From the Soap Queen to the Aga-Saga: Different discursive frameworks of familial femininity in contemporary ‘women's genres'

Abstract

This article draws on recent feminist work in the fields of queer theory, cultural studies and media studies to counter notions of a monolithic or homogeneous femininity. It offers a discursive analysis of two popular ‘women's genres', the Aga-saga and the soap opera, to argue that these offer at least two possible modes of femininity which women can draw on in constructing and reconstructing their feminine identities. However, it then suggests that, whereas both forms offer models which can assist the negotiation of femininity, only the soap opera offers a paradigm which can assist a resistant femininity. An exploration of the fictional female character, the soap queen, reveals both her glamour and her resemblance to the drag queen. Whilst the glamour is posited as a further model for the negotiation of femininity, the similarities to the drag queen are offered as an indication of the possibility of resistance, since this resemblance can suggest the performativity of gender identity.