A dominant masculinity emerges - usually one which revolves around one's crime, propensity to violence, ethnicity and sexuality. Contradictions are rife however, with issues such as educational standard, outside contacts, wealth and friendships all offering challenges to the picture above. It is also interesting to note that it is often the lifers who are a calming influence on younger prisoners and who often initiate programs and keep the peace. The men and masculinities that are most at risk within these hierarchies are young men, gay men, transsexuals and the physically weak. Attempts to gain inmate group or class solidarity are at the expense of the least powerful within the group.
Prison is also in many ways a homoerotic world.
Sexuality in prison is rife with contradiction. Attitudes to women play themselves out in relation to transsexuals and also through phone calls and visits with women partners and interactions with female staff. Many men use pornography in prison and some are concerned as to how this, and impulsive, furtive, desperate sexual contact on visits impacts not only on their relationships but also on the way they view women in general. With the advent of female officers and professional staff, the gender dynamics of prisons are gradually changing. Let us hope the opportunity that this presents for challenging misogynistic attitudes is realised.