Nature of Contemporary British Soaps - Essay Example

Cultural Construction of Gender and Representation of Identity in Relation to Contemporary British Soaps Introduction Soap operas initially were designed to entertain housewives as they remained at home while their husbands were at work especially during the day. The housewives traditionally performed household duties such as washing, cooking and caring for young children. Many companies that produced washing detergents often advertised their products during the program break and sometimes sponsored such programs. Whereas there are several soaps that are aired in national and privately owned stationed, three most common soaps in the UK include Emmerdale, Eastenders and Coronation Street. This paper is dedicated to the analysis of contemporary British soap operas with respect to cultural construction of gender. Nature of Contemporary British Soaps According to Allen (1985, p8) soap opera is a broadcast programming genre (a daytime dramatic serial) and there is an attitude that is carried with this genre. In 1945, American Speech listed soap opera amongst its new words but the word still appeared early in 1939 in the Newsweek. The origin of the term soap opera can be traced to the entertainment trade press in the late 1930s. By the year 1939, soap opera and a washboard weeper took up the general press as a substitute for the cumbersome and less appealing daytime dramatic serial (Allen 1985, p8). The word ‘soap’ from soap opera is derived from the daytime serials promotion by the manufacturers of the household cleaning products such as Colgate-Palmolive, Lever Brothers, and Proctor and Gamble. The word ‘opera’ gets its meaning from its double inappropriateness and irony. The association with ‘soap’ makes opera a tool for selling majority of the commodities. The link between the two words also makes opera loss its original meaning (the thematic preoccupation such as royalty, legend and myth), the presumed audience that is, the educated elite, and the radio serial (Allen 1985, p8). The 1939 Newsweek article asserts that soap operas bring the hard-working wife the real people and the real life adventures. The cultural and domestic and not the important serial drama concerns are described by the term soap opera; they are made to take the horrible cultural comparison with right use of the term soap opera. Since 1930, soap opera has been defined by what is not supposed to be and what it lacks rather than what it is supposed to be. The recent definition of soap opera is ambiguous; the 1975 Dictionary of American Slang describes soap opera as a day to day dramatic serial program broadcasted by the radio and usually lasting 15 minutes each of the day; the program contains fictitious domestic troubles and crises and it is usually characterized by much sentiment and little action (Allen 1985, p8). In Britain like in the United States of America, soap operas feature prominently in the list of radio and television offerings. The British soap is normally designed to depict ordinary life in Britain. As such, they emphasize moral conflicts, family life (usually the extended family), personal relationships and sexual dramas. Furthermore, some of them feature topical issues that are typical of traditional settings of the home and beyond. The storylines of soap operas are normally punctuated with coincidences, unprecedented conversions, last minute revelations, coincidental meetings, last minute rescues as well as deus ex machina endings. The realistic style of UK’s soaps features romance as a major theme. The characters in certain storylines are presented as having intricate and convoluted affairs, giving in to adultery, and meeting and falling in love with strangers. Yet again, the storylines often unfold with the revelation of previously unknown siblings who end up reinvigorating or upsetting the status quo. The fan base of soaps in the UK span from young children to high school students, college students, and adults in their various age groups. To some level, this base is a result of the characters that feature in the storylines; usually wealthy, glamorous, seductive and attractive. The working class environment is also another factor that often attracts the target audience to UK soaps. Comic characters and situations are also presented in the storylines in various ways including through gossips and the appearances of some of the characters. Among the most common storylines in UK soaps include financial problems, marriage breakdowns and family conflicts. Soap operas are very popular among all the gender lines, any region or demographic group in the universe. Decades ago, the main focus of these soaps has been the housewife and the stories are always geared towards marketing of the women aged between 18 and 49 years. Although the trend has changed tremendously in the past fifty years, majority of the stories are directed at romance, the dangerous side, the type of stories that leave the audience with suspense and the desire to watch the next episode (ORACLEThinkQuest n.d., p1). The soap stories are basically in the type of an arc, an arc is “a long term story that plays out over a few months, and then leads to another ‘arc’ to keep the story going” (ORACLEThinkQuest n.d., p1). All soaps whether daytime or nighttime utilize this arc to maintain the interest of the viewers. However, a daytime