Prison is, by its very design, dehumanizing. When I asked him if he thought a straight woman thrown into a men’s prison would also be thanking her lucky stars, he didn’t understand the comparison. I once had a well-educated and fairly liberal straight guy tell me that he thought gay men who got sent to prison had, in a sense, hit the lottery. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who don’t get the joke.
Years ago, long before her role as Big Boo on “Orange is the New Black,” Lea Delaria had a bit in her stand-up act that went something like, “Say what you want about prison, but it’s a great place to meet girls.” It was, of course, a joke that is funny because of the completely ridiculous premise that lesbians would see prison not as a punishment butĪs a 24/7 all-expenses-paid Olivia cruise.
