Why Are Male Soap Viewers Disproportionally Gay?

[Max]

I had been wanting to ask this question for months, but because this subject is so taboo I have not asked this question earlier for fear of (1) this thread being locked or (2) getting banned from SON entirely. It is with reluctance that I ask--as a straight man who likes soaps--as to what accounts for the fact that male viewers are disproportionally gay.

I think a better way to ask this question would be to wonder why more straight men don't like soaps. To me, great television is something that should appeal to everyone, regardless of sexual preference.

I sincerely apologize for offending the many homosexual members of the SON community for asking this question. Please note that I am not in any way embarrassed or ashmed of (1) joining an online community with a large gay population or (2) expressing my liking for a genre that many assume attracts solely gay male viewers. (In fact, I have had no problem telling family and freinds about my love of soaps, and I don't care/worry afterwards if they think I am gay because of it.)

Just from a sociological perspective, I have never been able to figure out why male soap viewers are disproportionally gay. (The purpose of this thread is to read others' views on why this is the case.) I am not trying to "pick on" the gay community in any way, as I would have this same curiousity if soap viewers were disproportionally Asian.

[DRW50]

I don't think they are, I just think gay men are more likely to be willing to talk about watching soaps.

[All My Shadows]

I think the question should be why are straight men less likely to admit to watching soaps. The answer, of course, is society's screwed up gender roles.

[ER Tosh]

More or less, think of all the [!@#$%^&*] that some of the people on this board have taken by admitting to people they watch soaps. Toss in the fact of being a straight male and it is even worse somehow.

[Errol]

Never fear a banning for speaking your mind.

[MontyB]

I don't think the soap watchers are disproportionally gay. This is will probably not go over great with a lot of people, but let's face it, how many straight men do you know are going to spend all day on line in a soap opera community? They may pop in once in a while, but I don't know any straight men who would actually spend the time. I think they'd be busy doing other things. Again, no offense to anyone, but being realistic.

[ER Tosh]

Well in this thread you have Max and me. I mean I don't spend all day reading and posting at SON but does anybody really?

[Max]

Errol, thank you so much. You and SON are such treasures.

This is a great response. Another thought is that perhaps homophobia is much more rampant among males than females. (For instance, this is perhaps why straight women are not assumed to be gay for liking NFL Football, nor are they secretive in expressing their interest in it.)

[MontyB]

Yes, but that's not really my point. I know straight guys that loved The Edge of NIght just as much as I did, but I know they wouldn't have come on line to analyze the characters. My point is, there are plenty of straight men who enjoy the soaps, but I just don't see them spending time on line discussing them. It's JMO.

[KMan101]

I like this topic. I agree that there are plenty of straight men who enjoy soaps. It's the media who labels soaps as "women shows" or "gay men shows", which makes a straight male probably unwilling to admit he watches. Soaps have always had a "eww, really?" stigma to them when you mention them to those who don't want. The media has picked up on that and treated them as jokes. At least now they have gotten a little bit of respect. The soaps were taken for granted for so long as "untouchable" when in reality, they never were.

I personally watch a program because I like it's content, it's actors, writers, etc. I don't watch something because it's skewed towards gay men or straight men, or lesbians or straight women.

To me, a successful program should be able to appeal to the mass audience. I get everything skews young (and I fall in that bracket) now, but it's funny when you look at most successful shows on primetime and they have 30/40/50+ leads!

[EricMontreal22]

I suspect male soap viewers are SLIGHTLY more gay than straight, actually I'm pretty certain about that, but I don't think it's by a huge percentage. That said there is the stereotype, that holds some truth, that gay men seem to enjoy gossiping and discussing, obsessively, their favorite things so it makes sense that they would be disproportionately gay on soap forums.

I do think a large reason for the viewership is just the stigma of soaps being a woman's thing, it's as simple as that. I'm sure there also is some truth to other stereotypes like that gay men enjoy watching strong women more, gay men tend to have been closer ot their mothers so may have got hooked that way, soaps started showing half naked men before most mainstream culture (wrestling aside ) did--I mean the Marky Mark Calvin Klein billboard is seen as a huge turning point in advertising sexualizing men the way they had women, but Y&R had men in speedos years before-- and gay men also quite often enjoy or "get" camp more than straight men and I almost hate to admit, even the best soaps have their periods of camp, intentional or not. But there's no denying that soaps have from the start tried to appeal first to women, and I think many straight men find enjoying something shown from a female POV as shameful. (This is a huge exageration, but...)

And as mentioned, many straight men just wouldnt' admit to it. But I've been to parties where guys get drunk and someone (usually a girl) brings up some old Days of Our Lives storyline or something and the straight guy seems to know the story as well as they do.

[EricMontreal22]

Oh definitely. Well, while there are a ton of jokes about how women athletes must be lesbians, it;s somehow still different. With straight males I think it's still much much more of a threat--and insult--to be seen as gay than with women.

I was a theatre major who also had a long background with dance--two stereotypically gay disciplines. While dance wise usually there would be about 2 boys for every 20 girls in class (this is starting to change now finally as dance becomes more acceptable to guys, partly thanks to things like Think You Can Dance), most of the other guys I knew from dance were straight, and of course a good number of them would never have told their school friends they danced. There's no denying both acting and dance does attract gay men (and are also areas where men who are gay are more comfortable being open about it, which plays a big part), but it's still more the culture that saw them as gay genres than anything else, and made it, in a bit of irony, hard for some straight men to admit to enjoying them.

[Mr. Brightside]

I'm straight and I know some other guys who watch soaps, they just don't usually talk about it. I think I'm more open about it because of my line of work. All My Shadows is right, society and messed up gender roles. I like watching drama. Some guys like watching other dudes fight in their underwear...but guess who'll get picked on?

This is a good topic. I wish it existed when I was younger and thought something was wrong with me for like girls AND soaps.

[Eyespy]

When soaps were introduced, women were at home, thus the large women population. Gay men have the same tendency for what women want.

Simple. Easy.

Speak your mind about stuff, not people.

[All My Shadows]

False.