soap usually goes into deep details, the evening soaps are shown once in a week which basically means the arc cannot develop into a storyline like the daily show (ORACLEThinkQuest n.d., p1). Historical Predominant Roles Historically, males and females played various unique roles. Many of these roles were unique to one gender or another, rarely the tradition being broken by those who were somehow daring enough to bear the brunt of such actions and having to cope with previously unprecedented reactions from the masses. With the passage of time, many of the boundaries that existed with respect to the kind of roles males and females played traditionally got broken giving room to what is seen today, a blurred boundary in respect of gender roles. The gender roles are culturally and socially defined by the beliefs and prescriptions about the emotions and behavior of the men and women. Majority of the theorists believe that the perceived gender roles create the basis for the gender identity development. Gender role and gender identity development theories include evolutionary theory, the gender schema theory, social role theory, and the objects-theory. The division of the household labor was based on gender. Traditionally, the white women in heterosexual relationships remained at home and did majority of the domestic labor while their male counterparts worked outside the vicinity of the homes in order to offer the family income (Family.jrank.org. n.d., p1). Before the First World War, women traditionally were restricted to carrying out domestic or household chores. Statistics indicate that out of a population of over 20 million adults in Great Britain, close to 2 million worked domestically, about one million worked in textile making industries, half a million worked in commercial organizations, a similar number worked with cloth-related enterprises while about a quarter of a million of them worked with the government. Women working with the government were employed either at the national or local government level which included teaching work. The textile industry was predominated by women a factor that played a great role in the stereotyping of the industry as a woman’s industry. To a great percentage, the level of the woman’s education played a great role in determining the kind of work she would traditionally do. In the early 1900s, women involved very little in politics as this was regarded as a males’ world. During and after the First and Second World Wars, a lot of changes occurred that necessitated the breaking of numerous traditional boundaries. Women for example had to work, beyond traditional gender expectations, as military personnel, in ship building industries and as engineers among other trades previously reserved for the “stronger sex”. Gender and TV Production Television continues to perpetuate the gender stereotypes due to the fact that it reflects the dominant social values. Other than reflecting the, the TV reinforces them and presents as something natural. In a society that is dominated by men, TV production is dominated by men and the production is influenced by the stereotypes. Consequently, they unknowingly reproduce the traditional masculine perspective and thus, perpetuate the dominant gender stereotypes. Majority of the narratives that are on TV are designed in a way that they are interpreted from the masculine perspective. The viewers are at most of the time are invited to identify with the male character and to objectify the female character (Chandler 1994, p1). The number of men shown on the TV is far much larger than the number of women shown. Men generally outnumber women in TV drama by 4 to 1. Soap operas are not an exception; the women are outnumbered in the ratio of 7:3. The starring roles are also dominated by men. Most of the women on TV possess a few roles and the male roles are exciting and far more extensive. Women are depicted on TV in the traditional roles such as mothers, housewives, nurses and secretaries. On the other hand, men are shown as tycoons, husbands, fathers, celebrities and athletes. Men are portrayed in employment, they are less likely to be found at home and they tend to possess a higher status. On the other hand, women are shown to be successful outside their domestic sphere but their personal lives are depicted as miserable. This is not the current picture of the occupational roles (Chandler 1994, p1). Soaps are generally dominated by the female audience; men are also included in the soaps audience but majority of the theorists argue that the soap programs address the women in particular. Soaps are appealing to those who value domestic and personal life. Women basically use soaps as a means of talking indirectly about their behavior and attitudes. Viewing and talking about the soap operas with friends and family is viewed by most women as pleasurable despite the criticism by commentators and feminists gender stereotypes, soaps are open to the control of cultural elitism (Chandler 1994, p1). Soap Operas and Their Audiences Basically soap operas and their viewers (spectators) receive very intimidating reactions literally from cultural critics (not only soap operas alone but also romances and their readers get to be treated as objects of mockery and contempt). Soap operas in the modern world are taken to be as subjects of recuperation, this is just the same thing that was done