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How valid is it to regard soap opera as television for women

            This essay will examine the question "How valid is it to regard Soap Opera as television for women".
             Why is it that more women watch soap operas than men? Are soap operas supposed to be geared mainly towards women, or is it just a coincidence that women find more interest in them? To me these questions are interesting.
             Soap operas began around the 1930's as radio serials in America. For the first ten years of soap operas the BBC offered only 20% entertainment and 80% talks, classical music and serious drama on the radio. Most listeners objected and wanted more entertainment.
             The word "Soap" came from the soap manufacturer Proctor and Gamble; this was because they sponsored nearly 20 radio serials in America around the 1030's. .
             The term "Opera" came from the opera-like melodrama and romance in the radio sets.
             It is extremely rare to find many men recording their favourite soap opera during the day while they are at work. It is commonly found that females will sit and talk amongst other females about their favourite soaps. Most women I have spoke to about soap operas admit to have started watching them when they were children.
             Most people will not admit to watching Soaps because, as a gentleman called Peter Buckman, author of "All For Love" once said, "Soap Opera is like sex outside of the marriage: many have tried it but most are ashamed of being caught".
             The earliest daytime radio shows were aimed at women and the advertisements were often presented in the form of Grandmotherly chats, including talks about house keeping. These have developed into the narrative form of the TV soap opera. So here we can see that even the earliest radio serials were aimed at women.
             Because of the awareness the producers have of their audience they must continue to pleasure their main audience therefore soap operas have maintained a much more direct link with the domestic sphere than have many other television programmes.


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