Diversity in Soap Operas: Are Soaps Doing Enough?

Historically, daytime dramas have had mostly all-white casts with a sprinkle of a minority here or there. With the statistic that Hispanics will become the majority in the U.S. in a couple of years, and with the strides and contributions they as well as Blacks, Asians, gays, and others have made to American society, wouldn’t it be a little more true-to-life to have more of a variety of different kinds of people in daytime television, right? Wrong! At least that is what soap opera writers seem to think.

Even though the lack of diversity on daytime television dramas is disappointing, there have been some strides made. All My Children recently made strides with introducing the first transgender character. This is the same soap opera that made into a lesbian the daughter of a beloved character, namely Erica Kane. It is commendable that a daytime soap is willing to take risk by introducing gay and transgendered characters, but it is a double-edged sword. On soaps, the gay characters don’t stay in the storyline for very long. For example, Erica Kane’s daughter, Bianca, is being written out of the storyline as well as Zoe/Zarf, the transgendered character. To be fair, viewers have seen Bianca’s realization that she is gay as well as her relationships with other women, so much so that a TV Guide Editor calls the character “the patron saint of gay soap characters,” but it is not enough. Bianca and Zoe/ Zarf are the only homosexual characters on the show. After they have left, the show is all heterosexual characters. At least there is always room for Bianca to come back because she is related to Erica, an important character on All My Children, but Bianca is relegated to the “character that comes back every once in awhile” status. What kind of message does this send to viewers, particularly gay ones? That it is okay to have homosexual and transgendered characters as long as they are not on screen too much? It is tricky to feature gay characters on soaps, especially when it comes to portraying romantic and sexual scenes. Soap opera writers, directors, and producers have a tricky balance between showing realistic portrayals of gay relationships while still placating those who are uncomfortable with gay relationship storylines.

What about portrayals of African-Americans on soaps? In general, there are some strides, but nonetheless, there is much to be desired. Soaps such as Passions and The Young and the Restless have African-American families who get a fair amount of time onscreen and regularly interact with the White characters. These African-American characters even get to have romantic relationships with the White characters as well, which brings up another issue all together. Passions especially is commendable for its portrayal of Black characters on the show. One character on the show, Eve, has had a long relationship with a White character. Eve’s daughter, Simone, recently came out as a lesbian, and it was recently revealed that Chad, who is married to Eve’s other daughter Whitney, is having an affair with a man. Never before have Black characters been so complex. Often in soaps, the Black characters are morally perfect, which is a good thing or a bad thing. It is good because Black people are portrayed in soaps as doctors and lawyers rather than maids, criminals or prostitutes. At the same time, though, soap writers are pressured to make Black characters good all of the time because: 1)They don’t want the soap to be deemed racist against Blacks and offensive to Black viewers. 2) The majority of soap viewers who are White have limited contact or knowledge of the African-American experience, so soap writers put the Black characters in one-dimensional roles.

As for Latino, Asian, and Native American characters, there is still much to be desired. Native Americans are virtually non-existent on soap operas. There is a Latino family on the ABC soap One Life to Live who are regulars and who are involved romantically with the White characters. Passions has set the standard by including a whole Latino family as well as an African-American one. Otherwise, the number of Latino characters isn’t a lot on soaps. At least the Latinos on One Life to Live are really Latino, whereas a good number of the “Latino” characters on Passions are either White or of mixed heritage. There are not a lot of instances of Asian characters on soap operas, and when there are Asians around, they don’t get front-burner storylines, and they are usually platonic with the White characters, but there is nothing romantic going on.

The issue of romantic relationships with White characters brings about the issue of interracial relationships on soaps. Again, One Life to Live is making strides with the character of Evangeline. She is a successful African-American attorney who has had relationships with White and Latino characters on the show, and aside from the romance, Evangeline is important to the storyline. Shows such as One Life to Live, Passions, and The Young and the Restless is doing a lot more than most of the other soaps when it comes to having minority characters get involved romantically with White characters. The Young and the Restless, for example, features Lily Winters of the African-American Winters family. Lily is married to Daniel, who is White. The interesting thing about it is that about ten years ago, Lily’s father Neil was romantically involved with Victoria Newman, a White character, a relationship that was unfavorable to some fans, but Lily and Daniel’s relationship has not received much audience disapproval. There has not even been uproar for the relationships Evangeline from One Life to Live has gotten involved in. This suggests that there may be a bias for soap opera fans when it comes to favoring relationships with Black women and White men over Black men and White women. This may explain why the Black man/White woman relationship is rarely seen on soaps, and if it is seen, it doesn’t last long. For example, on The Young and the Restless, Daniel’s mother Phyllis, who is White, had a romantic relationship with a Black man, but the relationship didn’t last and the man has since left town. This is an example of how soap opera writers are reinforcing long-standing racial fears of putting Black men and White women together romantically, even in a fictional setting.