"Different Words, Different Worlds" - Deborah Tannen's Theories Applied to Soap Operas
In her book You Just Don't Understand, Deborah Tannen talks about the way men and women perceive themselves and others in the world. Women see themselves as individuals in a network of connections. Their primary motivation in dealing with other people is to preserve those connections harmoniously. Women usually interpret other people's actions as having the same motives.
Men see themselves as constantly being placed somewhere in the hierarchy of social order. Consequently, men see themselves as one-up or one-down in relation to everyone else with whom they deal. They expect other people's motivations are also tied in with framing them as one-up or one-down.
Most of the answers to questions in this survey showed surprising similarity between male and female responses. This was also true in parts of the survey that asked soap opera viewers to agree or disagree with these two statements: "Soap storylines involving adventure/excitement are my favorite," and "Soap storylines involving love/romance are my favorite."
However, most other researchers have found marked differences when asking the same questions. They find that most men favor action/adventure storylines while most women favor love/romance storylines. Soap Operas such as DAYS OF OUR LIVES and GENERAL HOSPITAL which have historically incorporated the most adventure/spy type material into their plots are among the most popular with men. In fact, DAYS OF OUR LIVES was the most popular choice for favorite soap of men in this survey.
Deborah Tannen's theory may explain why this discrepancy between men and women occurs. Love/romance stories are obviously about connections between people striving for harmony and happiness in relationships. Women may be drawn to these storylines because their content and purpose reinforce women's whole outlook on life, which Tannen summarizes succinctly with, "Life, then, is a community, a struggle to preserve intimacy and avoid isolation." (Tannen) This quote could just as easily be used to describe soap opera characters' mission in pursuing love and romance.
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