Many points Harper discussed are relevant to our research question, especially those dealing with the way patriarchy affects women's roles. Harper consistently explained the use of certain stereotypes on television. A study by Tedesco in 1974 showed that 51 percent of females compared to 31 percent of males were clearly shown to be married on television drama. Also McNeil found that 75 percent of men were gainfully employed, compared to less than half of the women. McNeil also found that when employed, a female character is less likely to have an important job and more likely to work under close supervision. These statistics found in Harper's art

http://www.aber.ac.uk/~ednwww/Undgrad/ED30520/pth601.html

Helen Ingham says the majority of soaps are set in a domestic situation because this is supposedly the most valued place for women's expertise. The central characters are often female, with the goal of getting married and having children. This could support the argument that the myth of never-ending maternalness actually conceals the subordination of women. Ingham says that even when women are shown in a position of power, they are still viewed through a very patriarchal ideology. At many times, powerful women are portrayed as unnatural because from dominant ideology men are the most powerful and should never be under a woman's power. This is part of the reason so many women are shown in domestic situations. In more glamorous soap operas like Days of Our Lives, the middle-aged women are presented as sexually desirable in comparison to more domestic soaps. Also, female characters are seen as more powerful in the more glamorous soaps. These women are often portrayed as the villainess, with a source of strength gained from their feminine characteristics. As Sammy previously did on Days of Our Lives, many women use pregnancy and insight to manipulate people. Ingham says that some argue that the final control the villainess strives for is control over passive femininity rather than control over men. Even though soap operas do portray women in a more positive way than advertising and other forms of television, they still respect and conform to a broader mainstream of cultural demands. When women do have jobs in soaps, they are often unsuccessful or not attempting to pursue their careers. This shows that even a form of television targeted at a majority female audience contains subliminal messages reinforcing the dominant male ideology.

H. Ingham, "The Portrayal of Women on Television"

http://www.aber.ac.uk/~ednwww/Undgrad/ED30520/hi601.html

Our research supports these ideas from Harper and Ingham because we found very similar results from the textual and feminist analysis. Through our textual analysis, we found that Days of Our Lives went from equilibrium to disequilibrium to a new equilibrium. The characters and events told the story, and events followed one after another, making us infer causality. We found that this soap compensated for the lack of suspense through proliferating story lines and emphasis on character. Since characters continue from week to week, there is little suspense and the soaps continue without progressing. The feminist analysis added to our understanding of the female characters in Days of Our Lives. Through the analysis of Lexie, Kerry, Nicole, Kate and S

Some common words found in the essay are:
Days Lives, Kate Sammy, Kerry Nicole, Helen Ingham, Austin Sammy, Eric Nicole, Austin's Lucas, Billy Sammy, Women Soaps, Kerry Austin's, days lives, female characters, soap operas, textual analysis, feminist textual analysis, kerry nicole, characters days, kate sammy, feminist textual, portrayal women, feminist analysis, female characters days, characters days lives, harper cited fiske's, portrayal women television,
Approximate Word count = 1808
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)