Women And Soap-Operas: Popularity, Portrayal And Perception
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 6, June 2012ISSN 2250-31531Women and Soap-Operas: Popularity, Portrayal andPerceptionDr. Aaliya AhmedMedia Education Research Centre, Kashmir University, IndiaAbstract- In the multi-media world of today, television hasemerged as an important instrument of transmission ofknowledge and information. Working as a complimentary agentto other sources, television has enhanced the process of changeby providing timely information about education, hygiene,health, customs and so on. The purpose of television is to inform,educate and entertain its viewers. Television, because of itspredominance of visual movement has the capacity of bringingthe world into the living room with great authenticity andefficacy. As a result of this, television has a more profound andpersuasive impact on its viewers, particularly women. Womenare treated as “special audience groups”, so that appropriatemeasures can be taken to cater to their propensities andinclinations. In this context, problems and issues pertaining towomen are shown regularly on television in differentprogrammes. Soap operas are one of the most popular genres ontelevision and as a cultural produce, this format is extremelypopular among the masses. Soap-operas, inevitably, haveattracted a large and loyal fan base. Soaps enjoy a momentousand immense popularity among the contemporary society andthey have found a place for themselves and also allow amultiplicity of interpretations to suit the diverse tastes of thedominant Indian middle class.Index Terms- Television, women, soap-operas, popularity,audience.I. SOAP OPERASThe term "soap opera" was coined by the American press inthe 1930s to denote the extraordinarily popular genre ofserialized domestic radio dramas, which, by 1940, representedsome 90% of all commercially-sponsored daytime broadcasthours. The "soap" in soap opera alluded to their sponsorship bymanufacturers of household cleaning products; while "opera"suggested an ironic incongruity between the domestic narrativeconcerns of the daytime serial and the most elevated of dramaticforms. The defining quality of the soap opera form is its seriality.Soap operas are of two basic narrative types: "open" soap operas,in which there is no end point toward which the action of thenarrative moves; and "closed" soap operas, in which, no matterhow attenuated the process, the narrative does eventually close.(Pingree and Cantor,1983). Examples of the open soap include(The Guiding Light, etc.), the wave of primetime U.S. soaps inthe 1980s (Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest), such British serials asCoronation Street, East Enders, and Brook side), most Australianserials (Neighbours, Home and Away, A Country Practice), andIndian soaps as Balika Vadhu, Uttaran Pavitra Rishta enjoyimmense popularity. The closed soap opera is more common inLatin America, where it dominates primetime programming fromMexico to Chile. In India, Geet, Dil Mil Gaye fall in thiscategory. These „telenovelas‟ are broadcast nightly and maystretch over three or four years and hundreds of episodes. Theyare, however, designed eventually to end, and it is theanticipation of closure in both the design and reception of theclosed soap opera that makes it fundamentally different from theopen form. The term itself signals an aesthetic and culturalincongruity: the events of everyday life elevated to the subjectmatter of an operatic form.II. AUDIENCE AND SOAP OPERASSoaps in general have a predominantly female audience,although prime-time soaps such as Dallas (U.S), Bade Acchelagte hain (BALH) are aimed at a wider audience, and in fact atleast 30% of the audiences for this soap are male. According toAng, in Dallas the main interest for men was in businessrelations and problem and the power and wealth shown, whereaswomen were more often interested in the family issues and loveaffairs. In the case of BALH, it is clear that the programmesmeant something different for female viewers compared withmale viewers.The audience for soaps does include men sometimes butsome theorists argue that the gender of the viewer is 'inscribed' inthe programmes so the soaps address women in particular. Soapsappeal to those who value the personal and domestic world.Dorothy Hobson argues that women typically use soaps as a wayof talking indirectly about their own attitudes and behavior.There is no doubt that viewing and talking with family andfriends about soap operas is experienced by many women as apleasurable experience, and the dismissal of the worth of thegenre by many commentators, including some feminists criticalof gender stereotyping, is open to the charge of cultural elitism.Some feminist theorists have argued that soap operas spring froma feminine aesthetic, in contrast to most prime-time television.Women are stereotyped in soap operas but the image of themodern women has changed. From being a meek, docile,subservient housewife, she has grown and evolved into a strongindividual. She not excels in her profession but is also an ablehomemaker. This change is partially if not fully perceptible inthe soap operas shown on Indian television.Soaps create a world dominated by interpersonal relationship,where characters discuss marital, romantic and family problems.There is little physical violence or crime. The soap opera worldseems emotionally hazardous-mainly because of the continualsorting and re-sorting of relationships.www.ijsrp.org