by feminist critics which came to be evident in the scrutiny of romantic fiction (Hollows 2000, p89). It very clear that feminist critics working in cultural and media studies institutions love soap operas because they have admitted to be great fans of it (soap operas) more than romance. They have also identified a sequence of progressive politics in the soap operas text and a great opposition to patriarchy among many soap fans. Feminist critics turn to soap operas is best placed and surrounded by a wider debate, a debate that is more about feminine genres and femininity found inside the feminist television criticism (Hollows 2000, p89). Soap operas are said to be fascinating as it has a picky appeal to the feminist critics; despite the feminist being concerned with other TV programmes that entail and feature feminist/ feminine heroines, they still regard soap operas as the best of them all as the soaps are so appealing and charming. Hence, soaps are not resistible and the feminist yearn (have more cravings for them) for more of them. Soap operas are said to contain narratives which are female centered and because of this, the soaps are taken to be for women as the narratives kind off anticipate and address a female viewer. The characteristics of the soaps are more feminine and the targeted audience tends to be women at large (Hollows 2000, p89). It is said that feminist critics are attracted to soap operas because they take them to be more of woman’s genre; the feminist take the soap operas like a teaching tool as the soap operas expose and unleash the negative limiting images of women that are found in them. Many reasons have been brought about why feminist are so pre-occupied and chained to the soap operas, some of these reasons include; Feminist compare the lives on soaps and see that everything in them (home and personal life) are equally significant to theirs. Feminist (in their own world) think that soaps are great, more like soaps give them more opportunities to evaluate their representations (and this includes their private sphere and personal relationships). Feminist also get the courage to challenge an aesthetic chain of command through the soap operas (Hollows 2000, p90). Feminism and Soap Operas In the 1980s, a number of soaps emerged such as Coronation Street, EastEnders and Brookside. The soaps such as EastEnders and Brookside were characterized with high budgets and the determination to appeal the wide and young audience, both male and female; to some extent it improved the soaps public profile. The soaps were considered as trash and in 1985 they were elevated to good trash when Sir John Betjeman admitted his addiction to the soap Coronation Street. There are many scenarios in which the soaps fans are ashamed of their pleasure and this has placed the contradictory feminist response to the soap operas. The feminist response was determined partially by the manner in which the soaps were viewed; they were viewed as women’s programme (Brunsdon 1997, p26). In the 1970s, the feminists were in particular aggressive towards the women’s genre – fashion, women’s magazines, soap operas feminine ghettos and romances. Soap operas were criticized for providing unrealistic and stereotypical images of the women which confirm individuals in their subordinations (Brunsdon 1997, p26). To some extent, there is some truth to this argument. There was an assumption that there were representations of women that were realistic and would serve the feminist argument. There are two types of realism in the soap operas; the external and internal realism. External realism is formed by referring to the world (the outside world); it is done through modes of dresses, set, the discussion of the contemporary among other things. On the other hand, internal realism is formed when the characters in the soap conform to our expectation and the knowledge of them; this is derived after watching the serial (Brunsdon 1997, p27). To get female characters who are more realistic entails a rather sophisticated negotiation of the external and internal realism. As the soaps age, they are unable to fit between the external and internal realism. Coronation Street has adapted to the internal realism demands over the years and the external realism has been much constructed; this is in comparison with the fresher representations and conventions of EastEnders. The absence of fit between the two realisms means that and it can be argued that “… the female characters in Coronation Street are much ‘stronger’, more independent figures than those in the more [externally] realistic recent soaps” (Brunsdon 1997, p27). Coronation Street (a drama serial from Britain) is set in England (the northern part of it); the soap chronicles the private and professional lives of the Weatherfield, Great Manchester fictional suburb backstreet residents. The drama serial was developed by Tony Warren and produced for ITV by Granada Television; the soap was first broadcasted on 9th December 1960 and it is the longest running soap in the universe; the soap is still in production. EastEnders was first aired on BBC in 1985 and it became a British soap opera that was extraordinarily successful. EastEnders comprised of a large audience (approximately a third of the country) and the performers and characters enjoyed the continuous exposure by the popular press. The soap was set in a working