Lesbian Relationships

Historical Depictions of Lesbian Relationships in Prison

Studies about lesbian prison relationships conducted between 1913 and 1970 were primarily interested in three main areas: the “causes” and frequency of lesbian activity in prison, cross-racial lesbian relationships in U.S. women's prisons, and networks developed by women in American prisons called “play families” or “pseudofamilies.” Researchers used personal observations and surveys distributed to prisoners to gather data about the frequency, causes, and nature of lesbian activity in prisons for women. The assumptions and interpretations inherent in these studies reflect the racial, sexual, and gender biases of the time.

For example, during the early to mid-20th century, researchers were interested in the prison subculture and the role and function of lesbian relationships. These studies viewed lesbianism as a gender inversion—a lesbian was someone who felt and behaved liked a man. Descriptions of lesbian prison relationships depicted masculine women (“butches”) who adopted a “male” role, appearance, and demeanor. Butch women were described as [Page 545]turning traditionally feminine women (“femmes”) into lesbians. Particularly in the United States, portrayals of lesbian relationships in prison also relied on racist stereotypes. Black women prisoners were considered “true” lesbians as racist imagery associated black women with masculinity. Black lesbian prisoners therefore were seen by early-20th-century prison administrators and criminologists to be butch lesbians who preyed on white femme women thus “turning them into” lesbians.

Studies conducted on lesbian relationships among juvenile offenders also concluded that the absence of males in the single-sex juvenile detention centers caused white girls to substitute black girls for their romantic partners. Black incarcerated girls and women were viewed as masculine and, consequently, as male “substitutions” in girls' and women's prisons.

The interest in roles, appearances, frequency, sexual practices, and causes of women prisoners' lesbian behavior continued in the 1960s through the 1980s. In the United States, researchers such as Rose Giallombardo (1966) and others described the existence of a play family or pseudofamily that consisted of a network of women who took on various heterosexual nuclear family roles. Researchers described these networks as including a mother, who adopted a traditional feminine appearance and qualities; a father, who adopted a traditional masculine role and appearance; and siblings, aunts, and uncles. However, in a 1972 study women prisoners who were subjects in the Giallombardo study said they did not recognize the characterization of their relationships as a parody of heterosexual family structures. The existence of these types of pseudofamilies has not been found in Canada or Great Britain.

Contemporary Research on Lesbian Relationships in Prison

Contemporary gender and sexuality theorists no longer consider lesbianism to be a gender inversion. In fact, the whole notion of fixed categories of gender and sexuality has been challenged, and many theorists acknowledge the fluidity of sexual identity.

Although contemporary criminology appears to be less interested in lesbian relationships in prison, as evident by the paucity of current literature on the topic, studies that do discuss lesbian prison relationships no longer reflect the same racial, gender, and heterosexist biases as earlier work. In addition, methodologies have expanded to include firsthand accounts from prisoners (Morgan, 1998) and qualitative research interviews with women prisoners (Owen, 1998).

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