspective many answers could be uncovered and many truths would be revealed.     - B.D.

"Direct Discrimination- Sexual Harassment and Racism" is a subsection of the text The Iron Cage.   The section focuses on practices, such as sexual harassment and racial inequity, which purposefully discriminate or are recognized legally to do so.  Britton 's purpose for writing the text is to highlight the forms of sexual and racial harassment that occur in prisons and other male-dominated institutions.   After giving background information on the forms of sexual harassment and racial discrimination, Britton uses this information to prove how especially difficult it is for African-American women to work and function in male-dominated environments because they are doubly oppressed for their race and their gender.   According to the author, "... it may be that gender and racial dynamics in prisons, as in many masculinized institutions, combine to make minority women the most likely victims of discrimination" (204).   Britton uses the biographical information he received through interviews with African American prison guards to support the thesis of his text, that sexual harassment and racism frequently occur in male-dominated institutions and African-American women receive the brunt of the discrimination.   The only shortcoming of this article is that it recognizes the discrimination yet does not describe possible ways to combat it.   - B.D.

"From Turkey to Officer"

            When one thinks "corrections officer" the image of a male most likely will come to mind.   From the time when corrections officers were still called "turnkeys" and "keepers," the profession has always been dominated by males.   Although women started trickling into the jobs in the late 1800s, it was not until the 1970s that the ball really started to roll.   The male-to-female guard ratios still are not even, but they are much better than they were a hundred years ago.
            Prisons as institutions are typically gendered to be male.   They are filled with violence and vulgarity, which is why women were not permitted to work there for so long.   As time went on, and violence against female prisoners increased, so did the need for female corrections officers.   And even though they worked just as hard as male officers, female officers worked around the clock, in horrible conditions, and for far less pay than males.   Although an imbalance in pay is still something that is a problem in the entire workforce, laws and regulations have been established to protect the workers from dangerous conditions and worked overtime for no pay.
            The article does a great job of mapping the progress women have made in a stereotypically male-dominated career.   It is a useful source for those who are interested in prisons, women in male-dominated careers, and unequal rights for male and female workers. - M.J.