| abstract | - 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. In short, women's prisons are hotbeds of... uh... intrigue. For instance, if there's a female detective character, she pretty much has to be sent to prison undercover, as is the law in most countries. 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 female offenders aren't considered as Badass 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 lesbian porn heaven. No matter what, in sharp contrast to men's prisons, women's prisons are always believed to be a Fetish Fuel station where women learn to be bisexuals thanks to this oh-so beautiful and chaste thing called lesbianism (which doesn't involve rape at all, oh no), so they can serve men's fantasies better once they get out. And of course, female guardians partake joyfully in it as well as the lucky male staff who live in this palace of pleasure! Depending on how dirty-minded the audience is, and the time slot, this may result in a sort of Chekhov's Gun scenario as the audience expects... action. In a movie or late-night cable TV show, there will be at least one Shower Scene or strip-search. 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 Bitches can be just as ruthless and violent as Alpha Dogs in men's prisons, especially to newcomers who happen to be prettier than them. A case of Situational Sexuality taken Up to Eleven to pander to the audience. May contain offensive tropes like Double Standard Rape (Female on Female). Compare Prison Rape. See also: Chained Heat, Forced Prize Fight. Examples of Girls Behind Bars include:
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