Book Review: Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison by T. J. Parsell

In the context of Parsell’s book, Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison, the term “fish” means first-timer or new arrival in prison slang. It is the story of the truth behind all those “dropping the soap in prison” jokes, and the memoir of T.J. Parsell, who was locked up in 1978 for a couple of years when he was a fairly naive 17-year-old boy.

Parsell's family was poor and uneducated. His crime — robbery with a fake gun — was misguided and stupid, more than anything else; but even if his crime had been more severe, he did not deserve to be gang-raped early on during his stay and systematically forced into sex throughout his time in prison.

Many years after his release, Parsell was the president of Stop Prisoner Rape and he is currently a consultant to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. His experience in prison is rule rather than exception; that much is clear from the beginning of the book.

Lock up a rowdy group of men together without a sexual release and they turn into sexual predators, the strong preying on the weak. 'Boys' are forced to find a 'man' to protect them in return for sex. This is not loving sex or erotic sex; it is a business-like transaction at best, a violent transaction at worst. If they don't find a man to protect them, they are more likely to be assaulted and raped on a regular basis. Both straight and gay 'boys' find themselves pushed into this role, or 'turned out' (to stay with prison terminology).

Parsell's story becomes more complex because he was starting to realise that he was gay around the time he was locked up. Just as he was beginning to be aware of sexual feelings for men, he was forced to act on them against his will. For a long time he stayed in the closet however, as there are odd double standards in prison.

Effeminate gay men are seen as precious commodities, as they are the closest a lot of the inmates will get to a real woman until they are released. If you are known to be gay, flamboyant or not, it is assumed you won't mind having sex with pretty much any guy, meaning you are fair game. Following this logic, a heterosexual woman would want to have sex with any and all men she encounters.

Boundaries between gay and straight blur in prison. Most straight men there do not mind getting a blowjob from a guy or being on top, and do not consider this to make them gay in any way. They are simply taking care of a basic need. It is a very 'down low' way of thinking.

Article Author: Steven van Lijnden

Steven is a 32-year-old bilingual editor/(copy)writer from the Netherlands who indulges in the odd spot of creative writing. Bit of a pop culture junkie.

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