Just Wondering

[AmandainNC28655]

Okay I was just wondering why their are no strong willed, independent females portrayed on daytime. I guess what got me started on this was the post in the B&B thread and the dread of another section of the Ridge-go-round with Taylor and Brooke.

Why is it that we cannot see any of these leading ladies on daytime, showcased in a positive atmosphere. Why not have Taylor or Brooke portrayed as a career woman, who balances work/family committments with a social life. Better yet, why not showcase a married leading lady, Hope Brady for example as working woman, wife, mother, grandmother, granddaughter, aunt, cousin and show how she balances it all.

I just don't understand...

[applcin]

This is why Anna Devane is my #1 alltime favorite character on soaps...especially among female characters. Of all my years of soap watching no other female ever came close in being depicted not only as an equal to men in both her professional and personal life but sometimes even stronger. She was not the sidekick to the man, the damsel to be rescued, etc....if she got in a jam, the expectation was that she would get herself out of it, not that she had to wait to be rescued or that she was some dumb victim who got herself into a mess because she was disobedient or whatever. As much as I enjoyed some of those adventure stories of yesteryear it did always strike me that the man was the major "mover and shaker" and the woman was there as the sidekick/helper/liability/lover. There's been this trend and tendency for years now on soaps to depict the stronger female characters who speak their minds or do their own thing as beeatchy, overly aggressive, not feminine enough, too trampy, etc. It's like they can't just be tough without having to get taken down a peg or depict it as some kind of character flaw to be thrown in their faces.

I just thought of another character that I noticed some fans of RH didn't like much and that's Jillian Coleridge. I always liked her. I liked that she was an intelligent attorney, she was very feminine, she lived life by her rules, etc. Yes, she made mistakes or assumptions that proved to be wrong but she was never about purposely hurting anyone or trying to get in anyone's face. She tried to do the right thing, or at least what she thought was right. She came from a place of "this is what I choose for myself" and she didn't really expect anything of anyone other than for them to respect her and not try to control her. The original Mary Ryan was strong. Siobhan was strong. It continues to strike me to this day how much more realistic and believable the writing and dialogue and depth of characterization (even the "bad guys" were not stereotypical, mustache-twirling villains who had control over a bunch of different characters and stories, they were as "human" as everybody else) were in that show than anything that's on now. Back then it seemed they were writing to tell good stories. Now they're writing either from some committee's or head honcho's agenda or some desperate attempt to appeal to an age group that they think they have to dumb down for.

[AmandainNC28655]

Ellie, you said what I feel perfectly. I am a divorced mother of 2 who is in her early 30's and I somehow manage to balance a career, motherhood, work commitments, church/social commitments and at times dating with no help from my ex-hubby(other than child support and the occasional visit of the children when he and his mistress feel like and would gain something from it). If I get my self into a jam, I am expected to get myself out of it....there is no hero riding to my rescue...yes it's hard, but I am doing it. I think that the shows nowdays lack this....

They want to show the women as being submissive to the males. For once, I would like to see one of these female headwriters write one of their leading ladies as how we stated above and show that she can still be feminine. JMHO.

[Tishy]

What I absolutely abhor is that if there is a strong female who is independent and finacially secure, as well as sexually secure she will somehow get sexually abused or raped. Why is it that on some soaps, so many of the heroines are raped?

How many women on Days have been sexually abused? Just rattling off my head, Kayla, Sami, Kate, Billie, Jennifer and Nicole. I know there is more but that is what I came up with in ten seconds. GH is no better. Elizabeth, Emily, Laura because yes, that was a rape they just re wrote it. Where are the strong women? We need more Anna Devanes, Dorian Lord's and Lucinda Walshs.

[Q Steph]

I'm in complete agreement. The soap operas are filled with so many weak willed women who scheme, plot and cry at every broken nail.

I wish the writers weren't so mysgonistic, sacrificing the integrity of their female leads to show what heroes the men are as if the Kendall's, Sami's and Brooke's don't merit the same satifaction. They're all just categorized as sluts, vixens, crazies and wallpaper with no dimension in between; all betrayers of the feminist model since women are more than just one value.

Not for nothing, but do men really want to be with bitches like Carly in real life?

[ATWTCarOn4Ever]

Oh you mean Carly from GH? Cuz for a moment I was about to say HECK YES! And only cuz I thought you were talking about ATWT Carly. But if its GH's carly then the answer is HECK NO. I agree with all of you. I want stronger and more dynamic female characters on soaps. I think ATWT has done a decent job in that category. Barbara is a sucessful single woman. So is Lucinda. Jade is a diva although shes still obssessed with Will but I think that will pass.

[Q Steph]

Yeah, I meant Carly from GH. What a shrew.

[billyjill]

Yep, and it's irritating as anything. Grrrrr.

[KLN]

Does being raped make you less strong?

I agree, we don't need to see as much violence against women -- but the rapes really have nothing to do with how strong a woman is or isn't.

[JER Soaps Fan]

I see strong women on AMC. Lily, for one. Yes, she has autism, but she makes it WORK for her. She's sweet as hell and surely doesn't scheme for a man. And what about Babe, or Bianca, other women from Fusion? They WORK, literally (so does Lily now). I don't know, I see lots of great women portrayed in daytime.

For every psycho or manizer or woman obsessed with a particular man there seems to be two or more "nice gals."

[MichaelGL]

I don't think Babe is portrayed as strong. She can't ever seem to make up her mind about JR.

[JER Soaps Fan]

Well, fine, not Babe. But Lily is DEFINITELY someone I'd peg as the perfect picture of a strong, independent woman.

[Q Steph]

I'm all for the women becoming stronger as a result of their rapes, but sometimes it does seem like the more, ahem, sexually liberated female characters are raped. It's almost as if she's being put in her place.

Other times, when a woman is raped on a soap, she becomes the endless victim. Take PSSNS Fancy; she could cry herself a river. Then again, I'd be traumatized too if a he/she kept attacking me and every woman in town had assaulted.

[Q Steph]

Babe is the worst. She's an adulterer in an abusive relationship and doesn't even acknowledge it.

[danthig]

On the Edge of night Nancy Karr was a reporter which means in my opinion she was a career woman and she was also a wife and stepmother to Laurie Karr.I think that reading from the character's history that Nancy Karr was a strong woman.