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Judge Judy: Neoliberalism and (In)Justice on Daytime Television
Unformatted Document Text:  1 Judge Judy: Neoliberalism and (In)Justice on Daytime Television Judge Judy is the most prominent example of a spate of daytime court programs, on which judges resolve “real life” disputes between family members, roommates, neighbors, friends and former lovers on national television. For critics who equate informed citizenship with the declining sphere of “serious” (i.e. masculine, bourgeois) news and public affairs, this protuberant parade of afternoon altercations over minor fender benders, carpet stains, unpaid personal loans, broken engagements and the contested fate of household appliances may seem like insignificant entertainment or worse, undermining distractions. This essay takes a more complex view. Drawing from cultural theory and textual analysis, it presents Judge Judy as a technology of everyday citizenship and shows how it attempts to govern the everyday lives of lower-income women in particular. 1 Situating daytime television’s fastest-growing format within a neoliberal context, it argues that Judge Judy’s concern with real women and their seemingly mundane conflicts intersects with the privatization of public life, the dismantling of welfare programs, and the political discourse of “individual choice” and “personal responsibility.”

Authors: Ouellette, Laurie.
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1
Judge Judy:
Neoliberalism and (In)Justice on Daytime Television
Judge Judy is the most prominent example of a spate of daytime court
programs, on which judges resolve “real life” disputes between family members,
roommates, neighbors, friends and former lovers on national television.
For critics who equate informed citizenship with the declining sphere of
“serious” (i.e. masculine, bourgeois) news and public affairs, this protuberant
parade of afternoon altercations over minor fender benders, carpet stains, unpaid
personal loans, broken engagements and the contested fate of household
appliances may seem like insignificant entertainment or worse, undermining
distractions.
This essay takes a more complex view. Drawing from cultural theory and
textual analysis, it presents Judge Judy as a technology of everyday citizenship
and shows how it attempts to govern the everyday lives of lower-income women
in particular.
1
Situating daytime television’s fastest-growing format within a
neoliberal context, it argues that Judge Judy’s concern with real women and their
seemingly mundane conflicts intersects with the privatization of public life, the
dismantling of welfare programs, and the political discourse of “individual
choice” and “personal responsibility.”


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