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Spineless Ladies

© Sarah Lee

In the 1950s, women looked upon women who wanted equality, who wanted birth control, who wanted independence, with disdain. Fifty years later this still exists to some extent. As late as the 1980s, the most popular romantic stories either on film or television was about the big hunk hero who saved the woman. Oh sure, some of the women appeared strong, had their own business, their own careers, may have even gone against the tide by having abortions or taking birth control, but something always wore them down and men needed to help them, rescue them. Meanwhile the women who really took the bull by the horns were the villains, the girls that were mentally unstable, abusive, never to be sympathized with. That to me says the creative teams behind these characters either believe the audience doesn't like to see independent heroines or they don't believe they can make them likable. Does it bother me? Well, yes and no. It bothers me that when the men are brutes, cruel, cocky, arrogant, and criminal, ladies still swoon. But that happens in real life, many a woman who is independent craves dependence. I get that. What bothers me is just how stupid women are getting in soaps today, going far beyond the proverbial weak in the knees attitude divas in love have.

What happened to stories for women like Days' Marlena digging herself a deeper hole after her affair with John? What happened to stories like As the World Turns' Margo struggling to put her life back together after she was raped? Weren't the people currently writing General Hospital alive when Monica suffered from breast cancer? Sure, these stories had these women down, out, acting stupid, being victims, but victims you knew were going to pull themselves out of this mess somehow in some way. It was not about seeing these women have to fawn over men or start acting like insane people to get it. So many females on soaps these days have the personalities of dishrags and when writers think to make them "exciting", they make them villains. Have you noticed that female villains are the only ones who ever seem to have a good head on their shoulders, goals, focus, and the best one-liners? What happened to three-dimensional characters that grew or at least changed as the years went on? I spent the last week watching the women of Salem constantly freak out worried that their husbands or friends were going to die and yet, these women did nothing besides stand there and bawl their eyes out. Hello?

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