Deep Soap: Role Reversal

Predatory Females

This week General Hospital’s Claudia and As The World Turns’ Barbara both decided to blackmail disinterested men into having sex with them. Barbara succeeded. Claudia failed. Both attempted unwelcome sexual advances which had incestuous overtones. Barbara bedded her son’s half-brother with the promises of lifting an injunction on his inheritance. Claudia set out to seduce her husband’s son by threatening to reveal his identity. Both of the scenes were supposed to be unappealing. The writers intended for viewers to think of both women as pathetic and evil. They are just two of many “women desperate to hold on to men at any cost” stories playing out right now. Days of Our Lives’ Nicole and One Life To Live’s Stacy concocted elaborate schemes to convince the objects of their affection that they were pregnant with their children. All of them are convinced that if they can just force the men to spend more time with them the love will become mutual. I don’t think Barbara and Claudia even care if the men hate every second they spend with them.

I’ve been wondering why a medium that is supposed to be a woman’s fantasy portrays women as desperately pleading for sex. Other then the standard “actually soaps are misogynist these days,” argument, I think these stories reflect a fantasy where women are allowed to be proactive in romance. These days, every dating book and expert advising women that dating is the one area where women need to forget the past fifty years ever happened and let the guy make every move. Call first? You look desperate. Ask him out? An unthinkable disruption of the world order no matter what your guy friends say. (”He’s Not That Into You” is one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read, mainly because it is largely true.) I think everyone, male or female, has had the thought, “If only I could spend a little more time with the object of my affection, he’d realize what a great person I am.” Of course, most of us snap out of it a minute later, eat some ice cream and move on. But these crazy soap women actually act on that thought. They get to live out that fantasy of making the guy fall in love, or at least momentary lust, with you out of sheer persistence. Sami Brady’s epic pursuit if Austin back in the 1990s enthralled the audience for years. Who couldn’t help relating, if not rooting, for the imperfect Sami in her struggles with her gorgeous, thin, beloved sister Carrie? But in the end, these desperate pursuers schemes always fall apart. I don’t think anyone would want to spend all of their time constantly maneuvering to keep their lies from being exposed like Stacy or Nicole. Nor can I imagine anyone wanting to sleep with a guy who overtly told them he was going to hate every second of the experience. In the real world, no man with a functioning cerebral cortex would fall for any of these women’s schemes. In the real world, men are unfortunately far more likely to pressure women into having sex than the other way around.

I would love to see a soap romance where the woman is the pursuer in a non-stalker way. Perhaps a scenario where the man is delighted to be asked out by his interesting, powerful new neighbor and she is the one who makes all the moves throughout their relationship. It’s a shame that soaps are unable or unwilling to construct a storyline that shows a woman truly in control of her own romantic destiny.

If It’s Tuesday, Holden Must Be Back From The Dead Again

I realize that As The World Turns’ Holden, Lily and Damian have all come back from the dead so many times that they no longer take it any more seriously than a sprained ankle. But couldn’t anyone have at least pretended to care about Holden’s latest return? His sister Meg was not thanking God that her brother was spared. She was thrilled that his return rendered Lily’s marriage to Damian invalid, so she’d have a shot at the guy. Lily berated the so-called love of her life for not finding a way to call while he was kidnapped. Uh, I think if he had access to a phone he would have called the police and been home much sooner. I guess Holden should have been more understanding about Lily choosing to remarry her ex-husband a mere two months after he was presumed dead. Lily’s attitude can be summed up as : glad you’re alive for the kids’ sake, now let me get back to kissing Damian. Holden, for his part, is understandably angry but not as surprised as one would expect given the circumstances. I guess when you have come back from the dead before, it’s all par for the course.

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