Masculinity, Capital, and Narcos

In Adam Baird’s article that we will read for Tuesday, “Becoming the ‘Baddest’: Masculine Trajectories of Gang Violence in Medellín,” he writes:

“To forge a pathway to manhood, boys and youths pursue culturally valued material and symbolic signifiers of manliness though their behaviour, actions and practices. These signifiers can be understood as masculine capital . . .” (p. 186).

I invite you to watch Season 1, Episode 1 of Narcos. While viewing, consider the ways that masculinity is literally tied to capital, as in money, and the behaviors associated with both acquiring it and flaunting it. You might think about the ways in which money buys social status, and contributes to the image of the Alpha Male: the man, the myth, the legend, that is Pablo Escobar. What characteristics do the men with power in the show possess? How does the representation of women contribute to that image? Just questions to get you thinking…Due Sunday 10/28, by 11:59pm. COMMENT ON A PEER’s before class Tuesday.