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 6, June 2012ISSN 2250-3153Soaps undoubtedly have immense potential to present positiveimages of contemporary women, a potential similar to that ofother forms of media designed for women‟s service-newspapers,magazines, radio forums and so on. Soaps focusing onrelationships and family life could easily present more story linesand characters, discussing social issues and problems central totheir changing roles. Soaps opera writers have contended thatpart of their mission is to teach the “lesson of life” to theirviewers (Nixon, 1972, LeMay, 1982). Soaps are an example ofwomen‟s literature that supports the status quo regardingwomen‟s place in the social order. Women‟s concern in soaps arechanging somewhat. Many women leave a family – centeredworld to become an integral part of the work world.III. PORTRAYAL IN SOAP OPERASThough not as strongly as in earlier years, the portrayal ofboth men and women on television is largely traditional andstereotypical. This serves to promote a polarization of genderroles. With femininity are associated traits such as emotionality,prudence, co-operation, a communal sense, and compliance.Masculinity tends to be associated with such traits as rationality,efficiency, competition, individualism and ruthlessness. Meehanhas shown how on TV, 'good' women are presented assubmissive, sensitive and domesticated; 'bad' women arerebellious, independent and selfish. The 'dream-girl' stereotype isgentle, demure, sensitive, submissive, non-competitive, sweetnatured and dependent. The male hero tends to be physicallystrong, aggressive, and assertive, takes the initiative, isindependent, competitive and ambitious. TV and film heroesrepresent goodness, power, control, confidence, competence andsuccess. They are geared, in other words, to succeed in acompetitive economic system. There is no shortage of aggressivemale role-models in Westerns war films and in contemporaryIndian soap-operas. Soaps have no beginning or end, nostructural closure. (Pingree and Cantor,1983). They do not buildup towards an ending or closure of meaning. Viewers can join asoap opera at any point. There are built-in devices to recap onaspects of the plot. There is no single narrative line. In this sense,the plots of soaps are not linear. Narrative lines are interwovenover time. The structure of soaps is complex and involvesmultiple perspectives and no consensus. Ambivalence andcontradiction is characteristic of the genre. This leaves soapsparticularly open to individual interpretations. .Television offers a wide range of potential role-models, bothpositive and negative. Many people find these models of someuse to them. It is not inevitable that viewers accept televisiongender images without question, but many popular commentatorstend to assume that they are more discriminating than ordinarymortals. Not all women, children - or even men - are passivevictims of patriarchal stereotyping. Though there is little doubtthat television presents largely traditional gender images, there ismixed evidence about the impact of such images on genderattitudes and behavior. It is difficult to isolate the role oftelevision, since people are influenced by their wholeenvironment, although there is fairly widespread agreement thatover time television seems likely to influence people's ideasabout gender roles.2Most significantly though, soap opera's concern with theeveryday lives of everyday people and their problems, big andsmall, appears to be one of the main reasons why this genre is sopopular .’Hum Log’, the first soap on Indian television alsorepresented the values, thinking and beliefs of the middle-classIndians and was tremendously popular among all sections ofsociety.(Singhal and Rogers, 2001). The soaps that followeddealt with different issues prevalent at that time. Soaps thatgained immense popularity were ‘Humrahi’, ‘Bunyaad’, ‘Yeh johai Zindagi’ ‘Tamas’, ‘Mahabharata’, ‘Ramayana’. Telecast atthe national level, they were watched by a large section ofsociety across the country. The surveys conducted by variousagencies revealed that the viewers rotated their work and leisurepatterns around the timing of these soaps so as to avoid missingof any of the episodes. These soaps were telecast fromDoordarshan which is available throughout the country.However, soaps gained momentum in Indian history ofbroadcasting when cable television came to India and soapsbecame a regular fare in television programming. They sooncaptured the attention of the viewers and these soaps took the topposition in the rating scales. For a majority of viewers, soaps area major attraction for them to watch television for 2-3 hoursevery day and without any breaks. Each satellite channelapproximately telecasts 10-12 soaps everyday of half hourduration and run into 100s of episodes for 3-4 yearscontinuously.IV. TELEVISION AND SOAP OPERAS IN INDIATelevision, in recent times, has emerged as the most powerfuland all pervading force throughout the world. It can disseminateinformation with lightning speed and impact, as well as infuseviewers with images and values in subtle and imperceptiblemanner. Because of its very inherent nature, television not onlyreflects the values of our society but also influence them.Indications from research suggests that TV has had a significantimpact on the personal reality structure of its viewers.