When it comes to beta males--i.e., those who are portrayed as weak and subservient to their woman--certain characters really stand out. In particular, I am thinking of Jackson Montgomery and Eric Forrester.

In Montgomery's case, the writers seem to always have him take a back seat to Saint Erica Kane. He's just there to support her in her endeavors, and she'll just assume that he'll always be there. This is why I was so thrilled that Jackson finally dumped Erica in the television finale (although we all know that he'll eventually come crawling back to her).

With Forrester, the preception that the writers have been promoting is that he is a lightweight when compared to Stephanie Douglas. In fact, she's the real brains behind the family business, and Eric is shown to be some little man who just coasted along her coattails. Stephanie's only intellectual equal is the ruthless Massimo Marone.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other beta male examples as glaring as the two mentioned above. However, I think a case could be made that Mac Cory was somewhat of a beta male himself. While Cory was always portrayed as a strong business leader and man of morals, he would often be bossed around by Rachel, Iris, and sometimes even Amanda, and do anything to accommodate these ladies.

Edited October 31, 201114 yr by Max

Soaps are misogynistic. You cant think of many examples bc things tend to work the other way around. Nowadays if a man is going to be portrayed like that, its to prop up the woman he's acting against and/or new pairing. GH's Lucky (under GV) and Jax recently with Carly come to mind. AJ from GH is a perfect example of someone who's constantly been portrayed as some week loser compared to Carly.

CASS WINTHROP owns this this thread. Another World wrote such a great relationship between him and Felicia...but he was a beta male.

Doug Williams on DAYS is sort of one as well, always a step behind Julie.

Dex Dexter on DYNASTY, definitely a beta male to Alexis.

Dex Dexter on DYNASTY, definitely a beta male to Alexis.

I never considered Dex to be weak though. Clearly, he was underneath Alexis shadow, but I never felt he was her personal bitch. He was a strong male capable of standing on his own and the show wasnt constantly cutting him down to prove how awesome she was. The same cant be said for some of the other men mentioned

I know there might be some dispute with my assertion, but I'd definitely consider Josh Lewis (GL) as a beta male, especially in the second half of his run with Reva.

Joey Buchanan

[Hogan Sheffer] TOM HUGHES HAS NO BALLS! BALLS BALLS BALLS MEN WITH BALLS!!!!!!!![/Hogan Sheffer]

I never considered Dex to be weak though. Clearly, he was underneath Alexis shadow, but I never felt he was her personal bitch. He was a strong male capable of standing on his own and the show wasnt constantly cutting him down to prove how awesome she was. The same cant be said for some of the other men mentioned

Right, but I also don't believe a beta male in daytime has to be cut down to prove how awesome the woman is. In fact, I think it does the opposite, the man comes off as a loser and the woman looks like she's slumming.

I think there's absolutely a place for a beta male in soaps. They often add to the fun!

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<p>When it comes to beta males--i.e., those who are portrayed as weak and subservient to their woman--certain characters really stand out. In particular, I am thinking of Jackson Montgomery and Eric Forrester.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>In Montgomery's case, the writers seem to always have him take a back seat to Saint Erica Kane. He's just there to support her in her endeavors, and she'll just assume that he'll always be there. This is why I was so thrilled that Jackson finally dumped Erica in the television finale (although we all know that he'll eventually come crawling back to her).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>With Forrester, the preception that the writers have been promoting is that he is a lightweight when compared to Stephanie Douglas. In fact, she's the real brains behind the family business, and Eric is shown to be some little man who just coasted along her coattails. Stephanie's only intellectual equal is the ruthless Massimo Marone.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other beta male examples as glaring as the two mentioned above. However, I think a case could be made that Mac Cory was somewhat of a beta male himself. While Cory was always portrayed as a strong business leader and man of morals, he would often be bossed around by Rachel, Iris, and sometimes even Amanda, and do anything to accommodate these ladies.</p>

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</p>

<p>These are glaring examples because B&amp;B and AMC have definite Female Leads on their show, so the men have no choice but to be Beta (like the Queen's consort). OLTL's Viki has the same deal with her pairings - Betas all. While on GH where the show is definitely Male Lead Driven the women are all weaklings - even the powerful ones - and none of the women are truly written as Leads, regardless of what actors and pundits want to claim.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It's been years since I've been able to sit through anything Y&amp;R offered, but it is the only show I can recall where the men and women where both given the option to co-lead the show.</p>

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Edited November 1, 201114 yr by remos

[Hogan Sheffer] TOM HUGHES HAS NO BALLS! BALLS BALLS BALLS MEN WITH BALLS!!!!!!!![/Hogan Sheffer]

LOL...was thinking the same thing...actually Scott Holmes in the role ...Tom was a wimp..sexy one though..lol

remos, unfortunately those days are long gone for Y&R. It's now full of women so helpless they cannot even open a box without calling a man for help, or they sit in prison waiting for men to save them.

The closest to a beta male is Aunt Jack, who cries during sex.

CASS WINTHROP owns this this thread. Another World wrote such a great relationship between him and Felicia...but he was a beta male.

Gosh, I would have never thought of him and I quoted you fully intending to disagree but holy smokes! You may be right!

Here's who springs to mind from each show for me, if we're talking subservient to their women:

AMC- Jackson Montgomery

Jamie Martin

AW- Jamie Frame

John Hudson

Sam Fowler (post-RKK)

Matt Cory

ATWT- Tom Hughes

Jack Snyder (kinda sorta- I always felt Carly, Janet, Katie, Julia 1&2, and all the rest easily manipulated him and led him around by the nose- it was only Carly, his true love-of course- that he argued the point with)

Dusty Donovan (pretty much with Jennifer & Janet)

B&B- Thorne Forrester

DAYS- Lucas Roberts

Austin Reed

OLTL- Cord Roberts

PAS- Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald

Ethan Crane

SB- Ted Capwell

Craig Hunt

SUN- Tim

Casey

Y&R- Cain Ashby

Jack Abbott (only with women, oddly enough)

Neil Winters

Jack's that way with men too - he all but weeps as "men with balls" Victor and Billy trample over him. It's a shame what he has become.

Jack Deveraux is Jennifers bitch.

Rex Sterling on Y&R was one i would say....