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To what extent do you agree with the statement that soap operas are a ‘woman’s genre’? Please answer the question with reference to two soap operas. $9.67   Add to cart

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To what extent do you agree with the statement that soap operas are a ‘woman’s genre’? Please answer the question with reference to two soap operas.

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An essay from December 2019 arguing as to whether or not the genre of soap operas are considered a 'woman's genre' using references. Final mark: 54 (Equivelent to C)

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  • November 10, 2022
  • 7
  • 2019/2020
  • Essay
  • Unknown
  • C
  • Unknown
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Morley 1


Alexander Morley

Dr Eleni Liarou

Television: History and Future

5th December 2019

To what extent do you agree with the statement that soap operas are a ‘woman’s genre’? Please

answer the question with reference to two soap operas.

In the 1930’s when soap operas first gained commercial recognition, they were targeted

towards women who stayed at home, taking care of the house, while their husbands were at

work. It is said that they engaged in “subservient and endlessly repetitive daily work” which

“prevented their pursuit of self actualization or self realisation.,” (2010, p. 167) making them the

perfect consumers for something new to keep them entertained and interested in the life they

already lead. Times have obviously changed since then, yet the idea that soap operas are

intended for a female audience seems to have lingered. This essay will seek to take a deeper look

into what people believe makes a soap opera “for women” and how we can challenge this way of

thinking.

It’s no secret that the way gender was perceived in the early 90’s is greatly different than

it is today. Based upon observations from the early “caveman days”, women have since been

seen as the more domesticated gender due to men, back then, typically being the hunters while

women were the gatherers, thus partaking in less violent or dangerous acts on a day to day basis.

This presented the idea of women being weaker or less able compared to their male counterparts.

This concept continued, leaking into a more modernistic life with houses, cars, lightbulbs, and

the wonderful invention of the TV, where men would go off to work to earn the money, whereas

the woman would stay at home tending to the household chores. Since these women were alone

, Morley 2


for extended periods of time, usually the television set would be turned on to give some

entertainment or background noise as they worked on the chores, continuing to stay on once they

sat down to have some leisure time. Producers saw this as a prime opportunity to create shows

targeted specifically to these women that stayed at home, especially since they were the

dominant consumer in households. As Robert C. Allen states, “the housewife, in a majority of

cases, is the member of the family who has the most influence upon family purchases and is the

one who spends the greatest amount of time in the home.” (1985, p. 107) This makes them a

particularly helpful demographic to advertise to, and to engage in new content. And thus the

“soap opera” genre was born.

Now in the, soon-to-be, 2020’s women are independant and in the work field, working

the same hours and the same jobs as men, meaning that they aren’t at home during the day like

all those years ago. In addition to this, friends sharing places has become more common place

and homosexual couples are more visible and able to be “out” in society, meaning that more

variety of households exist compared to even as early as the 70’s. Due to this change, soap

operas now display later at night, a more “family-orientated” time which, arguably, would

already count as a big signifier towards soap operas not having a gender-specific demographic

anymore. Soap opera as a genre doesn’t seem to have changed much though. Which begs the

question as to whether it’s content was ever actually targeted to women, or if it was simply due

to circumstance and timing.

To analyse what makes a TV genre seen as “feminine”, we first need to establish what in

society as a whole is viewed as so. Things typically seen as soft, emotional, or romantic are

usually attributed to adhering to a woman’s desire rather than a man’s, whereas things typically

seen as strong, action-packed, and violent are usually attributed to adhering to the male desire.

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