I can't speak for the New York prison system, however the VAST majority of the females in the army are there courtesy of enormously reduced physical fitness, height and weight standards. The male GI's know this. When a female lieutenant gets her first platoon the guys in the unit know she can't cut it on the male standards. That is the largest problem with our sex-integrated units.
You're right about the Army, and even the Air Force has been known to reduce the physical requirements for females. When I went through the academy 24 years ago, we had to perform the same physical training as the males. In fact, we all trained & attended classes together, although we were housed in separate wings of the building. Since it is a paramilitary organization, we were required to keep our lockers, rooms, and beds exactly as shown in diagrams. If we failed inspection, the whole unit was grounded. We had to march, stand when all brass entered the room, salute Lieutenants or above, wear & keep our uniforms in required condition...yada, yada, yada.
As a supervisor, I would never ask one of the officers to do anything that I wouldn't or couldn't do myself. I was of the belief that if you look out for your officers, they'll look out for you, and that the officers can make or break your career. I worked with a great group of officers on the 3-11 shift for many years. I could have worked days, but never wanted to because there was always too much brass walking around the place. The only thing I miss about the job since retirement is the officers.