Introduction

Orange is the New Black (OITNB), created and produced by Jenji Kohan in 2013 on Netflix, the audience behind the prison gates to see the experiences, interactions, and backgrounds of fictitious female inmates and staff. Female inmates and female criminals receive very little attention in US culture given this gendering of prisons. As with any social institution, prisons reflect the broader historical, cultural, and social context. Sociologist Dana Britton, analyzes how broader cultural meanings and structural arrangements around gender, race, social class, and sexuality shape the historical and contemporary design and operation of prisons. OITNB is a successful show and it has sparked many discussions about female inmates while also raising concerns about their portrayals. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. It explores the lives of incarcerated young women, trans women, and adult women.