(Seiter,Borchers, Kreutzner and Warth, 1989). Television programmeslead to awareness, provide information which creates curiosity inthe minds of its viewers. Communication is not only an essentialelement to the persistence of social order but to look at it morepositively, communication can be an effective means todevelopmental change. There is no denying the fact thattelevision is a major force to be dealt with in our society.Television in India today has acquired newer dimensions, greaterpopularity and a much wider reach. The satellite invasion ofIndia in 1993 has contributed the most to the multi-lateral, multilingual, and multi-channel television system, operating on anelaborate schedule. The moving images of television demandattention and eventually influence the thoughts and behavior ofthe viewers Television has entered our life and become aninseparable part of our daily livesThe phenomenal expansion of Indian television in recentyears has influenced people in two ways. First, those living inremote corners have been pulled and merged into the nationalmainstream. Secondly television has contributed to anunprecedented explosion of information in our times. (GopalSaxsena, 1996) An awareness of the socio-economicdevelopmental plans can be ascribed to the wide-reach ofwww.ijsrp.org
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 6, June 2012ISSN 2250-3153television. The breaking down of social-barriers can reasonablybe attributed to the presence of television in our livesWaves of dynamic changes have flashed across the canvas ofIndian television during the last decade. Earlier Indian televisionwas restricted to Government-controlled Doordarshan only. Butcurrently there are more than 400 channels available on theIndian television diaspora offering round the clock services andmultifarious programming to a huge, heterogeneous televisionaudience. STAR TV, ZEE TV, Sony, have been offeringvariegated programmes of various dimensions and perspectives.Invariably, Doordarshan projected some interesting programmes.They not only included programmes like “Patrika” or“Spectrum” but also number of serials were telecast. Theseincluded well known works of literature like hamPratishruti”(Ashapoorna Devi)”Charitraheen” and “Shrikant”(SharatChandra). Epics like “Mahabharata” , ”Ramayana” and “TheBible” have been among the very popular telecasts. Equallynoteworthy has been: Gul Gulshan Gulfam: bearing on the life ina Shikara in Kashmir and other aspects of its social life. (GopalSaxsena,1996).“Hum Log” however, was successful in setting a trail for thesoap-opera to assert itself with an identity in this country. Alongwith “Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi” which was packed with fun andfrolic, made a substantial contribution to Doordarshan's softwareprogramming in those years. Both were immensely popular andbecame the measuring yardsticks for other serials that followed.“Khandaan” was yet another popular soap-opera which wastelecast in 1985. It portrayed the day-to-day wranglings,intrigues, conspiracies and rivalries of high-class industrialists.Those identifying with the various characters found their ownmoods and moorings reflected in the soap-opera. “Nukkad” wasanother sponsored serial on the soap-operatic style, which madeits presence felt in India. It portrayed common man‟s actions andreactions, caused by different incidents taking place in the life ofdifferent characters.However, it was “Buniyaad” which was presented in the truetradition of a soap-opera. Running into 104 episodes, it waswoven round the life of a family of pre-partition Punjab. Thesufferings and acts of fortitude of those affected were shown inthis soap-opera. This was followed by ”Humraahi” which wasconceived and designed as a purposive serial from Doordarshan.The important aspect of the serial was the emphasis it laid on thestatus of women in India. Their various problems from earlymarriage to higher education and other problems were taken upin different episodes of this serial. Clashes between tradition andmodernity were depicted. It was a success story and evengarnered international acclaim as an effort to motivate people toreinforce the power of social communication. America‟s “TheSoap Opera Digest” attributed it as “Soap in the Service ofSociety.”There are clear indications that soap-operas are a formatwhich carry great appeal for a large audience. Popularity of da”(Sony),”Afsar Bitiya,” “Punar Vivaah“(ZeeTV) “Iss PyaarKo Kya Naam Doon” (STAR),”Kucch To Log Kahenge”(Sony)confirm that soaps have come to stay in India.Watching these soaps has become a way of life. Theengagements, both indoors and outdoors are once again3conditioned by the telecast schedule of these soaps. According toAnand Mitra:“Television and all that encompasses it now implicatespopular culture, social, political practices. It is this maturemedium that can now reshape Indian popular Culture.”