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Women Inside: Narratives from America's Incarcerated Women
by
Ayelet Waldman (Goodreads Author),
Robin Levi
People in U.S. prisons are routinely subjected to physical, sexual, and mental abuse. While this has been documented in male prisons, women in prison often suffer in relative anonymity. Women Inside addresses this critical social justice issue, empowering incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women to share the stories that have previously been silenced. Among the narrato
...morePaperback, 300 pages
Published
November 8th 2011
by McSweeney's Publishing
(first published October 11th 2011)
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282)
Aug 22, 2012
Erin
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir,
non-fiction
This book was a pretty terrifying and depressing read. It really struck me that if your mother made bad choices in life, you were destined to follow in her footsteps. If she had abusive husbands/boyfriends, so did her daughters. If she was a drug addict, so became her daughters. And the good intentions and interventions of grandparents and friends seem to have little to no deterrence to the cycle.
And all of that happens before they enter prison. Prison is a whole other horror. Women's prisons a...more
And all of that happens before they enter prison. Prison is a whole other horror. Women's prisons a...more
This book broke my heart a thousand times. The absolute atrocities and cruelties and just total lack of respect, agency, dignity given to women in the prison system...it's just so disheartening and awful. The abuse inflicted on them by those in power is sickening, and I don't care what someone has done to be put in prison, they do not deserve what many of these women experienced. I'm grateful to the editors of this book for getting these stories out there, for letting these women speak their tru...more
It's hard to "like" this book--it's the narratives of lots of women (and one trans man) who have been sent to prison, and most of these people were exposed to continual abuse starting at a very young age. And that abuse certainly doesn't stop or even diminish once they are in prison. But it is a very telling book about how we use our justice system to pretend certain people don't exist and it exposes just how inhumane a prisoner's conditions may be. This is something everyone should read, and it...more
When we started a program for female ex-offenders at my library, I knew we were doing a good thing. The women sometimes open up a little bit and talk about the circumstances surrounding the crimes they committed, and maybe we'll hear bits and pieces about their lives.
I had a pit in my stomach the whole time I was reading this book. Knowing what I know now, about addiction and sexual abuse and violence against women, I am not at all surprised by the stories collected here. I am disappointed in th...more
I had a pit in my stomach the whole time I was reading this book. Knowing what I know now, about addiction and sexual abuse and violence against women, I am not at all surprised by the stories collected here. I am disappointed in th...more
these narratives were absolutely mind-bending to read. it makes me question whether that age-old justification (they made their choice --- they deserve their sentence) holds water --- so many of those who were interviewed went to great lengths to demonstrate that they were born into desperate circumstances --- of abuse, of neglect --- and that their actions and lives up until their incarceration represented an absolute struggle to survive, to subsist in the world.
i recommend this book to absolu...more
i recommend this book to absolu...more
I like reading fiction. Vamps, weres, m/m, mysteries, Eve Dallas you get the picture. I will probably go on a binge of easy reads after this one.
Incredible, moving narratives from incarcerated women. Rape. Forced sterilization. Giving birth while shackled. We keep looking away. We all keep looking away like it's not real, like there is not a cost as a nation, as humans that we will have to pay- that we do pay already in one form or another.
Incredible, moving narratives from incarcerated women. Rape. Forced sterilization. Giving birth while shackled. We keep looking away. We all keep looking away like it's not real, like there is not a cost as a nation, as humans that we will have to pay- that we do pay already in one form or another.
this is incredibly powerful and very intense. the depth of injustice is profound, so is the strength of the women and transmen sharing their stories. also, the organisation Justice Now are doing amazing work around human rights documentation, advocacy, and education.
**trigger warnings -- this book contains descriptions of sexual and physical assault and abuse**
**trigger warnings -- this book contains descriptions of sexual and physical assault and abuse**
Feb 12, 2013
Stephanie McGarrah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
prisons-and-punishment
Heartbreaking narratives from imprisoned and formerly imprisoned women. The appendixes at the end of the book are very useful in giving insight to a lot of the hardships facing these women while they are incarcerated and after they are released. There is also a list of advocate organizations. My only issue is the reformist rhetoric in the appendixes, but there isn't much.
Must read for anyone concerned for basic human decency in this country. Also you can catch one of the first person accounts from this book in the 2012 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading.
I plan on reviewing this in detail once I get the physical book back from a friend (love my Kindle but not a fan of ebooks). As a rule I generally don't loan my books out but this one in particular screams to be shared repeatedly.
I plan on reviewing this in detail once I get the physical book back from a friend (love my Kindle but not a fan of ebooks). As a rule I generally don't loan my books out but this one in particular screams to be shared repeatedly.
Jan 01, 2012
oriana
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2011,
read-for-work
for when you need a good cry, a good strong agonized scream against the quiet horrors of our often harrowingly terrible world.
3 likes · like · see review
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I'm biased, because I worked on this book, but nonetheless: it's amazing!
I think I'm too much of a chicken for this
As you can probably guess about any book with stories from people in women's prisons, this book can be an emotionally difficult read. There are stories of sexual assault, child abuse, neglectful parents...But there are also stories of resilience, hope and resistance.
My full review is here: http://www.truth-out.org/oral-history...
My full review is here: http://www.truth-out.org/oral-history...
So heartbreaking. Everything you feared about women's prisons turns out to be true. I wish I could say that this book is somehow uplifting through the tears. It isn't really. But you'll be glad you read it anyway.
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Ayelet Waldman is the author of the forthcoming Love and Treasure (Knopf, January 2014), Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was made into a film starring Natalie Portman. Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton ha...more
More about Ayelet Waldman...
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