Plum Crazy

I know other soap fans who are equally intelligent and gainfully employed. It is the TV that dare not speak its name, however. I rarely tell people that I am a soap fan because of the stereotypes surrounding such an admission. But no more! I am coming out of the soap closet.

I love soaps. I love watching the same characters year in and year out. I love trying to guess what plot line the writers are going for. Will Rafe and Alison finally overcome their obstacles and get married? Will Dorian be the one to finally get Mitch Laurence? Will Alexis and Cameron become a couple? I love seeing some of my favorite actors from soaps bygone appear on other soaps. I am really enjoying the Alexis/Cameron storyline on General Hospital, because the roles are played by Nancy Grahn and Lane Davies, respectively. Nancy and Lane previously portrayed Julia and Mason on the now-defunct Santa Barbara, and they were my favorite couple on Santa Barbara.

I get frustrated with soaps too. Sometimes the plots are stupid. Witness All My Children right now. I'm not watching it; it's just too silly. I keep up with the ongoings because of previews on SOAPNet and from reading Soap Opera Digest. Apparently one of their current plots involves a woman maybe sleeping with another man because her boyfriend wants her to steal some cosmetic formula from him. No, sorry, too stupid for me. Wake me up when they move on to an interesting story.

Are soaps mindless entertainment? You betcha. But what is wrong with mindless entertainment? Men can watch hours of mindless sports without being considered unemployed losers or brain-dead morons. Men who work at sports publications aren't subject to the sneers and jeers of the average news reader. In fact, it's considered pretty cool. Women who work at soap publications, however, are usually greeted with derision.

Why is it that soaps are treated with such disdain by many people? I think it hearkens back to the fact that soaps are generally considered women's entertainment. Back in the day, soaps started out on radio. Housewives would listen to their soaps on the radio while going about their daily chores. We all know with what respect the profession of housewifery is treated. Despite the rosy glasses of yesteryear which pretend that prior to the 1960s housewives were treated with enormous respect, the reality is that being a stay-at-home wife and mother has never been accorded the level of respect that having a high-powered career has been. It was a woman's place, and, well, of course women were not considered as smart or resourceful as men. It was never true that housewives who listened to soaps or watched them on TV were lazing around the house eating bon bons all day. But housewives long fought that view. It was, I believe, one of the drivers of women seeking careers outside the home.

So despite the fact that lots of women these days have high-powered careers and watch soaps, the view of soap watchers lingers on with its sexist undertones. I believe that most people who buy into this view of soap fans are not at all conscious of from whence it derives. I don't believe that they really think women are less smart and less resourceful than men. I just think that the view is a remnant of that mindset that people have unconsciously adopted. It can be very hard to eliminate all vestiges of long-held misconceptions.

But I'm here to tell you that it just ain't so. Soap watchers come in all shapes and sizes. There are women like me, smart with good careers. There are women who are smart, but are stay-at-home moms and wives; who catch their soaps while or in between their chores. There are college students. There are athletes (yes, that's right, some of your favorite male athletes are soap fans). There are men with good careers. And, sure, there are also some unemployed losers. But there are bound to be unemployed losers in pretty much any fan base of entertainment. That shouldn't broad brush the entire fan base.