I am so glad that I'm not the only feminist who watches Soaps...although I do watch others...(As the World Turns and General Hospital)...I agree that AMC isn't as bad as some of the others, Bianca and Reese's story I love...although I wish there were not that whole drama with Reese and Zach...(I am also a fan of Zach and Kendall)...

I always see and recognize the unfeminist issues; the race issues (like they can never seem to have an interracial couple, and every time a couple of different races have chemistry a new character is introduced that shockingly has a story involved and is the same race as the chemistry ridden couple); and class issues, but while there are many, many issues that I have with these shows, but I also am hopelessly addicted...

I started watching them with my grandmother and mother...and my sister and I still watch them today...

I will say that one of the best and more appropriately handled abortion story that I have ever seen handled on television was GH's story with Lulu Spencer...

She was a college freshman who had used protection, and she got pregnant...she decided after much thought and advice seeking to have an abortion with the full support of her father (her mother was institutionalized)...and as of yet there has been no punishing of the character with the inability to have children, because of the abortion she had or any real regret on her part...

Soap Operas are definitely less than perfect on many, many levels, but they can sometimes be just fun ways for me to decompress after spending a day surrounded by right-wing collegues and my teenage students who more times than not have more issues than they know what to do with...I don't defend them on a feminist or any level but as something I guiltily enjoy...

Have to disagree. I never was a regular watcher but my sisters and mom always watched. Just from my passive watching (i.e. flipping through channels), I don't think I ever saw one character at work. And the acting was horrendous, but I could never put my finger on why. Conan O'Brien mentioned on his show once that it's their placement of emphasis on words that shouldn't be emphasized. It's kind of bizarre. I would love to know how they cast the actors...

AMC was my family's soap when I was growing up - mom would watch and then recount the action for us (dad and older kids) during dinner. One night my four-year-old baby sister helped out when my mom couldn't remember something, explaining that two characters were in bed together "and Tad had no boys panties on!" Mom started watching alone in the kitchen and while the little ones watched Sesame Street.

I am actually watching AMC right now!

I like soap operas. They are a great diversion.

I have to disagree with Megs and say I like the Zach+Reese storyline. I think that depicting sexual identities as fluid, varied and not easily black and white is important and great.

But I am not saying that there other problems within that storyline, i.e. bisexual people are not to be trusted...etc.

see and that is also one of my problems with this story...is that Reese isn't even being played as bisexual so much as has a "connection" with Zach...it feels like a cop out...Bianca has never really had a for sure about her sexuality and life girlfriend...and while I get that this is a soap on the other hand it irritates me because in life...and in soap life too rarely do things like that story happen so quickly randomly...

I mean what Reese has been there for 3 months she's been with Bianca for a year, but one month into her visit she's having her sexuality and commitment to Bianca questioned...that irritates me...I mean I could've actually understood if they had had some time to adjust to the changes...watch Reese and Zach become close...I mean that I could've understood, but three weeks after Reese comes to town and suddenly there is this "connection"...or maybe if she had come to the show with a fluid sexuality but a complete committment to Bianca I could see and understand it as a good story, but as it stands now?...it just strikes me as convenient and not really showing or making any other story except that Reese, the wife of Bianca, could be de-gayed with the right man...but then maybe I also have my hackles arisen cause Kendall is my favorite...;)

I was considering writing about this same thing!
It seems like a lot of us got hooked through our grandmothers, and I loved watching "her stories" when I was younger, and recently reconnected with my old stomping ground, One Life to Live. I DVR it everyday, then watch it whenever I have a spare moment.
One day, I was curious about who watches soaps, how people feel about them, and so on, so I went to a OLTL forum and met other fans. Let's just say that the OLTL boards over at SoapCentral are not exactly a feminist friendly place.
Now here's a tough confession: I became addicted to the show back in '93 with the addition of a character, Todd Manning. Todd Manning was a rapist. The actor who portrayed him, Roger Howarth was extremely talented, and stole every scene. He scared the hell out of me, so much, that in junior high/high school I watched it every day to see what kind of evil act he would do next.
I was not the only one who felt that way, and the sacks of fan mail that poured into the ABC studios for him meant that OLTL would have to keep him on and not jail or kill him off. So they "redeemed" him, had him save his victim's life, befriend children, and admit to being abused as a child.
However, the actor, Roger Howarth had a conscious, and after working with rape crisis centers, did not feel right about playing the role of romantic lead who just happens to have a rape conviction.
He eventually reprised the role with the promise of being more villain-like, but left again a few years back and was recast with another actor. The character has a rabid fan base who will defend him for everything, saying things like, "OMG, that rape was like, 20 years ago!"
Over the Summer, Todd's victim from the '93 rape got soap opera-style amnesia and fell in love with the him and the fans actually went for it! I stopped watching for a few weeks out of disgust, then found myself tuning in out of morbid curiosity, sitting with my jaw on the floor as if viewing a car wreck.
The whole story of the character "Todd Manning" is fascinating, and if I can find it, I'll link to an article that appeared in the Village Voice which discussed the character with comparisons to Dickens, and Bronte.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Manning

