Visible Only Behind Bars: How Indigenous Australian Women Reframe and Reclaim their Experiences on <i>Wentworth</i>

DeCarvalho, Lauren J.

doi:10.1080/07491409.2020.1781314

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Despite how rare representations of incarcerated mothers continue to be, they are the focus of recent studies in narrative television (see DeCarvalho 2021a; Hinton and Hoekstra 2022). In fact, more complex portrayals of incarcerated mothers started to appear in the 2000s, such as ITV’s Bad Girls , and these portrayals have increased in mainstream television more recently with TV shows such as KRO-NCRV’s Penoza (Buonanno 2017).…”

Section: The Invisibility and Shaming Of Incarcerated Mothers On Tele...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wentworth has recently showcased more of these rare constructions of incarcerated mothers. For instance, DeCarvalho (2021a) discusses how Doreen Anderson, an incarcerated Indigenous Australian mother, acts in her children’s best interests while struggling with systemic oppression in the prison-industrial complex. According to Atkinson (2022), Wentworth ’s Doreen Anderson was given more depth and complexity than the original character from Prisoner .…”

Section: The Invisibility and Shaming Of Incarcerated Mothers On Tele...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A View from the Top (Dog): Intersections of Incarceration, Motherhood, and Trauma on Foxtel’s Wentworth

DeCarvalho

Martínez-Carrillo

2023

Television & New Media

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In this essay, we extend conversations around motherhood depictions in popular culture to women inmates on television. Specifically, we explore intersections of incarceration, motherhood, trauma, and power on Foxtel’s Wentworth (2013–2021) through the character of Bea Smith. We investigate her journey to Top Dog status—analyzing how these intersections propel her to that highest authority position in prison, while also unpacking why they contribute to her losing that coveted position. We argue that Bea’s trauma morphs her into what D’Amore calls a “vigilante feminist,” who uses violence to protect herself and others. However, Wentworth shows the complicated nature of how trauma operates with motherhood as it intersects with incarceration and power in that Bea’s journey is not a straight one. Instead, Bea shifts away from the role of vigilante feminist at times, opting in favor of using violence for pure revenge.

show abstract

Section: The Invisibility and Shaming Of Incarcerated Mothers On Tele...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Invisibility and Shaming Of Incarcerated Mothers On Tele...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A View from the Top (Dog): Intersections of Incarceration, Motherhood, and Trauma on Foxtel’s Wentworth

DeCarvalho

Martínez-Carrillo

2023

Television & New Media

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show abstract

“…Fictional portrayals of women's prisons in television shows are one of the key ways members of the public are exposed to issues related to women's imprisonment. This makes them consequential for how women prisoners and their lives are understood, and shapes attitudes to women's punishment (Cecil, 2007;DeCarvalho, 2021). Piper Kerman, the main character in Orange is the New Black (2013-2019), is white and upper middle class making her atypical in terms of the women's prison population.…”

Section: Experiences Of Imprisonment: Women and Femininitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schwan (2016) argues that in doing so, the show tacitly critiques the mass incarceration of women and supports prison reform. Similarly, the Mexican series Capadocia (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) and Australian series Wentworth (2013-present) portray social issues related to imprisonment and the complexity of imprisoned women's lives (DeCarvalho, 2021;Smith, 2018). In particular, Wentworth highlights indigeneity and imprisonment by having three Indigenous women as the main characters.…”

Section: Experiences Of Imprisonment: Women and Femininitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prison and Community Penalties

Seal

2021

Gender, Crime and Justice

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Prison and Community PenaltiesSocial control in the form of enacting punishment is one of the primary emblems of state power. As well as affecting the individuals who experience it, punishment sends a message to the wider community and demonstrates the authority of the state. 'Grand theorising' about the role punishment, particularly imprisonment, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has emphasised the connection between the political and economic order and the way social control is enacted. Frequently, this grand theorising has ignored or underplayed the significance of gender (Bosworth & Kaufman, 2012). Race has been better integrated into 'grand theories', although its intersections with gender have not (Baldry & Cunneen, 2014). Gender is central to understanding punishment in two ways: the politics that underpin punishment are gendered; and the practice of punishment is a form of gendered governance.Strategies of punishment based on control and containment exemplify a masculinist vision of 'tough' state power, which dismisses alternative approaches as soft and effeminate (Kohler-Hausmann, 2017). Kohler-Hausmann argues that in the context of the United States, this gendered politics has drawn on racialised and gendered tropes of dangerous Black

show abstract

“‘I’m not weird. I’m just like everybody else’: intersections of embodiment, incarceration, and mental illness on Wentworth and Orange Is the New Black”

DeCarvalho

2021

Feminist Media Studies

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Visible Only Behind Bars: How Indigenous Australian Women Reframe and Reclaim their Experiences on Wentworth

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

A View from the Top (Dog): Intersections of Incarceration, Motherhood, and Trauma on Foxtel’s Wentworth

A View from the Top (Dog): Intersections of Incarceration, Motherhood, and Trauma on Foxtel’s Wentworth

Prison and Community Penalties

“‘I’m not weird. I’m just like everybody else’: intersections of embodiment, incarceration, and mental illness on Wentworth and Orange Is the New Black”

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