The Representation of Women in Soap Operas

Television and radio are major sources of information and entertainment in today’s society, and are a part of most Americans’ lives. Everyday Americans are bombarded with images, information, entertainment and “infotainment” coming from our radios and our TV sets, yet a large number of people fail to recognize the importance of what they’re being shown and the manner in which certain people / events are being depicted. “Representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language.” (Hall, pg. 17)

The soap opera genre was first presented on the radio in the 1930’s, moved onto television and captivated a large audience ever since its beginnings. As part of day-time television, the soap opera’s large audience primarily consists of housewives. Due to this soap opera – housewife association, the genre is often not taken seriously. Yet, every day an enormous amount of women sit down and tune into their favorite soaps. To a lot of them – these soap operas are more than TV. For an hour or two everyday, they laugh and cry with these characters. The soap opera genre is very popular with these women; it is an important aspect of their daily lives. Thus, it is important for us to see both the good and the potentially harmful that are embedded in the soap opera text.

The soap opera genre has steadily failed to adequately depict social, racial and gender minorities. Since are made for women, and woman are the ones who watch the soaps, I choose to see how women are depicted in their favorite genre. After spending a few of my teenage years religiously watching “Days of Our Lives” and “GeneralHospital”, I swore off soap operas until I tuned in again to do the research for this paper. After watching 2 different one-hour soap operas for a short period of 5 days, it becomes painfully obvious that despite the varied story-lines, the portrayal of women in these shows reconfirm the stereotypes of femininity and the hegemony of our society. The women are depicted as subordinate to men and are often dependant of men either for financial security, moral support or reaffirmation of their worth. Most of them seem to care about only their personal and domestic space.

Comments such as “I’m so lucky, I have everything a woman could wantâÂ?¦a beautiful daughter, a loving husband and a great marriage” are very common. In fact, around 50% of the women on “Days of our Lives” and 25% of women on “GeneralHospital” have made comments running along similar lines on a regular basis. Comments such as “I do not know what I would do without you” and “I can’t imagine going through this without you” – are also very common. These women are attached to their boyfriends / husbands and their lives revolve around the making the men happy. These comments carry very disturbing connotations. They imply that a woman’s way to happiness lies in marriage / children, as well as that a woman can not function independently, without the support of men. Also, the male characters often treat the female characters as children. Beau on “Days of Our Lives” consistently calls his wife, Hope, “Fancy Face”. Whenever a female character does something silly (and often she gets very upset about it), the male makes derogatory remarks such as “you’re cute”, and “you’re so silly” and refuses to acknowledge the fact that the woman might be seriously bothered by whatever it is that transpired. When Jack and Jennifer were married (“Days of Our Lives”), he often came home and gave a kiss to kiss 4 year old daughter, Abigail. After this he would give a kiss to his other “girl”, his wife! This sends a subordinate message to the female viewer. If women are seen / treated as children by men, how can they expect to have the same equal rights?

The women depicted in soap operas seem to have no financial independence. A very small percentage of them works and the ones to do hold a job are portrayed in a different light. A disturbing scene on “GeneralHospital” shows a newlywed husband and wife in bed together. The husband hands a checkbook to his wife and states: “I want you to have everything you want”, the wife replies: “I didn’t marry you for your money”, in an answer to this the husband tells her that he is aware that she didn’t marry him for his money, but nonetheless he wants to give her everything. It is easy to perceive this scene as simply that of two happy people one of whom is offering the other “the world”. Yet it is very interesting that “the world” comes in a financial wrapping. Considering that soap operas generally show the male as the provider and that money is often equal to security, the scene seems to state – I will give you everything, (thus security through money / material), I will provide (and it will make you happy). Similar scenes that can be interpreted to carry the same meaning are often shown. The women usually seem more than happy to blindly accept the male as the provider and do not question (in my 10 hours of watching) whether this is the lifestyle that they want to lead.

In these soap operas, an interesting difference seems to exist between the women who don’t work and the career women. While the housewives go through the turns and turmoil of a usual soap opera plot, there is a deeper pattern of trouble that follows the career women around. The career women suffer from different twist of fate when compared to the housewives. For example, on “Days of Our Lives”, Hope is a happily married housewife – her trouble lies in a court battle for her infant son whose biological parents are trying to get him back. Together, Hope and Beau (her husband) deal with this problem. The couple’s other son, Sean, is the image of a perfect son. On the other hand we have Marlena who is married to John. Marlena is a working woman – a psychologist who works at the city hospital. Marlena seems to have NUMEROUS problems surrounding her and her family. A cheating husband, messed up adolescent children and deviant plots by evil villains are some of her twists of fate. Marlena seems to be getting punished for her devotion to her career. Her husband is cheating on her; her children are far from perfect, etc. She is not the perfect wife and mother due to her interest in her career. There are trends of harder punishment within the social institution of family – for working women.

Thought I have not caught this in my actual research, I have read and vividly remember from watching soap operas back in the early 1990’s, that women were (are?) often shown as accepting orders and even violence from males. Probably the most famous example of this is “General Hospital’s” super couple Luke and Laura. Luke Spencer raped the show’s happily married Laura Baldwin. Laura’s character later refers to the event as “the first time we made love”! Can women possibly decode male violence as love? It is definitely something that can be interpreted in such a mannerâÂ?¦

Another interesting pattern on soap operas is the portrayal of women as the kinder, gentler, tidier, more sympathetic sex. This hold true for nearly 100% of what I’ve watched over the week. One of the most obvious examples of this is the use of language / clothing. The “good” women speak in softer terms, they rarely raise their voices unless in childish hysterics. The men on other hand, are crude, blunt and to the point in their speech, and they are rarely shown loosing their cool, calm composure. Clothing is another way that stereotypically depicts women in soap operas. According to Stuart Hall – “Clothes may have a simple physical function – to cover the body and protect it from the weather. But clothes also double up as signs. They construct a meaning and carry a message.” (Hall, pg. 37) The men on these shows were sometimes shown in jeans and T-shirts, while the women were never shown in such casual ways of dress (unless they are at the gym). The women (even the housewives) usually parade around in suits and sometimes in jeans / dressy tops / high heels. These portrayals re-confirm the stereotypes of femininity and the “norms” associated with women in our society. How many housewives watching these soap operas questioned their own femininity due to these images?

The above mentioned factors are some of the derogatory aspects of soap operas I found within a 10 hour time constraint (10 soap opera episodes). But in those 10 hours, I have seen that -1. soap operas depict women as subordinate to men, willing to take orders and be treated as children; 2. soap operas portray women as a sex whose main concern is with the domestic unit; and 3. soap operas present a stereotypical image of femininity. In conclusion, soap operas reconfirm the male ideology of our society.