ah, they're good they are :-) I can't watch them every single day (heck, the action moves so slow you can skip days or even weeks and nothing much will have happened, which is part of the appeal I think) but occasionally it's fun! And the outfits/hair are always really, really well put-together, and nice interiors and stuff. Sometimes the men are cute, but mostly they don't do it for me; I'm sure it's not the case for others tho, so that would be another part of the appeal lol

Years ago, when I was about 14 to 16, the young and the restless used to be on just when I came home from school--perfect timing for me to grab a post-school afternoon snack watching it with my mother and poke some fun at it :-) At the time the Nick dude used to have a bunch of women crying over him, and one of them used to go 'Nickckck', I don't know how to transcribe the sound, but basically they said his name but on a sob, followed by the boohoo sound, so it came out sounding like 'Nick', but with a hiss at the end, like cats sound when they're angry, but in a weepy way. kinda like the german sound in in 'ich'. So after that every time we saw him we'd both go, "Nick-chch' and laugh like loons hehe

Why don't we take a minute and ask ourselves why soaps have been considered the bottom of the media barrel for so long? Some cultural theorists have argued that it is the fact that they are considered to be "for women" that they are denigrated. Soaps follow in the oral tradition of female culture. Realistically, a soap is no less silly than wrestling, that crack pot Bill O'Rielly or CSI, all which are considered to be more male oriented programming.

I actually started watching soaps when I was in uni for a project in a class. I can't remember why now, but the prof for that course was a full-on feminist.

When we look at the content in soaps, often it is a good place to look for social acceptance of new issues by the masses, i.e multiracial casting, interracial marriage, class issues, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc... of course they use stereotypes and the plots of generally weak (and bizarre in the case of passions), however it is important to note that a lot of women create their own culture through this medium. It's not the text that matters, but what is done with it.

I watch AMC and One Life to Live. They cover issues that no one else dare cover. I only got involved with soaps in late 2005.

I'm a Guiding Light fan and have been for over thirty years. I too began watching a variety of soaps because my mother and gradmother watched. GL was the only one that I continue to watch.

Why would a educated feminist like me watch such silliness? First of all, soaps are considered silliness because they are made for and are primarily about women. Men watch some pretty stupid stuff too but it seldom is labeled as such ("professional" wrestling anyone?).

Second, soaps are one of the few places on TV to see women exhibit a full range of behaviors. Yes, the focus tends to be on their love relationships but some of the very best villians are the women of daytime TV. Also, women are shown working in many capacities from traditionally female jobs (nurses) to male intensive occupations (doctors, lawyers, CEOs).

Although many soaps don't have much in the way of racial/ethnic diversity, I was pleased with GL when they introduced an African American woman whose character was so smart that she was and MD with a law degree. Over the top? Maybe. But how often do you see the combination of beauty and brains (with credentials) in prime time.

Yes, the acting is shaky at times. But when you consider how little time they have to film each episode it is actually impressive. Movies by major studios take along time to filmand go through a lot of editing. Soap actors are working on the fly.

I am so glad you posted this, Vanessa! I also grew up with All My Children, first through my grandmother and later through my Mom. I admit, it's been a long time since I've watched it, but if this means anything to you: In Grade 2, I had my Mom tape episodes of the show when Natalie was trapped in the well! (For anyone who didn't watch the show in the Eighties, which I suspect is most of you, that might sound like complete nonsense.) I also remember the days when Kendall was played by Sarah Michelle Geller.

If I remember correctly, Bianca's character also battled an eating disorder.

Thanks again for posting this! It makes me want to get back into AMC!