Gangsters, Mothers , Sex
Symbols and Fessos:
Exploring Italian-American
Stereotypes in Television
By: Jocelyn Ouellette
CMN 758 Media Analysis and
Criticism
URC 2010
Welcome to the Family
• Italian Americans are almost always
portrayed in stereotypical terms in
television
Everybody Loves Raymond
The Sopranos
A Question of Stereotypes
• Prior research on Italian-American
stereotypes in the media have ignored the
stereotypes of Italian American women in
The Sopranos, and more subtle Italian
stereotypes found in a show like Everybody
Loves Raymond
Gangsters and Housewives:
Previous Studies
• Most of the research on Italian-Americans
has focused heavily on gangster
depictions, studying movies like Scarface
and Caesar
• Research on stereotypes surrounding
Italian American women is limited to
images of the Italian American housewife,
while ignoring depictions of ItalianAmerican women as sex symbols for men
Influence of Italian
American Stereotypes
• A 2001 Zogby survey of 1,300
teenagers 13-18 found that 44%
of teenagers said that Italian
Americans would be cast mainly
as crime bosses or restaurant
workers
• Even more astonishing: 46%
agreed that Italian Americans are
accurately portrayed on television
or in the movies
Defining Italian-American
Stereotypes
• Here is a list of the four major stereotypes that I
found and defined in The Sopranos and
Everybody Loves Raymond:
o Mafia gangster
o Fesso
o Mother/Matriarch
o Sex Symbol
Research Method
• I chose episodes from the first seasons of The
Sopranos and Everybody Loves Raymond as the
basis for this study because each show contained
shared stereotypes that previously had not been
explored
Results
Common Stereotypes in Each Show
Male Stereotypes
• Inept and Inactive
fathers
• Still dependent on
their Mothers
• Uneducated
• Violent
• Physically Lazy
Female Stereotypes
•Wives obsessed
with children and
home
•Mothers are
domineering and
controlling
•Women can only be
mothers or a sex
symbol
Implications
• Former stereotypes still persist but new stereotypes have
evolved
– Creation of new stereotypes about Italian-American women
• Italian American stereotypes vehicle for indulging the
baser instincts & prejudices of others
• America is very comfortable with stereotypes in general
References
Quinn, Roseanne Giannini "Mothers, Molls, and Misogynists: Resisting Italian American
Womanhood in The Sopranos." Journal of American Culture 27.2 (2004): 166-174.
Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.
Cavallero, Jonathan J. "Gangsters, Fessos, Tricksters, and Sopranos." Journal of Popular Film
& Television 32.2 (2004): 50-63. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
Zogby International. "National Survey: American Teenagers and Stereotyping." The National
Italian American Foundation. NIAF, 1 Mar. 2001. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.
Gross, Larry and Suzanne Jeffries-Fox. “What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up Little
Girl?” Media Analysis and Criticism
Reading Packet Fall 2009.
The Sopranos. Dir. Alan Taylor. Perf. James Gandolfini, Edie Falco. HBO, 1999. DVD.
Everybody Loves Raymond. Dir. Philip Rosenthal. Perf. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton. HBO,
2004. DVD.