Women in prison film

The women in prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day.

Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by sadistic male or female prison wardens, guards and other inmates. The genre also features many films in which imprisoned women engage in lesbian sex.

WiP films are works of fiction intended as pornography. The films of this genre include a mixture of erotic adventures of the women in prison. The flexible format, and the loosening of film censorship laws in the 1960s, allowed filmmakers to depict more extreme fetishes, such as voyeurism ( strip searches, group shower scenes, catfights), sexual fantasies (lesbianism, rape, sexual slavery), fetishism (bondage, whipping, degradation), and sadism (beatings, torture, cruelty).

Prior to these films, another expression of pornographic women in prison was found in "true adventure" men's magazines such as '' Argosy'' in the 1950s and 1960s, although it is possible that Denis Diderot's novel '' The Nun'' anticipated the genre. Nazis tormenting damsels in distress were particularly common in these magazines.

Recurring plot elements

Most women-in-prison films employ the same stock characters and formulaic situations. Characters that are fellow inmates may include a sarcastic prostitute, a manipulative snitch, or an aggressive lesbian. The female criminals are usually hypersexualized and fetishize homosexual relationships. The authority figure of the prison is usually a cruel woman who herself is a variation of the traditional prison lesbian. Common scenes in women in prison films may include:
* An innocent girl (or group) being sent to a penitentiary or reform school run by a male or lesbian warden (who may also run an inmate prostitution ring, as in ''Chained Heat'')
* A "welcoming" ritual which may include group strip searches, giving up any personal possessions, or showering (all while being watched by sexually deprived female inmates)
* Lesbian sex scenes between prisoners and the guards, or the female prisoners being raped (or forced into prostitution) by male guards
* Female prisoners being sentenced to hard labor (such as scrubbing floors, chopping coconuts, or digging dirt holes, sometimes while nude)
* Having a restrictive/uncomfortable dress code, such as being forced to go barefoot, and/or wearing skimpy, revealing prison uniforms.
* Fights between the prisoners (sometimes in the shower or in mud, many times while naked)
* Beatings by guards
* Suicide or death of a minor character
* Female prisoners being sprayed by a firehose for punishment

The narrative peaks with some kind of rebellion, which may include a fight, attempted break out, or natural disaster such as a prison fire or earthquake. The story then follows with an uprising or escape sequence in which the villains are killed and the prisoner is freed. Occasionally a new inmate is an undercover reporter investigating corruption as in ''Bare Behind Bars'' or a government agent sent to rescue a political prisoner (''Caged Heat 2: Stripped of Freedom'', '' Love Camp 7''). Most commonly, the prisoner is reunited with a man (a lover, father, or priest) who guides her to goodness so she can reestablish her life with familial and heterosexual relationships.

History of the genre

In the silent era, only a few films featured women as leading characters in crime dramas. A silent film star who perfected such roles was Priscilla Dean, most notably in ''The Wicked Darling'' (1919) and '' Outside the Law'' (1920).
But it was not until the 1930s that Hollywood began making movies partially set in women's prisons, such as '' Up the River'' (1930), with Claire Luce, ''Ladies They Talk About'' (1933), with Barbara Stanwyck, ''Hold Your Man'' (1933), with Jean Harlow, and '' Girls on Probation'' (1938), with Jane Bryan, but generally, only a small part of the action took place inside the institution. Women-in-prison films developed in the 1930s as melodramas in which young heroines were shown the way to a righteous life by way of the prison. Under the influence of pulp magazines and paperbacks, they became popular B movies during this period. It was not until the 1950s, beginning with the release of ''Caged'' (1950), starring Eleanor Parker and Agnes Moorehead, ''So Young, So Bad'' (also 1950), with Anne Francis and Rita Moreno, ''Women's Prison'' (1955) with Ida Lupino and Cleo Moore

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