On February 24th Piper Kerman, author of NY Times bestseller Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, traveled from California to Northeastern for an “Evening With Piper Kerman”, sponsored by the Council of University Programming. Published in 2010, Orange Is The New Black tells Piper’s story from a career women to inmate after the skeletons in the closet catch up with her and recounts the friendships, social issues and hardships she has while at an infamous women’s correctional facility.
Despite the incredible success of Piper’s memoir, most audience members came for a different reason: Netflix. In 2013, Piper’s memoir was made into a critically acclaimed Netflix series that revitalized the video streaming site and brought attention to what life is like for women in prison. And to be fair, Piper acknowledged that her time in a correctional facility differed greatly from what happens on screen, citing that the show created fictional events as a way to add drama and tension to the story. And also to be fair to Piper- she is drastically different in real life than the character of Piper Chapman and at no point during her presentation did I roll my eyes at her like I did constantly when watching the series.
As an upper middle class white woman, Piper Kerman acknowledged that her time in prison differed greatly from the other inmates she lived with for over a year. She cited her strong family ties, support from fellow inmates and knowledge that she had a life to go back to after serving as her lifelines to surviving in prison. She also took the time to speak about the criminal justice system in the United States and the growing incarceration rates, especially of women. She let the audience in on what life is like in prison and how many misconceptions we have about the system. But perhaps what was best is that she used the success of her book and show to highlight the injustices of our prison system and the need for reform and empathy for the millions of Americans who are incarcerated, for reasons often attributed to racism and classism.