Soap Operas Are the Accomplice to the Perceptions of Gender Identities

Through historical events, many people obtain a sense that men are stronger than women because men are capable of protecting their family. While widely crediting men’s contributions, society ignores the importance of women’s existence. In addition, many people argue that the media has enormous influences on how an individual should behave based on their gender identity. Although we cannot reject the biological differences between females and males, we cannot reject females and males can obtain the same working abilities. However, females are always portrayed as weak and fragile and need a man’s protection. Soap operas fully portray women as inessential and subordinate, the opposite of men.

Soap operas have been affecting women’s daily life since the twentieth century. Soap operas spread the false images that women are weak and women should be protected under the sweet presentations on television. In the early development of the showcase, only soap companies sponsored the shows. Therefore, the shows are called soap opera. In soap operas, advertisements and the plots tend to target most of the housewives by presenting the illusory images, like the romantic relationship between a sweet woman and a perfect man attracted the soft-hearted female audiences. While the show creates an illusion that there is a prince to make a woman’s life perfect, the plots implicitly express the message that women are weak and men are stronger.

Since female audiences are fully enjoying the plot, they do not recognize they are shaped as the opposite of men. They are inessential and subordinated. Women are always the receiver and object in the illusory plots, because someone will protect a woman. Most of the time, the “someone” refers to men. In soap opera...

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... the soap operas.

All the perceptions of women are the sweet and happy illusions globally spread out by soap operas. While various representations of roles in soap opera, the hierarchy of gender identities is created under the beautiful false images. In the contemporary society, TV is one of the essential media to obtain entertainment and news. Therefore, the false concepts that women are weak and unimportant are also widely spread under the polished representations. While the audiences are fully attracted by soap operas, the hierarchical perceptions on gender identities are continually generated and widely accepted through the enormous influences of soap operas.

Works Cited

De Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex: Introduction, The Independent Woman. New York: Vintage Books.

Chen, Hui Ling. (2009). Autumn’s Concerto: Episode 6. Taiwan: Sanlih E-Television (SET)