(GopalSaxsena,1996)Frank and Gerbner (1980), in their study combined marketsegmentation and need and gratification research in their survey.They present explanation for why people watch that vary fromone audience segment to another. Members of the soap operaaudience are intellectually limited and watch soap because theyare socially isolated, lonely and emotionally deprived. HertaHerzog (1944) reported three reasons for listening to radio soaps.a.b.c.Emotional release – a chance to know that othershave a problem too.Wishful thinking -they fill in gaps in the listenersown lives or compensate for families.Advice -practical explanations of appropriatepatterns of behavior, useful when confronted withvarious life situations.One important area of mass media research is the extent towhich television influences viewers concepts of social reality,Gerbner and Gross (1976) argue that television is the centralcultural arm of American society serving to socialize people intostandardized roles and behaviors. Television accomplishes thisthrough a presentation of basic assumption about the way life isand what values are important. They suggest that televisioncultivates people‟s beliefs, about how the world works morethrough the sum total of interactions, behaviors and valuespresent in television content. Buerkle-Rothfuss and Maryesargue.“There appears to be an important relationship between whata person watches on soap operas and what he or she believes tobe true about those aspects of the „real world‟ which tends to beportrayed with exaggerated frequency on soap operas”.While reviewing soap opera audience, less attention hasbeen paid to how soap operas affect consciousness, especiallyfeminist consciousness. Feminist have argued that although soapsare women‟s fiction, they present a conservative view of theworld. Many of the interactions that occur on soaps are familycentered / spouses, parent, child and so forth. Viewers may tendto believe that families are centrally important.Soap operas are a unique form of entertainment, differentfrom other television drama, although both are broadcast over thesame networks. There are suitable differences among the soapsthemselves-differences in format, content / expressive elementsand audience. As the audiences have changed over the years, sohas the content of soap operas, more so by the production mode,which has extended glamour and glitz to this T.V. format.V. SOAP OPERAS AND THEIR POPULARITYSoap-opera is the most popular form of televisionprogramming in the world. A large proportion of televisionviewers watch and enjoy soap-operas. Soap-operas dominate thenational audience ratings over other programmes that aretelecast. The popularity of soap-opera appears to rest on itswww.ijsrp.org
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 6, June 2012ISSN 2250-3153undemanding nature and its preoccupation with everydayconcerns. (Pingree and Cantor, 1983) .This undemanding naturehas been seen as one of the contributory factors to the genrespopularity. Most significantly, soap operas concern with theeveryday lives of everyday people and their problems, big andsmall, appears to be the other reason for this genre being sopopular. Some soaps, like Balika Vadhu ( Colors) are referred toas being 'realistic' in that they focus on the domestic andpersonal, and on everyday concern and problematic issues suchas death, friendship, marriage, romance and divorce, personalrelationship and the role of the female in the marital home. Soapoperas which contain these 'social realist conventions' attract theattention of the soap viewer, who enjoys watching the portrayalof many things that are happening today, including the problemsthat we face in day to day lives. It can, however, be argued thatsoap opera owes a part of its popularity to the fact that the viewereven enjoys forming a kind of participatory 'relationship' with thecharacter, and also like to identify themselves with the plots andcharacter. At the same time, they experience the gratification offorming para -
Index Terms- Television, women, soap-operas, popularity, audience. I. SOAP OPERAS he term "soap opera" was coined by the American press in the 1930s to denote the extraordinarily popular genre of serialized domestic radio dramas, which, by 1940, represented some 90% of all commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast hours.
where Thai television soap operas are undergoing a revival of popularity. This study identifies three key themes to explain Lao women’s agency, identity, self-satisfaction and social aspiration through the lens of their Thai television soap operas viewing. Firstly, brand name
SOAP Note-Infant SOAP Note-Child SOAP Note-Adolescent SOAP Note-Adult SOAP Note-Geriatric SOAP Note-Obstetric SOAP Note-Gynecologic SOAP Note-Behavior/Psych 3 6 7 . PROCEDURES (required) Procedure Preceptor Initials Date Surgical Gowning/Gloving Surgical Gowning/Gloving Incision and Drainage .
continued to be in the top 5 or top 10 soap operas (Mulki, 2015). The popularity of this soap opera is an indicator of the reception of the concerns of child marriage it grapples with. Balika Vadhu was able to bring to light various hidden issues regarding the very practice of child marriage.
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on soap operas and Modleski’s concept of the soap opera as a “feminine narrative form.” One . to their popularity with female viewers. According to Modleski, structure of a soap opera suited the daily rhythms of women working in the home and the emotional demands of viewers who were wives and mothers: Thus the narrative, by placing ever .
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and promote handwashing with one of the three types of soap below. Where available, soap with a pleasant fragrance can make handwashing with soap more desirabl e (COVID -19 Hygiene Hub, 2020a). The three main types of soap that can be used for handwashing are: Bar soap Liquid soap Soapy water
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