Sex On Soaps
Matthew W. Grant
A Granite Gate Media Publication
Original Version Copyright © 1992 by Matthew W. Grant
Additional Material Copyright © 2006 & 2011 by Matthew W. Grant
All rights reserved.
Portions of this material were written as part of an academic research project.
Feel free to quote from the work, but please cite it as you would any other source.
The bonus short story Welcome To Slaters Falls is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to real events, locations, or people, living or dead, are purely coincidental.
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Cover Credits
Images Used Under License From Fotolia
© Klikk - Red satin background
© Vortex - Couple
Additional Image Editing & Cover Design by TDSWhite
The Reality of Sex on Soap Operas
Effects and Gratifications of Watching Soaps
Theories of Deborah Tannen Applied to Soap Operas
Soap Opera Works Cited & Reviewed
SECTION 2 - SOAP OPERAS: SILLY SUDS OR SOCIAL CONSCIENCE?
Soap Opera Watchers & Soap Opera Bashers
Soap Operas Tackle Social Issues
Soap Operas Provide Hope For Viewers
SECTION 4 - WELCOME TO SLATERS FALLS
SEX ON SOAPS
Sex On Soap Operas - Introduction
Are DAYS OF OUR LIVES, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, GENERAL HOSPITAL, and the rest of the daytime soaps filling the afternoon airwaves with sex, lust, sin, and filth? If not, what's really going on?
Soap operas have been a cultural phenomenon for about eighty years since Irna Phillips created the first radio soap opera called Painted Dreams in the early 1930's. Since then, there have been literally hundreds of radio soap operas and television soap operas over the years.
Another Phillips' creation, GUIDING LIGHT, was in continuous production from 1937 until its cancellation in 2009 making it the oldest continuous program of any type in broadcast history. The program originated on radio, later moved to TV and radio at the same time, then ran exclusively on TV, then continued on TV while also being available in a podcast from the CBS website. At the time of its cancellation, it was available on TV and full video online.
Phillips also created other daytime dramas including AS THE WORLD TURNS (56 years on the air) and ANOTHER WORLD (35 years on the air). She is credited as the co-creator of DAYS OF OUR LIVES, which has been on the air since 1965. Irna Phillips was also the creator of numerous radio soaps now relegated to footnotes in broadcast history.
Ever since the first radio script included the words: "SOUND OF KISS – ORGAN MUSIC SWELLS," sex, or at least the implication of it, has been a constant and inextricable element of soap operas. Today's soap heroines are no longer required to remain virgins until marriage as their long ago radio counterparts were and the organ music disappeared years ago, but kisses are barely the least of sexual content on today's soaps.
Often cited as a landmark event in the soap opera industry was the first Time Magazine cover story devoted to soap operas (dated January 12, 1976) which featured Bill Hayes and his wife Susan Seaforth Hayes. The couple portrayed Doug and Julie, a married couple on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, which at the time was near the top of the soap opera ratings.
The title of the cover story frames the discussion immediately. The couple was shown posing in what can best be described as a state of angst with the gigantic headline of SOAP OPERAS and, in smaller letters, a subheadline of: Sex and Suffering in the Afternoon. The article noted, "It is common to see such queasy subjects as abortion, incest, drug addiction and venereal disease meshing with the old, familiar workings of unhappy families." It followed up with, "Such raciness is enticing to viewers — and to advertisers." Reacting to sexual plot details, Susan Seaforth Hayes said, "We are a bunch of horny devils." (Time Magazine)
Almost twenty years later, a TV Guide article asked the question, "It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, do you know what's on your TV?" (Logan 12) Anything and everything is available according to some sources. That same TV Guide article describes a scene from the soap opera LOVING in which a seductive, lingerie clad woman lies next to a bare-chested man sliding her hand under the waistband of his pajama bottoms. It also describes a scene from ONE LIFE TO LIVE in which the characters "played doctor with a bag full of sex toys" and a scene from SANTA BARBARA in which the characters "varied their sexual positions while discussing various ways in which they might torture and kill a fellow character." (Logan)
This is only one side of the story. Writer Thom Racina appeared on a segment of The Maury Povich Show that aired in syndication in October of 1992 that dealt with the topic of sex on soap operas. Racina has been a scriptwriter and/or headwriter for several soap operas over the years including: GENERAL HOSPITAL, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, ANOTHER WORLD, SANTA BARBARA, GENERATIONS, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and FAMILY PASSIONS, a Canadian daytime serials. Racina said that the audience doesn't actually see what it thinks it sees. He explained that the audience usually only sees some kissing and the removal of the man's shirt as the camera focuses on the fireplace and the screen fades to black.
Racina revealed that the scenes are written this way on purpose. The writers suggest and the audience members simply fill in the rest with their imaginations just like in the days of radio soap operas. There are certainly a few explicit scenes, but most scenes are quite tame. The viewers only perceive them as sexy because that is how they choose to finish them in their own minds. (Povich 10/9/92)
Indeed, after the endless media barrage of criticism of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident in February 2004 and the resulting FCC fines and court battles, there was a general industry-wide (at least for free network television) examination of what was being put on the air. This, no doubt, had its effect on daytime television fare as well, putting a damper on any scenes which could be interpreted as crossing the line in the months following the Super Bowl. The effect of a specific incident like this on broadcast standards usually lessens over time until it fades into broadcast history. It would be unlikely several years later for a soap writer or a censor from a network standards and practices department to give consideration to this incident while planning or reviewing scenes in a daytime drama script.
Regardless of the current trends and levels of permissiveness by society or media watchdogs at any given time, the portrayal of sex in its various forms and ramifications (from the representation of the act itself to consequences like pregnancy or AIDS) is part of the daytime viewing experience. Since men and women often tend to perceive things in life differently, this is bound to hold true for their perceptions of sex in soaps.
This research will look at how men and women perceive sex on soaps differently and how they think this portrayal may be affecting them. It will synthesize the answer to these issues from a wide variety of sources including books, journals, and episodes of soap operas as well as original research from a sample of original soap opera viewer surveys.
If you would like to take or review the Sex On Soaps Research Survey that was given to study participants before you continue reading, an annotated edition, which you can access at the link above, is included at the end of this section. When you're finished, come back and you will be able to compare your responses to those listed here in the official research.