class area (traditional) of London referred to as the East End; the soap was regarded as more lively, and more realistic, and the subjects and the storylines were more modern (contemporary) than any of the competitors on the British TV (Turner 2003, p124). Soap operas remain to be very popular despite the apparent stigma; the soaps offer pleasures of self-assertion and validation and this account for the lasting popularity among the women (Gannon 2008, p90). A section of the women’s fascination is what is referred to as the realist paradigm; this is the trendy presentation of hard-working, real women who come from a number of ethnic backgrounds and there has no attempt to camouflage their imperfections. This form of representation is common in shows such as EastEnders and Coronation Street; the domineering characterization of the past female stereotypes is celebrated (Gannon 2008, p91). There has been significant change in television in the last few decades, most notably in regard to the analysis of women and the acceptance of the feministic attitude; the portrayal of the women in the soap operas has by a small margin gone beyond the mother, sex-object, and the archetypal housewife. In EastEnders, realism is considered to be significant. The realistic working class life in London (the east end of London) contains the mise-en-scene of the urban living. Apart from the usual derision and laughter presented by EastEnders, there is a presentation of the precise dilemmas that the modern woman faces. For example, Peggy Mitchel suffered from breast cancer and in 1996 she underwent radiotherapy and unfortunately it returned again in 1999. Mitchel was forced to undergo mastectomy procedure and this provoked significant public attention. Consequently, it led to a considerable recognition of the charities that worked to promote breast cancer awareness (Gannon 2008, p91). The realism of the storyline that involved the domestic violence that Little Mo Morgan suffered at the hands of Trevor (her tyrannical husband) made seventeen thousand people to make enquiries to BBC (the British Broadcasting Company) after the broadcasting of the episode. Sensitive issues like the rape of Kathy Mitchel when she was 14 years old and the subsequent rape by her boss in 1988 raises issues which are frequently hidden from the attention of the public; these issues are part of the woman’s lived experiences (Gannon 2008, p92). The Family in Soap Operas A major striking feature in Coronation Street is the privilege of the communal and social over the familial. Coronation Street lacks an archetypal nuclear family and the absence grabs the attention of the social exchange and attention. The characters perform within the community rather than at the home or within the family relationships. EastEnders portray a similar bias but offers some space for family life discussion and in particular within the Fowler family (an extended traditional family); Michelle is part of the Fowler family. The other characters are placed within the family context and are part of the life in the square (Goodwin 1990, p125). The community borders within Coronation Street are frequently and seriously patrolled and those who make an attempt to move beyond the borders are discouraged. Deirdre Langton is attacked when she makes an attempt to go beyond the limitations of the border. “… Len Fairclough dies on his way back from a secret affair, and only Ken and Mike have voiced aspirations that would take them beyond its boundaries” (); Ken and Mike do not succeed in their attempts (Goodwin 1990, p125). Conclusion Soap operas have been in existence since their inception during the world wars. The soaps have gained significant support and criticism from the female audience and feminists respectively. Popularity among the female audience has not gone down despite the criticism from the feminists. The role played by the woman and man in the society has not changed in some of the soaps. The woman is still depicted as a home material and the man as a working material. This is not true of the contemporary woman in particular. It is imperative to note that the issues that are faced by the woman in the contemporary world are still the same issues being shown in the soaps. The realism in these shows cannot be ignored because they are a true representation of the real world. This can be evidently shown in soaps such as Coronation Street and EastEnders. Despite their realism, the shows deviate from the normal family set up which lacks in the drama serials. References Allen, R. C. (1985) Speaking of soap operas. Carolina: UNC Press Books. Brunsdon, C. (1997) Screen tastes: Soap opera to satellite dishes. London, UK: Routledge. Chandler, D. (1994) Television and gender roles [Online]. Available from: [Accessed on 6 June 2011]. Family.jrank.org. (n.d.) Gender – Gender roles and stereotypes [Online]. Available from: [Accessed on 6 June 2011]. Gannon, C. (2008) Feminism and soap opera. Social Sciences pp.87-89. Goodwin, A. (1990) Understanding television. London, UK: Routledge. Hollows, J. (2000) Feminism, femininity and popular culture. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ORACLEThinkQuest. (n.d.) Why waste time watching soap operas? [Online], ORACLEThinkQuest. Available from: [Accessed on 6 June 2011]. Turner, G. (2003) British cultural studies: An introduction. London, UK: Routledge. Read More