Is Soap Opera a Female Genre

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In this essay, I would be discussing about “is soap opera a female genre”? In order to do this, I would analyse the meaning of genre and female genre. Soap opera, its origin, year established and reason for choice would be discussed. Academy and television sourced would be used and reason for choice would be considered. Debates on the topic would be analysed. My discussion will comprise aspects of the British soaps such as Coronation Street and Eastenders, the American super soaps such as Dallas and Dynasty. Conclusion would be drawn. Genre is a French term imported to film theory from literary studies which means class. The result of such inquiries is the choice of watching a thriller over western, or comedy over a musical, a science fiction film over a crime movie or the idea that there is particular likes or dislikes for certain types of film (Nelmes, 2003). Schubart (2007) stated that female genre is genre with a female protagonist and female audience such as romance, romantic comedy and melodrama. Feasey (2008) defined soap opera as a television serial that is usually broadcast in the afternoon or evening, which are about the lives of melodramatic characters, filled with strong emotions, highly dramatic situations and suspense. Rieger (2002, p262) also stated “ a soap Opera is a serialised drama which runs for 52 weeks of the year with continuous story lines dealing with domestic themes, personal or family relationships and limited running characters”. According to McQeen (1994) the term soap opera was first used in the 1930s to symbolise the popular genre of serialised domestic radio dramas which were sponsored by the soap powder industry such as Procter and Gamble as a promotion for their soap product. The fifteen minute commercials were about women and concentrated on emotional situations. They believed sponsoring radio programmes about women, families
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