University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Communication ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-1-2015 Ungoverned Masculinities: Gendered Discourses of Neoliberalism in The oprS anos and Breaking Bad Christopher Barnes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds Recommended Citation Barnes, Christopher. "Ungoverned Masculinities: Gendered Discourses of Neoliberalism in The oprS anos and Breaking Bad." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds/85 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Christopher Charles Barnes Candidate Communication and Journalism Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: David Weiss, Chairperson Susana Martinez Guillem Ilia Rodriguez Nazario Running Head: UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES: GENDERED DISCOURSES OF NEOLIBERALISM IN THE SOPRANOS AND BREAKING BAD by CHRISTOPHER C. BARNES B.A., COMMUNICATION AND POLITICS, LAKE FOREST COLLEGE, ILLINOIS, 2008 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Communication The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2015 UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My work at the University of New Mexico, thesis and otherwise, could not have been completed without a number of truly significant and inspiring people. Although countless people deserve mention here, to do this would require more pages than the following thesis. That said, I’m grateful to everyone in the Communication and Journalism department at UNM. These two years have been the best years of my life and I attribute that in part to the cooperation, mutual aid, and compassion of the faculty and graduate students in our department. I would like to thank my committee, David, Susana, and Ilia. David, I can’t thank you enough for the editing and revising you’ve done on this project. I truly could not have done this thesis without you. Beyond your direct help in the following document, I would like to thank you for taking me on as an advisee and your excellent instruction in Mass Communication Theories and Media Structures and Institutions. I attribute my growth as a media studies scholar to these classes and your mentorship, which I’m certain will influence my entire academic career. Susana, you’ve been a huge influence for me at UNM. I cannot imagine my time here without meeting you and taking Critical Cultural Studies my first year. I hope you know that most of my decisions about where to take my research and how to teach my own classes comes directly from our conversations. I also value you as a friend and I know I will think about you and Marco often as I enter the doctoral program at CU-Boulder. I will miss stopping by your office and talking every now and then on Tuesday and Thursdays. Ilia, I wish I had gotten to know you more during my first year in the program. You’re brilliant and I enjoy every chance I get to talk with you. I loved your Critical/Cultural Approaches to the Media seminar and I consider myself very lucky for the opportunity to take it UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES iv with you during my time at UNM. Thank you so much for your suggestions and revisions to this project. I would also like to thank two other intellectual mentors, Jan Schuetz and Dave Park. Jan, I’m so grateful our cohort had the opportunity to take Foundation of Communication Theories with you. I also cannot thank you enough for your continued support throughout my time at UNM. From advice on Ph.D. programs, to letters of recommendation, to coffee outings, to encouraging emails—thank you so much for everything. You’ve been a huge influence for me and I know your guidance will follow me throughout my career. Dave, without sounding too hyperbolic: I’m pretty sure you saved my life. So much of everything I do and think about now can be traced back to my time at Lake Forest College, at the radio station or in your class or in your office. Thanks for staying in touch with me for all these years and continuing to show such strong support for me even at times when I probably didn’t deserve it. Finally, I would like to thank my family. Katy, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best years of my life occurred with you as partner. I doubt I could have done anything, let alone complete a Master’s degree, without your love and support. I’m so excited for our future together. Jeff, Georgia, and Kanella, thanks so much for the continued care throughout my time in school. Kanella, thanks for brightening up my long days at home and for reminding me not to take myself too seriously: “Have you met my brother? He has a degree in watching television.” Also, thanks for being my best friend during the most difficult times in my life. Mom and Dad, thanks for being such strong mentors. Though it may be obvious, you two inspire my research UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES v interests in identity politics in feminism and masculinity studies. Thank you. More importantly, thanks for being such great parents. UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES vi Ungoverned Masculinities: Gendered Discourses of Neoliberalism in The Sopranos and Breaking Bad by Christopher C. Barnes B.A. Communication and Politics, Lake Forest College, Illinois, 2008 M.A., Communication, University of New Mexico, 2015 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the discursive intersections of neoliberalism and masculinity on The Sopranos and Breaking Bad through a critical discourse analysis in order to illuminate larger sociocultural issues concerning contemporary masculinity. The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are praised in contemporary discourse as “artistic achievements,” and the following project interrogates particular moments in both texts that construct gendered discourses of neoliberalism, relying on the theoretical foundations of hegemonic masculinity. Through my analysis, I establish key moments when discourses about masculinity intersected with and connected to discourses about neoliberalism. Additionally, this project analyzes moral dimensions of neoliberalism within sociocultural discourse centering on The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. I determine that the lines between entrepreneur and criminal have blurred as a product of neoliberal politics and economics, and argue that sociocultural discourse about the programs prioritizes profit making above socially responsible ethics and morality. UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES vii TABLE OF CONTEXTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 Background ..............................................................................................................2 The Sopranos and Breaking Bad ..................................................................2 The Present Study ....................................................................................................4 Purpose .........................................................................................................4 Rationale ......................................................................................................4 Why The Sopranos and Breaking Bad Together? ............................4 Contributions and Political Significance .........................................6 Research Questions ......................................................................................6 Overview of Subsequent Chapters ...........................................................................7 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................8 Theoretical Grounding .............................................................................................8 Neoliberalism ...............................................................................................9 Definitions........................................................................................9 Applications of Neoliberalism to Identity Issues ...........................11 Morality within Neoliberalism .......................................................14 Ideology .....................................................................................................16 Definitions and Applications .........................................................16 Patriarchy ...................................................................................................18 Definitions and Applications .........................................................18 Patriarchy and the Family ..............................................................19 Hegemony and Masculinity .......................................................................20 UNGOVERNED MASCULINITIES viii Definitions and Applications of Hegemony ..................................20 Masculinity ....................................................................................23 Hegemonic Masculinity .................................................................24 Male representations in Popular Media .................................................................33 Men in 20th Century Television .................................................................33 Current Research on The Sopranos and Breaking Bad ..............................34 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ..................................................................................40