Why Do Inmates in Prison Despise Sex Offenders So Much?

It’s probably not why you think at all — here’s my unpopular opinion.

One thing you’ll see fairly consistently all over the internet and in movies and television about prison is how much inmates hate child molesters and sex offenders. Why seems pretty straightforward as well, but I have a hot take on it that’s probably going to be fairly unpopular — but hear me out, as it really starts to make sense if you pay attention.

You need some back story to fully understand where I’m going with this. Day in and day out, I stand in line, waiting for my turn to get on the phone so I can talk to my wife. While I’m in line, I hear a lot of different conversations. I’ve recounted a few of these, but not all.

Over the last few days, NCAA Gymnastics has been on television while we’ve been in the day room. You can ask Demeter if you think I’m exaggerating. You would think I was standing in the middle of a fucking strip club while I’m trying to talk to her on the phone. Clapping, whistling, cat-calling and more has been going on during the day while we’ve tried to have a conversation. No, these men aren’t impressed by the floor work these talented young women are doing.

They’re standing as close as humanly possible to the screens trying to see if they can catch a glimpse of vulva, more cleavage, a hint more of ass crack. All the hollering and cat-calling is due to tight clothing and lithe bodies, not their talent.

And this isn’t the first sign of misogyny I’ve witnessed on our block. There’s a case manager who is particularly blessed in the butt department who, whenever she comes on the block, damn near every one of these guys breaks their neck trying to get a better spot to watch her walk up and down the steps. They don’t just stare, they also cat-call her, ‘suggesting’ she wear tighter pants, or leggings, or even suggesting she wear skirts/dresses without panties.

They have zero shame.

Do these sound like men who are protective over women?

I’ve heard these same men laugh and joke about attending parties when they were on the outside, either doing a lot of drugs and/or providing drugs. Teenagers and high school students in attendance. Lots of sex, drugs, and alcohol. Do you think they cared who they were having sex with? Many of them admitting they didn’t care who they were fucking. It didn’t matter, right? Of course not, as long as they didn’t get caught.

Do these sound like men who are protective over children?

Yet, that’s what you’ll hear over and over again when it comes to child molesters (chomos) and sex offenders being ostracized and outcast in prison. They’ve preyed on the weak, the innocent, those who should be protected. And that’s right, if that person is guilty of what they’ve been accused of doing for sure. No one is saying sex offenders, no matter what flavor they are, haven’t done wrong.

What I’m saying is, don’t get it twisted and think the people on the inside are magically becoming less misogynistic and all of a sudden protectors of the weak and innocent. That they mysteriously want to protect women and children in this particular situation, yet, seem to have no problem treating them like garbage when it benefits them.

What’s the real deal?

There’s a hierarchy everywhere in life, but nowhere more so than in prison. You’ve got to have those beneath you and who better than chomos? No matter how bad your charges, no matter how long you’re in prison for, you’ll always have the chomo beneath you to step on. They’re the scum of the earth.

As a felon, you’ve been taught by society that you don’t rank and it makes life difficult, so you’ve learned you must keep moving that shit downhill. When you’re already at the bottom of the barrel, where do you move that? To the only people who rank lower than you, chomos.

I just find it hard to take anyone seriously who, in one breath, is screaming at their wife or girlfriend over the phone, calling them a whore and a stupid bitch, then in the next, degrading another person who supposedly committed a sex crime, saying they’re doing so because it was against a vulnerable woman.

If you can’t treat your own wife with the respect and dignity she deserves, how can you really stand there and defend a woman you don’t even know? You can’t, it’s just performative.

Most men in prison who beat down chomos, who harass sex offenders, who accuse other inmates of being sex offenders when they aren’t, are all doing so from a place of boredom, following the leader, and fitting themselves into a society who refuses to do the same for them. It’s sad, honestly.

Damian Delune is currently incarcerated. His wife, Demeter publishes his work. He doesn’t have access to the internet or computers within the prison. If you would like to help keep him in contact with those he loves, you can do so here or here.

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