Coming back to this, but it is interesting that Monty’s GH had very few damsels in distress or women without some agency. Laura is the only major lead I think of being repeatedly victimized during Monty’s first run, and even she has her moments from the Left Handed Boy through her kidnapping by the Cassadines. Monica, Lucy, Heather, Bobbie, Tiffany, Jackie, Holly- these are all strong women allowed to have agency. Anna and Felicia end up being vital parts of the action storylines, Anna becoming the lead character in them for a period of time.
Women across all the soaps fared better back then, which is wild to think how regressive the storytelling became. But GH and DAYS had pretty much the same DNA in the 80’s to me, and the women on DAYS were mostly second to the men and deferred to them in the danger stories. Hope as a cop comes to mind- she’s no Anna or even Felicia for that matter. Kayla and Kimberly are also mostly victims driven by the men in their stories. Marlena fares a little better, but she also suffers from the little lady waiting at home hand wringing about the danger Roman is facing.
By
titan1978 ·
